{"id":2653,"date":"2025-12-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carnegie25live.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=2653"},"modified":"2026-01-28T09:32:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T17:32:12","slug":"the-social-structure-of-networked-improvement-communities-cultivating-the-emergence-of-a-scientific-professional-learning-community-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carnegiefoundation.org\/the-social-structure-of-networked-improvement-communities-cultivating-the-emergence-of-a-scientific-professional-learning-community-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Social Structure of Networked Improvement Communities: Cultivating the Emergence of a Scientific-Professional Learning Community"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"gb-container gb-container-9f092ff3\">\n<div class=\"gb-container gb-container-f749780f\">\n\n<figure class=\"gb-block-image gb-block-image-76d64e57\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"263\" height=\"350\" class=\"gb-image gb-image-76d64e57\" src=\"https:\/\/www.carnegiefoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/NIC_Framework_cover-263x350-1-1.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"NIC_Framework_cover-263x350-1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.carnegiefoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/NIC_Framework_cover-263x350-1-1.png 263w, https:\/\/www.carnegiefoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/NIC_Framework_cover-263x350-1-1-225x300.png 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 263px) 100vw, 263px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-fsb-flexible-spacer fsb-flexible-spacer\"><div class=\"fsb-flexible-spacer__device fsb-flexible-spacer__device--lg\" style=\"height:64px\"><\/div><div class=\"fsb-flexible-spacer__device fsb-flexible-spacer__device--md\" style=\"height:64px\"><\/div><div class=\"fsb-flexible-spacer__device fsb-flexible-spacer__device--sm\" style=\"height:64px\"><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>This paper describes a framework for network development. The framework describes the technical core of improvement activity as well as how networks structure roles and relationships and foster norms and identities that form the social structure of the community working and learning together. View the related video for an introduction to the framework with examples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Networked Improvement Communities are scientific professional learning communities distinguished by four characteristics. They are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>guided by deep, shared understanding of the problem, the system that produces it, and a shared theory of improvement.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>focused on a well-specified common aim.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>disciplined by the rigor of improvement science.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>coordinated to accelerate developing and learning about changes and their effective integration into practice across varied educational contexts.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>The paper, The Social Structure of Networked Improvement Communities: Cultivating the Emergence of a Scientific-Professional Learning Community, describes how NICs create a social structure to catalyze the type of community that can solve complex problems. It offers a framework intended as an analytic tool for thinking and reasoning about NIC emergence and maturation. The framework describes the technical core of improvement activity as well as how networks structure roles and relationships and foster norms and identities that form the social structure of the community working and learning together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.carnegiefoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/The_Social_Structure_of_Networked_Improvement_Communities.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><u>The Social Structure of Networked Improvement Communities (PDF)<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-fsb-flexible-spacer fsb-flexible-spacer\"><div class=\"fsb-flexible-spacer__device fsb-flexible-spacer__device--lg\" style=\"height:80px\"><\/div><div class=\"fsb-flexible-spacer__device fsb-flexible-spacer__device--md\" style=\"height:80px\"><\/div><div class=\"fsb-flexible-spacer__device fsb-flexible-spacer__device--sm\" style=\"height:80px\"><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"gb-container 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The framework describes the technical core of improvement activity as well as &#8230; <a title=\"The Social Structure of Networked Improvement Communities: Cultivating the Emergence of a Scientific-Professional Learning Community\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.carnegiefoundation.org\/the-social-structure-of-networked-improvement-communities-cultivating-the-emergence-of-a-scientific-professional-learning-community-2\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about The Social Structure of Networked Improvement Communities: Cultivating the Emergence of a Scientific-Professional Learning Community\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2654,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"inline_featured_image":false,"ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[],"client_controls":[],"class_list":["post-2653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-improvement-science-collection"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Social Structure of Networked Improvement Communities: Cultivating the Emergence of a Scientific-Professional Learning Community - Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.carnegiefoundation.org\/the-social-structure-of-networked-improvement-communities-cultivating-the-emergence-of-a-scientific-professional-learning-community-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Social Structure of Networked Improvement Communities: Cultivating the Emergence of a Scientific-Professional Learning Community - Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This paper describes a framework for network development. 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