The purpose of this retrospective quantitative quasiexperimental study was to use archival

data to examine the effects of an education reform effort, a management improvement

strategy in the form of a professional learning community (PLC), on student performance

outcomes for 10th-grade high school students by analyzing pre- and postintervention Arizona

Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) test scores in mathematics and reading between

experimental and control groups. With a high rate of education reform failure, the specific

problem is that educational leaders are making decisions on what type of reform efforts to

implement without any empirical evidence to gauge the success of a specific reform effort

before implementation. Results of between-group analysis for mathematics showed a

significant difference in AIMS test score data. However, results of within-group analysis for

mathematics indicated no significant difference in AIMS test scores post-PLC

implementation. Results of between-group and within-group analysis for reading showed no

significant difference in AIMS test score data. The overall conclusions are that PLCs may

provide some benefit to teacher communication, teacher-to-principal interactions, or

improvements to collaborative learning. However, none of these elements contributed to any

measurable improvements in student performance outcomes in mathematics or reading.