Leading School Teams
Building Trust to Promote Student Learning
David M. Horton
- Education Consultant
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eBook
ISBN:
9781506344935
Available from
January 0001
Paperback
ISBN:
9781506344928
Available from
January 0001
Description
The busy administrator’s guide to creating strong teams, changing culture, and improving performance
How effective is your team? Research shows that “teacher collective efficacy”—when all teachers are collectively engaged and focused on improvement—can do more to increase student learning 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 will help you form your own dream team through:
- Short activities that require little to no preparation that you can use to deepen conversation at your very next meeting
- Step-by-step tools that will help your team move from identifying its biggest challenges to choosing and implementing successful reforms
- Strategies to enhance teamwork, trust, and collaboration so that your team becomes as effective as possible
Horton will help you connect people, build trust, discover strengths, and clear barriers to reach greater teacher and program effectiveness—and ultimately raise student achievement.
This book provides leaders and teams with a blueprint of how to work through a problem to find possible solutions while valuing each member of the team. This is not an easy task at any level and to have a resource to provide guidance for those tough situations is always welcomed.
Nicky Kemp, Assistant Superintendent
North Callaway R-1 School District
Leading School Teams allowed our team to address the lack of processes and the finger pointing and tension that went along with it. It was surprising how quickly the activities and discussion brought out the meat of the issues within our team. Because of the natural manner in which the issues were approached, team members felt respected and accomplished after each session.
Eric Dahlstrom
Principal, Dartmouth Middle School
Contents
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments
About the Author
About the Author
Introduction
- Sustained Improvement Requires Teams
- What This Book Is—What This Book Isn’t
- Quick-Start Diagnostic
- Making a Selection
- Putting It All Together
- Activity Guidelines
- Components of Team Activities
PART I. EXAMINATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF THE PROBLEM
- Chapter 1. Learning Leadership
- Leaders and Teams
- The Realities in the Leadership of Learning
- Application Activity 1.1—Assessing Your Organizational, Team, and Personal Strengths
- Application Activity 1.2—Effective Learning Leaders
- Application Activity 1.3—Strong Learning Teams Exhibit Common Characteristics
- Conclusion
- Chapter 2. A Problem Worth Solving and the Ideas to Solve It (the Filters)
- Introduction
- Ideas Are Fragile—Ideas Are Delicate
- The Fosbury Flop, Ski Jumping, and Newton
- Application Activity 2.1—Treating Ideas in a Learning Organization
- Application Activity 2.2—Ideas That Don’t Work: Part of the Process
- Application Activity 2.3—It Takes Other People Sooner or Later
- Application Activity 2.4—Who and What You Have Around You
- Deeper Use of This Chapter (Deeper Dive)
- Conclusion
- Chapter 3. Why Solve the Problem That Needs Solving (the Filters)
- Introduction
- Application Activity 3.1—What the Result of a Great Decision Looks Like
- Application Activity 3.2— Reasons to Have the Idea in the First Place
- Application Activity 3.3—The Problem That Needs Solving: Clear, Concise
- Application Activity 3.4—The Role of the Leader in Developing Ideas
- Application Activity 3.5—Harnessing the Forces Around You
- Deeper Use of This Chapter: Deeper Dives
- Conclusion
PART II—INTROSPECTION, BEHAVIORS, TYPES: THE HOW AND WHO TO SOLVE PROBLEMS
- Chapter 4. How the Problem Is Solved
- Introduction
- Application Activity 4.1— Importance of a Process
- Application Activity 4.2—Trust
- Application Activity 4.3—Fear of Conflict
- Application Activity 4.4—Commitment
- Application Activity 4.5—Accountability
- Application Activity 4.6—Attention to Results
- Application Activity 4.7—Generating Ideas and Action Steps
- Deeper Use of This Chapter: Reusable Prompts
- Deeper Use of This Chapter: Deeper Dives
- Conclusion
- Chapter 5. The People Who Will Solve the Problem
- Introduction
