Spark a culture of success. Building a professional learning community that fosters collaboration and collective responsibility can create lasting change and improve student learning schoolwide. Investigate the five challenges to school improvement, and uncover research-based strategies to confront them. Read a true account of a school that experienced reform, reversed its culture of failure, and reaped lasting results.

Discover high-impact leadership strategies for a thriving learning community! Faced with the growing demands of leadership in today’s schools, how can principals and teacher leaders ensure their actions will impact teaching and learning in positive ways? This compelling new book by Thomas Many and Susan Sparks-Many provides straightforward solutions for the complex challenges school leaders face. Discover how implementing a few specific high-leverage strategies, grounded in the core beliefs of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), can promote lasting improvement in schools. This book’s concrete examples of high-leverage, evidence-based practices help you: Understand the essential role principals and teacher leaders play in leading PLCs Foster an understanding of how PLCs can support implementation of major instructional shifts such as the new Common Core State Standards Apply high-leverage strategies across your own school and district to improve instruction and better serve the needs of all students You’ll find invaluable self-assessment forms, templates, case studies, planning examples, and more. Use Leverage as your essential leadership tool to transform your school into a thriving learning community! "In Leverage, the authors craft a coherent and compelling argument for doing less but going deeper in support of school reform. A thoughtful sense of the literature informs approaches that we all need help with—how to integrate and align our efforts in supporting student success and how to do that in sustainable ways." —Peter Dillon, Superintendent Berkshire Hills Regional School District, Stockbridge, MA "If you are wondering which items should be at the top of your priority list, read this book, after which you will truly know what is important and how to implement sustainable change in your school that will result in better student achievement." —Jim Anderson, Principal Andersen Jr. High School, Chandler, AZ "This book addresses PRECISELY the tension that so many of us feel. The whole concept of leverage crystallizes what we′ve been wrestling with in our building." —Ryan Giegling, Second-Grade Teacher Ganiard Elementary, Mt. Pleasant, MI

This all-encompassing anthology delivers clear steps that leaders can take throughout the PLC at Work® process to turn their priority schools around. Every key topic is considered and discussed--from prioritizing time for collaboration to implementing effective coaching to aligning school and district goals. Over the course of thirteen chapters, readers will grow in their role as leaders and gain a clear vision of how to evolve their priority school into a thriving place of learning. ● Discover how to effectively reframe accountability so everyone buys into the collective aspect of student learning. ● Focus on creating and aligning SMART goals--schoolwide, at the collaborative team-level, and at the individual teacher-level. ● Get ideas for extending work for proficient students, which can help boost a school's grade. ● Provide targeted feedback and effectively moderate and liaise within your professional learning communities. ● Implement a strong, collaborative coaching system to support teacher development. Contents: Introduction (Sharon V. Kramer) Chapter 1: Leveraging Shared Leadership in the Priority School (Robin Noble) Chapter 2: Building Collaborative and Passionately Agreed-To SMART Goals (Jack Baldermann) Chapter 3: Leading School-Improvement Work With Intention (Karen Power) Chapter 4: Focusing on Collective Responsibility (Joe Cuddemi) Chapter 5: Taking the First Five Steps in High School Improvement (Tamie Sanders) Chapter 6: Challenging Proficient Students (Michael Roberts) Chapter 7: Giving All Teachers the Coach They Deserve (Michelle Marrillia) Chapter 8: Providing Feedback on the Right Work (Sarah Schuhl) Chapter 9: Monitoring Productivity Instead of Activity (Rebecca Nicolas) Chapter 10: Employing High-Level Strategies From the District Office (Gerry Petersen-Incorvaia) Chapter 11: Aligning the Arrows for Continuous-Improvement Planning With SMART Goals (Kimberly Rodriguez Cano) Chapter 12: Building a Culture (Karen Power) Chapter 13: Ensuring the District Guiding Coalition and School Learning Team Have Impact (Gerry Petersen-Incorvaia)

Paul Bambrick-Santoyo (Managing Director of Uncommon Schools) shows leaders how they can raise their schools to greatness by following a core set of principles. These seven principles, or "levers," allow for consistent, transformational, and replicable growth. With intentional focus on these areas, leaders will leverage much more learning from the same amount of time investment. Fundamentally, each of these seven levers answers the core questions of school leadership: What should an effective leader do, and how and when should they do it. Aimed at all levels of school leadership, the book is for any principal, superintendent, or educator who wants to be a transformational leader. The book includes 30 video clips of top-tier leaders in action. These videos bring great schools to you, and support a deeper understanding of both the components of success and how it looks as a whole. There are also many helpful rubrics, extensive professional development tools, calendars, and templates. Explores the core principles of effective leadership Author's charter school, North Star Academy in Newark, New Jersey, received the highest possible award given by the U.S. Department of Education; the National Blue Ribbon Print version includes an instructive DVD with 30 video clips to show how it looks in real life. E-book customers: please note that details on how to access the content from the DVD may be found in the e-book Table of Contents. Please see the section: "How to Access DVD Contents" Bambrick-Santoyo has trained more than 1,800 school leaders nationwide in his work at Uncommon Schools and is a recognized expert on transforming schools to achieve extraordinary results.

Provides specific information on how to transform schools into results-oriented professional learning communities, describing the best practices that have been used by schools nationwide.

Expand your leadership capacity. Through this how-to guide, you’ll investigate why strong leadership is a crucial element of successful PLCs and delve deep into what leadership should involve at the district and site levels. Discover leadership strategies for creating a collaborative culture, learn how to build shared values among educators, and explore tools and techniques for monitoring progress on your PLC journey.

Discover high-impact leadership strategies for a thriving learning community! This compelling new book provides straightforward guidance and solutions for educators working to transform their school environments. Concrete examples of practical, high-impact, and evidence-based practices help you leverage the “big ideas” of Professional Learning Communities to promote lasting improvement in your school. You’ll learn to: Understand the essential role principals and teacher leaders play in leading PLCs Foster an understanding of how PLCs can support implementation of major instructional shifts such as the new Common Core State Standards Apply high-leverage strategies across your own school and district to improve instruction

Busy administrators will appreciate this quick read packed with immediate, accessible strategies. This book provides the framework for understanding dynamic relationships within a school culture and ensuring a positive environment that supports the changes necessary to improve learning for all students. The author explores many aspects of human behavior, social conditions, and history to reveal best practices for building healthy school cultures.

Collaborate for schoolwide success. Establishing a collaborative culture can significantly impact student achievement and professional practice. With this how-to guide, you’ll gain clarity on the work of teams in a PLC and uncover the elements of effective team development. Discover skills and behaviors that individuals and teams can improve regarding communication, facilitating data conversations, and managing consensus while working together.

Transform your district with thriving professional learning communities. Implementing high-performing PLCs can enhance educators’ outlooks and dramatically improve learning for all students. With this user-friendly guide, your team will discover practical, research-based strategies for committing to districtwide PLC implementation, navigating challenges along the way, and ensuring sustainable practices are in place for far-reaching, lasting results.