How great groups make great schools



Training 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 groups


Learning the five standards for effective meetings


Setting clear goals and roles


Practicing new ways of talking for improved collaboration


Examining perceptions and mental models


Enhancing energy sources


Working with conflict


Developing basic facilitation skills


This 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.