Unlocking Group Potential to Improve Schools

How great groups make great schoolsTraining leaders how to conduct effective meetings is important, but it's not enough to ensure that the professional development process is valuable. This field book shows educators how to develop group culture, enhance facilitators' skills, and optimize the group's most precious resource-its members. The authors describe how to form working committees, task forces, grade-level, and department teams, and faculties that are more effective and better equipped to resolve complex issues around student learning. Specific topics include Understanding eight principles that underlie effective groupsLearning the five standards for effective meetingsSetting clear goals and rolesPracticing new ways of talking for improved collaborationExamining perceptions and mental modelsEnhancing energy sourcesWorking with conflictDeveloping basic facilitation skillsThis practical guide's special features include the newly updated seven norms of collaboration, a sample team assessment survey, instruments for assessing meeting effectiveness, an extensive bibliography, and practical examples embedded throughout the text. Practitioners will find a valuable road map for leading effective, student-focused school improvement efforts.