Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of the study was to describe and compare the perceptions of elementary school principals at high- and low-performing schools regarding the degree to which their school had developed a learning community according to Senge's five disciplines. This study also examined the significant differences found in how principals at high- and low-performing schools used these five disciplines to develop professional learning communities. Methodology. The researcher used both descriptive and ex post facto research. A forty-item survey was used to collect data addressing three research questions. The survey was administered to eighty principals from both low- and high-performing schools according to the California Similar Schools Rank. Findings. (1) In the perception of the principals from high-performing schools, their schools demonstrated the five disciplines of a learning community. (2) In the perception of the principals from low-performing schools, their schools demonstrated the five disciplines of a learning community to a much lesser degree. (3) With regard to the perceptions of principals from high- and low-performing schools demonstrating the five disciplines, a clearly significant difference existed between the two groups. Two of Senge's disciplines, shared vision and systems thinking, demonstrated the most significant differences among principals. (4) The survey instrument used for this research contained some questions that were ineffective in distinguishing high vs. low schools. Conclusions and recommendations. This study validated the work of Peter Senge and speaks to the importance of creating professional learning communities. Elementary principals from high-performing schools perceived their schools to be professional learning communities at a much higher level than their colleagues at low-performing schools. Recommendations for further study include: (1) Replicating this study for middle and high school principals. (2) Correlating training and experiences of principals to the survey questions. (3) Comparing the disciplines to see which has the greatest impact on school performance. (4) Replicating the study using teacher perceptions. (5) Replicating the study using a larger sample. (6) Analyzing the survey instrument.