- Application Activity 5.1—Know How to Build and Use People
- Application Activity 5.2—The Chemistry of the Team
- Application Activity 5.3—Managing the Creative Team
- Application Activity 5.4—Handling Conflict in the Ideas From the Team
- Deeper Use of This Chapter: Deeper Dives
- Conclusion
- Chapter 6. The People in the Room (the Types)
- Introduction
- The Assessment
- The Basics
- Application Activity 6.1—Part 1/Type 1: The Idea
- Application Activity 6.2—Part 2/Type 2: Organization and Execution
- Application Activity 6.3—Part 3/Type 3: Forces of Community
- Application Activity 6.4—Part 4/Type 4: Leadership Capacity
- Using the Four Types
- Conclusion
PART III. FUNCTIONALITY OF THE TEAM
- Chapter 7. People, Leadership, Support (the Fuel Sources)
- Introduction
- Fuel Source A: The People
- Application Activity 7.1—Who
- Application Activity 7.2—What
- Application Activity 7.3—How (Coaching)
- Deeper Use of This Chapter: Deeper Dives
- Fuel Source B: The Resource of Leadership
- Application Activity 7.4—Keep Things Moving (Management Leadership)
- Application Activity 7.5—Keep People Moving (Leadership Management)
- Deeper Use of This Chapter: Deeper Dives
- Fuel Source C: The Supports
- Application Activity 7.6—Gather, Collect, Assess
- Application Activity 7.7—Feedback
- Application Activity 7.8—Systems and Barriers
- Application Activity 7.9—Performance
- Deeper Use of This Chapter: Deeper Dives
- Conclusion
- Chapter 8. Team Dynamics, Blunders, Traps, Directions, and Connecting Dots (the Pink Elephants)
- Introduction
- Application Activity 8.1—Pink Elephants
- Application Activity 8.2—Team Dynamics
- Application Activity 8.3—The Blunders
- Application Activity 8.4—The Traps
- Application Activity 8.5—Ideas as Direction
- Application Activity 8.6—Connect the Dots
- Deeper Use of This Chapter: Deeper Dives
- Conclusion
- Chapter 9. Performance, Feedback, and Other Ways to Support, Maim, or Kill a Team (the Good, the Dangerous, and the Lethal)
- Introduction
- Application Activity 9.1—The Good: Selling the Idea: A Picture Is Worth 1,000 Words
- Application Activity 9.2—The Good: Communication and Frequency
- Application Activity 9.3—The Good: Ingredients of the High-Performing Team
- Application Activity 9.4—The Dangerous: Planning Mistakes
- Application Activity 9.5—The Lethal: Lack of Feedback, Feedback, Feedback
- Application Activity 9.6—The Lethal: Mistaken Assumptions of People and Meetings
- Conclusion
- Chapter 10. Leadership, Support, Structure, and Conclusion
- Leadership
- Support
- Structure—The Overall Structure: The First 15 Minutes, the Next 45 Minutes
- Conclusion
References
References
Index
Index
Description
The busy administrator’s guide to creating strong teams, changing culture, and improving performance
How effective is your team? Research shows that “teacher collective efficacy”—when all teachers are collectively engaged and focused on improvement—can do more to increase student learning 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 will help you form your own dream team through:
- Short activities that require little to no preparation that you can use to deepen conversation at your very next meeting
- Step-by-step tools that will help your team move from identifying its biggest challenges to choosing and implementing successful reforms
- Strategies to enhance teamwork, trust, and collaboration so that your team becomes as effective as possible
Horton will help you connect people, build trust, discover strengths, and clear barriers to reach greater teacher and program effectiveness—and ultimately raise student achievement.
This book provides leaders and teams with a blueprint of how to work through a problem to find possible solutions while valuing each member of the team. This is not an easy task at any level and to have a resource to provide guidance for those tough situations is always welcomed.
Nicky Kemp, Assistant Superintendent
North Callaway R-1 School District
Leading School Teams allowed our team to address the lack of processes and the finger pointing and tension that went along with it. It was surprising how quickly the activities and discussion brought out the meat of the issues within our team. Because of the natural manner in which the issues were approached, team members felt respected and accomplished after each session.
