Small Shifts, Meaningful Improvement

Collective Leadership Strategies for Schools and Districts

P. Ann Byrd, Alesha Daughtrey, Jonathan Eckert, Lori Nazareno

• Publisher: ASCD
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN: 9781416632368
• eBook ISBN: 9781416632375
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Administration

Meaningful improvement in schools and districts is just small shifts away. How can administrators and teachers work together in ways that lead to significant—and sustained—improvement over time? How can schools accomplish this goal without adding to the work of overstretched educators? This practical guide answers these questions with recommendations for small, practical, powerful shifts that educators can make to their daily practice.

In Small Shifts, Meaningful Improvement, P. Ann Byrd, Alesha Daughtrey, Jonathan Eckert, and Lori Nazareno define collective leadership, a set of practices through which teachers and administrators work together to improve teaching, learning, and innovation. They explore the seven conditions of collective leadership and their corresponding shifts that, when effectively implemented, make a difference:

* Adapting, not adopting, a shared vision and strategy
* Building co-ownership, not buy-in, through supportive administration,
* Mindfully aligning resources and capacity,
* Developing supportive social norms and working relationships to build culture and continuity,
* Growing shared influence authentically and organically,
* Creating an orientation toward improvement, and
* Structuring an intentional work design to support sustainability.

The authors share stories of real schools and districts that have implemented the shifts and provide useful tools that educators can use as they begin their own efforts. Both informative and inspiring, Small Shifts, Meaningful Improvement supports leadership work that will advance how administrators and teachers collaborate, learn together, generate solutions to longstanding challenges, and make those solutions stick over time.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Epigraph
• Table of Contents
• 1: Collective Leadership: A Practice, Not a Program
• 2: Adapting, Not Adopting: Creating a Shared Vision and Strategy for Change
• 3: Co-Ownership, Not Buy-In: Engaging Collective Expertise Through Supportive Administration
• 4: Mindful Use, Not More: Aligning Resources and Capacity to Get Change Off the Ground
• 5: Strategies, Not Sentiments: Developing Supportive Social Norms and Working Relationships to Build Culture and Continuity
• 6: Responsibility, Not Roles: Nurturing Shared Influence Authentically and Organically
• 7: Learning, Not Liability: Creating an Orientation Toward Meaningful Improvement
• 8: Aligned, Not Ad Hoc: Structuring Work Design to Support Sustainability
• 9: A Call to Collective Action
• References
• Index
• About the Authors
• Related ASCD References
• About ASCD
• Back Cover