Form an Effective Team

Improving schools requires a team effort with active participation and support from all parties including:

Labor: Teachers, paraprofessionals, administrative and support staff and union leaders
Management: superintendents, principals, school board members and district support staff constitute management.
Parents: Parents, guardians and other caretakers
Community members: Representatives from community-based organizations, social service and neighborhood organizations and associations and other community leaders

The Center for School Improvement encourages all of these groups to work together and commit to the process of improving schools.

Characteristics of effective school improvement teams include:

A shared mission
A climate of trust and openness
Open and honest communication
Responsibility shared by all
Diversity and flexibility of members valued as an asset
Climate of creativity and risk taking
Ability to evaluate progress
Members who are interdependent
Consensual decision making
Participative leadership

Examples of districts that have formed effective teams that support school improvement

Resources

Collective Efficacy
This PowerPoint presentation summarizes research on district collective efficacy. AFT.

Center for School Improvement Leadership Institute

A Call to Action: Transforming High School for All Youth
The National High School Alliance describes a common framework for leaders at all levels of education and in the community to engage many different groups in the work of improving high schools. National High School Alliance (April 2005).