Eric Dahlstrom
Principal, Dartmouth Middle School
Contents
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments
About the Author
About the Author
Introduction
- Sustained Improvement Requires Teams
- What This Book Is—What This Book Isn’t
- Quick-Start Diagnostic
- Making a Selection
- Putting It All Together
- Activity Guidelines
- Components of Team Activities
PART I. EXAMINATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF THE PROBLEM
- Chapter 1. Learning Leadership
- Leaders and Teams
- The Realities in the Leadership of Learning
- Application Activity 1.1—Assessing Your Organizational, Team, and Personal Strengths
- Application Activity 1.2—Effective Learning Leaders
- Application Activity 1.3—Strong Learning Teams Exhibit Common Characteristics
- Conclusion
- Chapter 2. A Problem Worth Solving and the Ideas to Solve It (the Filters)
- Introduction
- Ideas Are Fragile—Ideas Are Delicate
- The Fosbury Flop, Ski Jumping, and Newton
- Application Activity 2.1—Treating Ideas in a Learning Organization
- Application Activity 2.2—Ideas That Don’t Work: Part of the Process
- Application Activity 2.3—It Takes Other People Sooner or Later
- Application Activity 2.4—Who and What You Have Around You
- Deeper Use of This Chapter (Deeper Dive)
- Conclusion
- Chapter 3. Why Solve the Problem That Needs Solving (the Filters)
- Introduction
- Application Activity 3.1—What the Result of a Great Decision Looks Like
- Application Activity 3.2— Reasons to Have the Idea in the First Place
- Application Activity 3.3—The Problem That Needs Solving: Clear, Concise
- Application Activity 3.4—The Role of the Leader in Developing Ideas
- Application Activity 3.5—Harnessing the Forces Around You
- Deeper Use of This Chapter: Deeper Dives
- Conclusion
PART II—INTROSPECTION, BEHAVIORS, TYPES: THE HOW AND WHO TO SOLVE PROBLEMS
- Chapter 4. How the Problem Is Solved
- Introduction
- Application Activity 4.1— Importance of a Process
- Application Activity 4.2—Trust
- Application Activity 4.3—Fear of Conflict
- Application Activity 4.4—Commitment
- Application Activity 4.5—Accountability
- Application Activity 4.6—Attention to Results
- Application Activity 4.7—Generating Ideas and Action Steps
- Deeper Use of This Chapter: Reusable Prompts
- Deeper Use of This Chapter: Deeper Dives
- Conclusion
- Chapter 5. The People Who Will Solve the Problem
- Introduction
- Application Activity 5.1—Know How to Build and Use People
- Application Activity 5.2—The Chemistry of the Team
- Application Activity 5.3—Managing the Creative Team
- Application Activity 5.4—Handling Conflict in the Ideas From the Team
- Deeper Use of This Chapter: Deeper Dives
- Conclusion
- Chapter 6. The People in the Room (the Types)
- Introduction
- The Assessment
- The Basics
- Application Activity 6.1—Part 1/Type 1: The Idea
- Application Activity 6.2—Part 2/Type 2: Organization and Execution
- Application Activity 6.3—Part 3/Type 3: Forces of Community
- Application Activity 6.4—Part 4/Type 4: Leadership Capacity
- Using the Four Types
- Conclusion
PART III. FUNCTIONALITY OF THE TEAM
- Chapter 7. People, Leadership, Support (the Fuel Sources)
- Introduction
- Fuel Source A: The People
- Application Activity 7.1—Who
- Application Activity 7.2—What
- Application Activity 7.3—How (Coaching)
- Deeper Use of This Chapter: Deeper Dives
- Fuel Source B: The Resource of Leadership
- Application Activity 7.4—Keep Things Moving (Management Leadership)
- Application Activity 7.5—Keep People Moving (Leadership Management)
- Deeper Use of This Chapter: Deeper Dives
- Fuel Source C: The Supports
- Application Activity 7.6—Gather, Collect, Assess
- Application Activity 7.7—Feedback
- Application Activity 7.8—Systems and Barriers
- Application Activity 7.9—Performance
- Deeper Use of This Chapter: Deeper Dives
- Conclusion
- Chapter 8. Team Dynamics, Blunders, Traps, Directions, and Connecting Dots (the Pink Elephants)
- Introduction
- Application Activity 8.1—Pink Elephants
- Application Activity 8.2—Team Dynamics
- Application Activity 8.3—The Blunders
- Application Activity 8.4—The Traps
- Application Activity 8.5—Ideas as Direction
- Application Activity 8.6—Connect the Dots
- Deeper Use of This Chapter: Deeper Dives
- Conclusion
- Chapter 9. Performance, Feedback, and Other Ways to Support, Maim, or Kill a Team (the Good, the Dangerous, and the Lethal)
- Introduction
- Application Activity 9.1—The Good: Selling the Idea: A Picture Is Worth 1,000 Words
- Application Activity 9.2—The Good: Communication and Frequency
- Application Activity 9.3—The Good: Ingredients of the High-Performing Team
- Application Activity 9.4—The Dangerous: Planning Mistakes
- Application Activity 9.5—The Lethal: Lack of Feedback, Feedback, Feedback
- Application Activity 9.6—The Lethal: Mistaken Assumptions of People and Meetings
- Conclusion
- Chapter 10. Leadership, Support, Structure, and Conclusion
- Leadership
- Support
- Structure—The Overall Structure: The First 15 Minutes, the Next 45 Minutes
- Conclusion
References
References
Index
Index
Reviews
October 2016 | 200 pages | Corwin
| Format | Published Date | ISBN | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paperback | 28/04/2023 | 9781506344928 | $39.95 |
| Lifetime | 28/04/2023 | 9781506344935 | $36.00 |
The busy administrator’s guide to creating strong teams, changing culture, and improving performance
How effective is your team? Research shows that “teacher collective efficacy”—when all teachers are collectively engaged and focused on improvement—can do more to increase student learning 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 will help you form your own dream team through:
- Short activities that require little to no preparation that you can use to deepen conversation at your very next meeting
- Step-by-step tools that will help your team move from identifying its biggest challenges to choosing and implementing successful reforms
- Strategies to enhance teamwork, trust, and collaboration so that your team becomes as effective as possible
Horton will help you connect people, build trust, discover strengths, and clear barriers to reach greater teacher and program effectiveness—and ultimately raise student achievement.
