Collaborative Professionalism:  When Teaching Together Means Learning for All
by Andy Hargreaves and Michael T. O’Connor, Corwin, Thousand Oaks, Calif., 2018, 147 pp. with index, $21.95 softcover

Collaborative Professionalism is another solid contribution to the field of educational leadership from Andy Hargreaves, a research professor at Boston College’s Lynn School of Education. Hargreaves’ distinguished career includes winning the Grawemeyer Award in 2015 for Professional Capital, which he co-authored with Michael Fullan. This time Hargreaves has partnered with Michael T. O’Connor, assistant director of the Providence Alliance for Catholic Teachers program at Providence College.

The authors consider it a given that collaboration is essential. They define collaborative professionalism as the effectiveness of how well people collaborate to improve practice. The context of their discussion is the “Four B’s”: before, betwixt, beyond and beside.

The Four B’s seem a bit contrived, but the larger point they make is important. According to the authors, the system must consider factors that preceded the current conditions: outside of schools themselves (partnerships, etc.); beyond the walls of their specific institution (international practices, other successful organizations, e.g.); and supports that can lay the foundation for success, such as funding sources and professional learning networks.

Hargreaves and O’Connor outline five collaborative practices through case studies of vastly different types of schools from around the world. The five practices are open class and lesson study, collaborative curriculum planning networks, cooperative learning and networking, collaborative pedagogical transformation, and professional learning communities (PLCs). Parts II and III of the book are the “how to” for practitioners, including the 10 Tenets of Collaborative Professionalism and a deeper dive into the Four B’s.

The authors assert that high functioning PLCs are moving into their third generation, one of a sustained and systematic culture of collaborative inquiry, whereas the second generation was characterized by a focus on short-term strategies that influence student achievement.

Overall, Collaborative Professionalism is both a solid review of the principles of effective collaborative practices and a work that encourages reflective thought for ongoing professional growth.

Reviewed by David Moyer, superintendent, Elmhurst School District 205, Elmhurst, Ill.

A Fork in the Road: Narrative Problem Solving for School Leaders
by J. Michael Wilhelm, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Md., 2018, 135 pp, $25 softcover

J. Michael Wilhelm has a 45-year career in education as a teacher, principal and superintendent. He is currently the vice chair of Maine’s Charter School Commission and a consultant for the Maine Department of Education. 

A Fork in the Road was developed to help educational leaders understand complex organizational issues. It utilizes ideas from the concept of narrative therapy, an approach to counseling that separates people from their problems so new perspectives may be gained and people can become empowered to make changes to their thought patterns and behaviors.

Each chapter in the book details an issue that could arise in an educational setting, including a conflict between a board member and a superintendent, a controversy about curriculum, a school safety situation and a damaged relationship between a high school principal and a department head. Each wrap up with essential questions the reader should think about to externalize, deconstruct and then resolve the issue.

The 12 stories provided in the book focus around a character that has an immediate issue to be resolved. The stories utilize narratives of additional characters, whose own stories impact the main story. The externalizing questions provided by the author at the conclusion of each story allow the reader to define the problem and the deconstruction questions allow a better view of the problem from multiple perspectives of all the characters involved. The final chapter of the book provides an analysis of each scenario.

The use of scenarios in education certainly can be powerful. Teachers utilize scenarios in classrooms to provide students with real-life examples that provide an opportunity to develop skills in analytical thinking, collaboration and communication. Graduate students and those seeking leadership certifications for school and district administration typically run through case studies, and many district and school leadership teams conduct tabletop exercises to plan and practice protocols related to school safety.

The type of illustrative learning showcased in the book, based on a multitude of issues faced by school district leadership, provides a format for questions, discussion, and real contexts and connections. Utilizing this book prior to an actual situation could provide a non-stressful opportunity to practice, reflect and learn. The book is geared for superintendents, but could also serve as a collaborative book study for central office leadership and building principals as well as university professors who are seeking well-described, complex case studies as a basis for class discussion. The stories are realistic. Every administrator will be able to relate.
    
