Corwin Working Together in Schools: A Guide for Educators

"A book for our times―a useful and usable book that places collaboration at the center of school improvement. Donaldson and Sanderson make an important contribution to the building of professional community in schools." Thomas J. Sergiovanni Lillian Radford Professor of Educational Administration and Senior Fellow Center for Educational Leadership Trinity University Donaldson and Sanderson show you how to help your entire staff discover a common goal--improved learning for students―and move toward it together. The authors give you insightful, step-by-step guidance on exactly how to accomplish this. Learn how you can increase the effectiveness of your teaching staff so that every student benefits by improved learning. Encourage teachers′ personal growth by encouraging them to use creative teamwork to find alternate solutions to tough school problems. Bring staff together to address complicated school concerns as a group. Build your student-oriented school from the inside by encouraging everyone to work toward better instruction. This book is designed to help parents, teachers, principals, and other school staff work together more easily to teach kids better. Find out how collaboration can: Build and reinforce common educational goals Dramatically raise teaching levels Boost teachers′ leadership skills Enrich your school′s culture by keeping decision-making on site Involve parents with their children′s′ education Dozens of great, simple ideas and strategies help you turn common, pressing school challenges into opportunities for effective working together. Find out how bringing parents into the equation can further enhance students′ learning experiences. Use the thoughtful, real-life examples provided in each chapter to build a unified teaching and learning community at your school. Let the down-to-earth, practical advice here help you and your staff begins working together more effectively--and your students will reap the reward of a better education.