This book provides leaders and teams with a blueprint of how to work through a problem to find possible solutions while valuing each member of the team. This is not an easy task at any level and to have a resource to provide guidance for those tough situations is always welcomed.
Nicky Kemp, Assistant Superintendent
North Callaway R-1 School District
Leading School Teams allowed our team to address the lack of processes and the finger pointing and tension that went along with it. It was surprising how quickly the activities and discussion brought out the meat of the issues within our team. Because of the natural manner in which the issues were approached, team members felt respected and accomplished after each session.
Eric Dahlstrom
Principal, Dartmouth Middle School
Table Of Contents:
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Introduction
- Sustained Improvement Requires Teams
- What This Book Is—What This Book Isn’t
- Quick-Start Diagnostic
- Making a Selection
- Putting It All Together
- Activity Guidelines
- Components of Team Activities
- PART I. EXAMINATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF THE PROBLEM
- Chapter 1. Learning Leadership
- Leaders and Teams
- The Realities in the Leadership of Learning
- Application Activity 1.1—Assessing Your Organizational, Team, and Personal Strengths
- Application Activity 1.2—Effective Learning Leaders
- Application Activity 1.3—Strong Learning Teams Exhibit Common Characteristics
- Conclusion
- Chapter 2. A Problem Worth Solving and the Ideas to Solve It (the Filters)
- Introduction
- Ideas Are Fragile—Ideas Are Delicate
- The Fosbury Flop, Ski Jumping, and Newton
- Application Activity 2.1—Treating Ideas in a Learning Organization
- Application Activity 2.2—Ideas That Don’t Work: Part of the Process
- Application Activity 2.3—It Takes Other People Sooner or Later
- Application Activity 2.4—Who and What You Have Around You
- Deeper Use of This Chapter (Deeper Dive)
- Conclusion
- Chapter 3. Why Solve the Problem That Needs Solving (the Filters)
- Introduction
- Application Activity 3.1—What the Result of a Great Decision Looks Like
- Application Activity 3.2— Reasons to Have the Idea in the First Place
- Application Activity 3.3—The Problem That Needs Solving: Clear, Concise
- Application Activity 3.4—The Role of the Leader in Developing Ideas
- Application Activity 3.5—Harnessing the Forces Around You
- Deeper Use of This Chapter: Deeper Dives
- Conclusion
- PART II—INTROSPECTION, BEHAVIORS, TYPES: THE HOW AND WHO TO SOLVE PROBLEMS
- Chapter 4. How the Problem Is Solved
- Introduction
- Application Activity 4.1— Importance of a Process
- Application Activity 4.2—Trust
- Application Activity 4.3—Fear of Conflict
- Application Activity 4.4—Commitment
- Application Activity 4.5—Accountability
- Application Activity 4.6—Attention to Results
- Application Activity 4.7—Generating Ideas and Action Steps
- Deeper Use of This Chapter: Reusable Prompts
- Deeper Use of This Chapter: Deeper Dives
- Conclusion
- Chapter 5. The People Who Will Solve the Problem
- Introduction
- Application Activity 5.1—Know How to Build and Use People
- Application Activity 5.2—The Chemistry of the Team
- Application Activity 5.3—Managing the Creative Team
- Application Activity 5.4—Handling Conflict in the Ideas From the Team
- Deeper Use of This Chapter: Deeper Dives
- Conclusion
- Chapter 6. The People in the Room (the Types)
- Introduction
- The Assessment
- The Basics
- Application Activity 6.1—Part 1/Type 1: The Idea
- Application Activity 6.2—Part 2/Type 2: Organization and Execution
- Application Activity 6.3—Part 3/Type 3: Forces of Community
- Application Activity 6.4—Part 4/Type 4: Leadership Capacity
- Using the Four Types
- Conclusion
- PART III. FUNCTIONALITY OF THE TEAM
- Chapter 7. People, Leadership, Support (the Fuel Sources)
- Introduction
- Fuel Source A: The People
- Application Activity 7.1—Who
- Application Activity 7.2—What
- Application Activity 7.3—How (Coaching)
- Deeper Use of This Chapter: Deeper Dives
- Fuel Source B: The Resource of Leadership
- Application Activity 7.4—Keep Things Moving (Management Leadership)
- Application Activity 7.5—Keep People Moving (Leadership Management)
- Deeper Use of This Chapter: Deeper Dives
- Fuel Source C: The Supports
- Application Activity 7.6—Gather, Collect, Assess
- Application Activity 7.7—Feedback
