The issue of finding time for collaboration has been addressed effectively—and often—in the professional literature and is readily available for those who are sincerely interested in exploring alternatives. The National Staff Development Council alone has addressed the issue hundreds of times in its publications, and the www.allthingsplc.info website lists over 150 schools that have created time for teachers to collaborate in ways that don’t require the school to be shut down, don’t cost money or result in significant loss of instructional time.

We have built a master schedule to provide each PLC team time to engage in collaborative, rather than individual, planning. We call this time "Extended Learning Time”.