There is a lack of alignment between K-12 and higher education about the expectations for student skill and content knowledge. Too often, students leave the K-12 system ill prepared for success in higher education. One approach to increasing alignment has been supported by the California Partnership for Achieving Student Success (Cal-PASS), which uses longitudinal data on student outcomes to support regional conversations among educators within a discipline at the K-12, community college and university level. These conversations lead to "innovations" (usually an intervention of some kind) that seeks to improve academic success as students transition from one educational segment to the next. This study sought to understand why educators participate in such conversations, how they serve to increase alignment in curriculum and instruction, and how, if at all they impact broader systems through policy and diffusion of innovation. This qualitative case study focused on the workings and dynamics of a group of science educators, primarily from one large secondary district and the local community college. It employed document review, observation and semi-structured interviews for data collection and drew heavily upon Etienne Wenger's concept of Communities of Practice as a lens through which to consider the dynamics of the group. Findings suggest that educators participating in this Professional Learning Council sought to advance an intrinsically logical approach to science education in contrast to many of the illogical approaches that they attribute to No Child Left Behind and other educational reforms. While the council has successfully developed interventions that have demonstrated a positive impact on student success, their structure and process prevents them from achieving the systemic impact that Cal-PASS intends for the councils to achieve. [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.]