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How Teams Work

A Playbook for Distributing Leadership

By: Cathy Lassiter, Douglas Fisher, Toni Faddis, Nancy Frey

Illustrations by Taryl Hansen

In an educational landscape that is experiencing rapid changes and challenges, How Teams Work: A Playbook for Distributing Leadership is a critical companion for those aspiring to craft effective and resilient teams within schools.

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Product Details

Grade Level: PreK-12
ISBN: 9781071948743
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2024
Page Count: 128
Publication date: April 16, 2024

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Review copies may be requested by individuals planning to purchase 10 or more copies for a team or considering a book for adoption in a higher ed course. To request a review copy, contact sales@corwin.com.

Description

Foster Trust, Accountability and Engagement in Your Teams

Creating strong, cohesive teams is an art, and How Teams Work: A Playbook for Distributing Leadership is the essential guide for school leaders looking to master this craft. This interactive playbook doesn't just advise but actively equips leaders with the tools they need to foster trust, accountability, and engagement in their teams.

School leaders today face a critical mandate: to empower, engage, and work in concert with their teams to foster a positive and productive school environment. How Teams Work doesn't offer mere platitudes—it offers practical strategies and tools, with concept maps, learning intentions, team challenges, reflection prompts and more. Information is organized into six modules exploring:

The foundational role leaders play in team dynamics
Strategies to bring together and mobilize effective leadership teams
Methods to forge and maintain team unity and collaboration
How to build and maintain trust and respect within teams
Practical tools for maximizing team productivity and decision-making
Guidelines on reflective leadership to assess and improve team performance

How Teams Work isn't only a resource; it's a roadmap to sustainable success, illuminating the path to nurturing leadership at every level. In an age where the turnover of educators is high and the need for sustained, collective school improvement efforts is urgent, leveraging the power of teams isn't just advantageous—it's essential.

Author(s)

Cathy Lassiter

Cathy Lassiter, Ed.D., is an international consultant with over 35 years of combined experience as a public school teacher, principal, central office administrator, and consultant. Her areas of expertise are in Visible Learning, Teacher Clarity, and all aspects of school leadership. Before this role, she held various positions including Executive Director of Middle Schools and Senior Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Staff Development. She also was a successful middle school principal and was named Virginia's Middle School Principal of the Year. Cathy has served as an adjunct professor at The George Washington University, teaching graduate courses in educational leadership.

Douglas Fisher

Douglas Fisher is professor and chair of educational leadership at San Diego State University and a leader at Health Sciences High and Middle College. Previously, Doug was an early intervention teacher and elementary school educator. He is a credentialed teacher and leader in California. In 2022, he was inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame by the Literacy Research Association. He has published widely on literacy, quality instruction, and assessment, as well as books such as Welcome to Teaching, PLC+, Teaching Students to Drive their Learning, and Student Assessment: Better Evidence, Better Decisions, Better Learning.

Toni Faddis

Toni Faddis, EdD, is a Corwin author and full-time professional learning consultant. Toni was previously a bilingual teacher and Reading Recovery specialist in elementary and middle schools, as well as a principal in San Diego. In addition, Toni served as a district central office leader responsible for equity, access, and leadership development throughout the largest elementary school district in California. She holds teaching and administrative services credentials in California and earned her doctoral degree in educational leadership from San Diego State University. Toni also mentors and coaches current and aspiring school leaders in the Educational Leadership Department at San Diego State University. Toni is the co-author of PLC+: A Playbook for Instructional Leaders, Collaborating Through Collective Efficacy Cycles, and The Ethical Line.

Nancy Frey

Nancy Frey is professor of educational leadership at San Diego State University and a leader at Health Sciences High and Middle College. Previously, Nancy was a teacher, academic coach, and central office resource coordinator in Florida. She is a credentialed special educator, reading specialist, and administrator in California. She is a member of the International Literacy Association’s Literacy Research Panel. She has published widely on literacy, quality instruction, and assessment, as well as books such as The Artificial Intelligences Playbook, How Scaffolding Works, How Teams Work, and The Vocabulary Playbook.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Module 1: Leading Teams is the Work of Leaders

Module 2: Activating Leadership Teams

Module 3: Creating Leadership Team Cohesion

Module 4: Conveying Collective Leadership Team Credibility

Module 5: Leveraging Processes, Protocols, and Tools for Leadership Teams

Module 6: Thinking Evaluatively as Leadership Teams

A Call to Action: Rethinking Leadership Teams

Reviews

This sums up my thinking about leading teams: Observation, conversation and evaluation are the heartbeats of building and sustaining leadership teams!

Timothy Blackwell
Principal, Arden elementary School, Columbia, SC

This is a MUST read for anyone who takes on the role of leadership in education. Fisher and Frey make the compelling case, with a sense of urgency, for a new way of leading schools through expanded, empowered, and engaged school leadership teams. They argue that doing anything less is irresponsible and fraught with consequences! How Teams Work provides a perfect synergism of reflection, insight, and learning that leads to sustained, competent, cohesive, and credible leadership teams.

Tyler Gilbert
Academic Coach, Calwa Elementary School, Fresno Unified School District

This book goes beyond basic personality tips to generate shared leadership opportunities. Creating schools with shared leadership teams must have successful processes and protocols to create teams who live with purpose, speaking in unison.

Amy Klung
Principal, Bluewater Elementary, Niceville, FL

How Teams Work makes it clear that distributive leadership is not about delegating responsibilities or lightening the proverbial workload of the principal. Instead, it is an opportunity to empower and engage teachers and other staff members as decision-makers and leaders in their own right. After reading this publication, I am convinced that leadership teams are some of our most underutilized and undervalued resources.

Quantina Haggwood
Executive Director of Schools, Richland District One, Columbia SC

Other Titles in: Leadership | Organizational Tools | Collaboration & Team Building

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Related Professional Learning

Related Institutes

How Teams Work Institute

Related Resources

Introduction to How Teams Work [Book Excerpt]
Leading Teams is the Work of Leaders, How Teams Work Module 1 [Book Excerpt]