This non-experimental, correlational study looked at the relationship between bureaucratic structures in middle and high schools in bringing about change in individual teacher classroom instructional practices through the centralized directive of membership in a professional learning community. Using a continuum of bureaucratic structure, from enabling to hindering, designed by Hoy and Sweetland (2001), each teacher identified the type of bureaucratic structure they believed they operated within. The teacher participants responded to a questionnaire on how involved they were and to what degree they participated with colleagues in a professional learning community during the current school year. Further, they were asked how membership in a professional learning community influenced, if at all, their instructional practices. A regression analysis showed a statistically significant relationship between enabling bureaucratic structure and a higher degree of teacher personal professional growth. A regression analysis also demonstrated a statistically significant relationship between enabling bureaucratic structure and change in instructional practices in the classroom associated with membership in a professional learning community. However, while the analyses found statistical significance, the actual effect size was low, challenging the level of practical significance of the model. One interaction of interest related to teachers who teach courses where there is a state mandated end-of-course test that impacts the school's adequate yearly progress (AYP) rating. Teachers in this group reported the highest level of change in their classroom instructional practices through membership in a professional learning community when they perceived a more enabling bureaucratic structure for the school in which they worked. Hopefully these results will help encourage future work that pertains to which bureaucratic structures are most effective in producing change in the classroom through the use of professional learning communities. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]