Making Teamwork Meaningful

Focus on developing people—not just improving test scores. The authors examine how staffing decisions can strengthen professional learning communities and explore actions that can help school leaders safeguard their schools against complacency. Collect tips and strategies that every teacher can adopt, and apply the professional development techniques that prove most useful.

Meet any challenge, any day, with clarity, competence, and confidence. Written with the needs of urban educators in mind, this essential guide shares specific action steps and ready-to-use tools for supporting successful Professional Learning Communities at WorkR. From scheduling teacher collaboration time to using data to inform high-quality instruction, author Bo Ryan delivers field-tested practices that lead to high levels of student achievement. Collaborative teams will: Access excellent, data-backed reproducibles Make immediate changes that positively impact student learning Realize the value in the resources you have and leverage them Gain insight into the PLC at Work process Reflect on your own personal mindsets and ways you personally can improve Contents: Introduction Chapter 1: A Culture of Care Chapter 2: A Culture of Collaboration Chapter 3: A Culture of Learning Chapter 4: A Culture of Effective Instruction Chapter 5: A Culture of Continuous Improvement Final Thoughts Appendix Strategy Implementation Guide Learning Block Planning Tool Data Team Meeting Templates Teacher Framework Intervention Action Plan Learning Block Planning Tool Examples References and Resources Index

Extant literature on evidence-based instructional strategies mediated by elementary and secondary school leaders is surprisingly scant. Seeking to fill the gap, the editors of this book have curated the research and craft knowledge of eminent and emergent practitioner scholars who collectively provide a starting place for aspiring and practicing principals. Each author builds on research-based instructional practice in schools and districts in which they have worked, either as principals or as school-university or service-provider partners. They provide examples, action plans, frameworks, lessons learned, and strategies to successfully develop and implement research- based instruction and supporting structures in schools and classrooms. University principal-preparation program planners, public school district leaders, and alternative leadership- preparation providers will find this book eminently useful. Similarly, members of National Association of Elementary School Principals, National Middle School Association, National Association of Secondary School Principals, University Council of Educational Administration Leadership for School Improvement Special Interest Group, Learning and Teaching in Educational Leadership Special Interest Group, and American Education Researchers Association Division A will find relevance to their work.

What if everything we thought we knew about effective teacher evaluations was wrong? A Guide to Impactful Teacher Evaluations walks educators through an important shift in thinking about how to evaluate teachers: from systems focused on individuals and results to solutions focused on collectives and processes. Disregarding older, ineffective models that rely on faulty assumptions, this book embraces new approaches for measuring teacher competency that achieve valid assessment of effective teaching, teacher professional growth, and student learning. Chapters explore teacher evaluation systems based on professional learning community principles, confront the current system of teacher evaluation that has led to frustration, criticism, and disrespect, provide strategies for delivering new skills and supporting teachers’ growth, and include "Tips and Talking Points" for schools and districts. Outlining best practice and sharing actionable tools grounded in collaboration and teamwork, this book helps K-12 school leaders explore teacher evaluation that has a real and lasting impact on the profession and student learning.

In his classic book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni laid out a groundbreaking approach for tackling the perilous group behaviors that destroy teamwork. Here he turns his focus to the individual, revealing the three indispensable virtues of an ideal team player. In The Ideal Team Player, Lencioni tells the story of Jeff Shanley, a leader desperate to save his uncle’s company by restoring its cultural commitment to teamwork. Jeff must crack the code on the virtues that real team players possess, and then build a culture of hiring and development around those virtues. Beyond the fable, Lencioni presents a practical framework and actionable tools for identifying, hiring, and developing ideal team players. Whether you’re a leader trying to create a culture around teamwork, a staffing professional looking to hire real team players, or a team player wanting to improve yourself, this book will prove to be as useful as it is compelling.

Creating Effective Teams: A Guide for Members and Leaders provides expert-backed strategies for cultivating top-performing teams across public and private industries. The updated Seventh Edition offers cutting-edge methodologies tailored to modern work dynamics, supporting maximum productivity and collaboration.

The author explores the consequences that arise for workers and organizations in today's world of work, analyzing how participative workers create a discipline of teamwork.