- Application Activity 7.8—Systems and Barriers
- Application Activity 7.9—Performance
- Deeper Use of This Chapter: Deeper Dives
- Conclusion
- Chapter 8. Team Dynamics, Blunders, Traps, Directions, and Connecting Dots (the Pink Elephants)
- Introduction
- Application Activity 8.1—Pink Elephants
- Application Activity 8.2—Team Dynamics
- Application Activity 8.3—The Blunders
- Application Activity 8.4—The Traps
- Application Activity 8.5—Ideas as Direction
- Application Activity 8.6—Connect the Dots
- Deeper Use of This Chapter: Deeper Dives
- Conclusion
- Chapter 9. Performance, Feedback, and Other Ways to Support, Maim, or Kill a Team (the Good, the Dangerous, and the Lethal)
- Introduction
- Application Activity 9.1—The Good: Selling the Idea: A Picture Is Worth 1,000 Words
- Application Activity 9.2—The Good: Communication and Frequency
- Application Activity 9.3—The Good: Ingredients of the High-Performing Team
- Application Activity 9.4—The Dangerous: Planning Mistakes
- Application Activity 9.5—The Lethal: Lack of Feedback, Feedback, Feedback
- Application Activity 9.6—The Lethal: Mistaken Assumptions of People and Meetings
- Conclusion
- Chapter 10. Leadership, Support, Structure, and Conclusion
- Leadership
- Support
- Structure—The Overall Structure: The First 15 Minutes, the Next 45 Minutes
- Conclusion
- References
- Index
Recent Product Reviews:
"This book provides leaders and teams with a blueprint of how to work through a problem to find possible solutions while valuing each member of the team. This is not an easy task at any level and to have a resource to provide guidance for those tough situations is always welcomed."
Nicky Kemp, Assistant Superintendent, North Callaway R-1 School District
“If you are a school or district administrator with the time, energy, and courage to take on the major concerns of your school/district and are willing to implement a plan with possible systemic change then this book is for you.”
Jim Anderson, Principal, Andersen Jr. High School
"Chapter 4 of Leading School Teams allowed our team to address the lack of processes and the finger pointing and tension that went along with it. It was surprising how quickly the activities and discussion brought out the meat of the issues within our team. It happened in a natural way that it snuck up on the team and we were in the middle of addressing the real issues before we realized what was happening. Additionally, because of the natural manner in which the issues were approached, team members felt respected and accomplished after each session."
Eric Dahlstrom, Principal, Dartmouth Middle School
"Building effective teams at all levels of an organization is critical for long-term success. Nowhere is this more evidenced than in the principal coaching I do where building vital relationships and high-performing teams transcends traditional content and data and get to the heart of what we value in one another and our collective work. Dr. Horton has laid out a comprehensive–and palatable–approach to teaming that values the individual strengths of each stakeholder and lays the foundation for teacher enthusiasm and learner engagement."
Dr. Michael Roe, Principal, Riverside Poly High School
"This year I was faced with the challenge of starting a brand new community day school, changing the paradigm of how we educate expelled and at risk youth, and implementing curriculum and procedures that are truly new and innovative choices for our teachers. As I read through Leading School Teams I saw a few specific topics that I felt were key discussions to have as a fledgling staff, but sometimes folks can be hesitant in truly being honest about difficult topics. One of the best discussions we were able to have was in regard to the following prompt from Chapter 7 of Leading School Teams: 'Do we have a system to collect data on the program or initiative? Is it simple to use and simple to understand? Have results targets been determined before the program launch?' This prompt was able to facilitate a powerful discussion on how we are evaluating our progress, and how effectively we are meeting targets that we set at the outset of the year. As a staff we are looking forward to continuing these discussions using the same format and seeing the growth that will come from vibrant and honest discussions."
Cristian Miley, Principal, ASPIRE Community Day School