The busy administrator’s guide to creating strong teams, changing culture, and improving performance Research shows that “teacher collective efficacy” can increase student learning more than any other strategy. In fact, using powerhouse teams can achieve four years of student growth in a single calendar year. Horton’s practical guide offers: Short activities that require little to no preparation that you can use to deepen conversation at your very next meeting Step-by-step tools to help your team move from identifying its biggest challenges to choosing and implementing successful reforms Strategies to enhance teamwork, trust, and collaboration so your team becomes as effective as possible

Hackman (social and organizational psychology, Harvard U.) identifies the factors of being a team leader that will enable a team to work together efficiently to achieve organizational goals. He suggests that five conditions are necessary: having a real team, a compelling direction, an enabling team structure, a supportive organizational context, and expert team coaching. He integrates insights from interviews with team leaders with concepts from the social sciences. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

What are the causes of distrust? How do members of school teams discuss traditionally taboo topics? This field guide begins with personal exercises designed for leaders to use before they engage with staff. A variety of team exercises and a progressive series of strategies follow, to move the community toward a more trusting environment.

This user-friendly guide presents the proven strategies of top experts on creating and guiding effective work teams From recruiting and motivating members to setting ground rules and mediating problems, Leading Teams arms managers with a step-by-step plan and practical tools for maximizing productivity in any team setting. Key features Instructs readers how to: Organize a team with complimentary skills Clarify team goals, roles, and responsibilities Foster trust, creativity, and risk-taking Get teams back on track after a setback Collaborate to achieve team objectives

People are the most important resource in education and their effective leadership and management is vital to the success of all educational organizations. This new collection of readings provides an up-to-date account of current thinking about working with people in education, both as individuals and in teams. The book deals with the ways in which people perform in the workplace and examines effective leadership and management of human resources.

In this sequel to Total Instructional Alignment, the author peels back complex layers of the change process to reveal the five big ideas at the core of successful schools. Focus on these foundational ideas to simplify decision making and eliminate distractions from your efforts to promote effective teaching and learning. Teachers and administrators alike will appreciate this straightforward approach to solid leadership for school improvement.

Learn how to promote teacher, student, and collective efficacy Teachers are a school’s greatest resource. Excellent teachers make excellent schools. Leading Impact Teams taps into the scheduled team planning time every school already has, and repurposes it in a model that provides the processes needed to build teacher expertise and increase student learning. The model combines two existing practices, formative assessment and collaborative inquiry, and promotes a school culture in which teachers and students are partners in learning. Readers will learn how to: Build a culture of efficacy Take collective action Embed student-centered assessment in the classroom culture Clarify learning goals for success Leverage progressions of learning for “just right” instruction Utilize evidence-based feedback