Teaching and Learning Teams as an Implementation Architecture for System Improvement: A PLC+ Case Study

This single-district case study reports a program evaluation of Spartanburg School District Two’s Teaching and Learning Teams (TLTs), aligned locally to the PLC+ framework, as the implementation architecture used to organize, scale, and sustain instructional improvement across schools. Using a convergent mixed-evidence approach, the evaluation integrated semi-structured interviews with district and school personnel (n = 18), a districtwide educator survey (n = 487) including paired retrospective items, a key informant interview (n = 1), and aggregated student achievement indicators reviewed descriptively across the implementation period. Interview findings documented consistent TLT routines anchored in standards unpacking, shared learning intention and success criteria language, and recurring cycles of formative evidence review tied to instructional response. Survey results reflected substantial before-to-current shifts in core clarity routines and broad agreement that instructional planning, student learning, and engagement improved. Educators also described changes in student learning behaviors, including increased articulation of learning goals, more criteria-anchored feedback interactions, and stronger progress monitoring. District outcome indicators are presented as descriptive evidence aligned with the implementation period. The case illustrates how an implementation architecture can organize instructional work, stabilize expectations, and enable sustained improvement across a complex, multi-initiative district context.