The role of professional communities for the implementation of innovative educational projects

taking into account the requirements of the Russian Federation federal regulatory and legal framework and the existing practices of the scientific and methodological services, the article examines specific features of the establishment and maintenance of teachers’ professional communities. The author considers these communities as a continuous education tool formed on the basis of internal (regional and municipal) associations of professionals who can discuss, suggest and find solutions to the topical issues of modern education. The article identifies and justifies voluntary nature and self-management as the main principles of community activity. It also identifies the following characteristics of professional community: homogeneity of its participants, multiple levels of interaction; the limited number of participants, community openness; interrelation between internal and external potential; multiple performance directions, etc. Through the example of the publishing house «Akademkniga/Uchebnik», the author demonstrates the re-sources of external partners that can improve the effectiveness of professional community activities. Based on the results of a project workshop held by a publishing house «Akademkni-ga/Uchebnik» on the expert platform with the participation of representatives from 24 regions of the Russian Federation in 2014 in the Moscow region, the supporting materials have been developed. They are aimed to support the participants and organizers of professional communities. The present article is of interest to education managers, scientific and methodological services staff and a wide range of teaching community representatives.