Reviewed by Marilyn King, deputy superintendent for Instruction, Bozeman Public Schools, Bozeman, Mont.

The Governance Core: School Boards, Superintendents, and Schools Working Together
by Davis Campbell and Michael Fullan, Corwin, Thousand Oaks, Calif., 2019, 179 pp. with index, $28.95 softcover

Public education in the United States relies on quality local governance by school board members and superintendents. These leaders navigate political and social challenges as a team, yet there are few books dedicated to supporting their leadership efforts as a team.  

Davis Campbell (former executive director of the California School Boards Association and chair of the University of California, Davis School of Education) and Michael Fullan (professor emeritus of the University of Toronto and co-leader of the New Pedagogies for Deep Learning) bring their collective expertise to provide a helpful leadership framework in The Governance Core: School Boards, Superintendents, and Schools Working Together.

This book outlines a comprehensive framework for effective governance by a cohesive unified team. Concepts are clearly explained and illustrated by examples from actual school systems. There are practical tools to guide discussion. It would be an excellent book for superintendents and board members to collectively read, reflect and self-evaluate.

Effective governance is critically important to the success of any public school system, and this book offers a candid look at the skills necessary to govern successfully as a team. It is a powerful read for an individual, but the true power of this book comes from the conversation it can begin for governance teams together.

Reviewed by Theresa Alban, superintendent, Frederick County Public Schools, Frederick, Md.

 

Leadership is a Life Skill: Preparing Every Student to Lead and Succeed
by Mariam G. MacGregor, Free Spirit Publishing, Minneapolis, Minn., 2018, 150 pp. with index, $23.99 softcover

As all levels of education seek to prepare students for success in their future careers, Mariam MacGregor brings this very topic to light in her book Leadership is a Life Skill: Preparing Every Student to Lead and Succeed. Through emphasizing the need to cultivate leadership in every student, every educator and everyone seeking to bring their best self to life, MacGregor takes a deep dive into making a difference starting at the ground level — not just for adults, but early in our students’ classroom experiences.

Leadership is a Life Skill provides characteristics of leadership cultures, offers an understanding of what soft skills employers are looking for in their hires and how to create effective leaders in our students. Skills such as self-awareness, working with others, communicating and listening, decision-making and problem-solving taught to students as young as elementary school will only enhance their abilities by the time they go to college and prepare for their future career.

As MacGregor so eloquently states, “Developing socially and emotionally mature leaders relies on encouraging young people to act with conviction, compassion, and resourcefulness to reach goals. These benchmarks are measured by students’ abilities to color outside the bubbles, not fill them in!” As educators at all levels within PK-16, we all must take to task our responsibilities to prepare our future leaders.

Reviewed by Priscilla A. Boerger, chair, Department of Education, Regis College, Weston, Mass.


Shattering Inequalities: Real-World Wisdom for School and District Leaders
by Robin Avelar La Salle and Ruth S. Johnson, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Md., 2018, 147 pp. with index, $32 softcover

In Shattering Inequities, former California school administrator Robin Avelar La Salle and California State University professor emeritus and author Ruth S. Johnson detail ways to address deeply-entrenched disparities in a practical and sensitive way.

Each chapter revolves around a real-life example derived from the authors’ work in improving schools and districts serving high-poverty, high-minority communities.

As they unravel processes and the assumptions on which they are based, the authors provide what equity leaders should say and do — without being mean spirited and confrontational — when they encounter obstacles, such as pushback from staff, roadblocks from district bureaucracy, and systems of grading, class assignments and scheduling that serve to exacerbate existing inequalities. They even suggest what leaders with an equity lens should say and do when they don’t know what to say and do. 

This book is powerful because of its specificity and concreteness, attributes not always found in leadership texts. This is “real-world wisdom,” indeed.

Reviewed by Ronald S. Thomas, interim department chair, Instructional Leadership and Professional Development Department, Towson University, Baltimore, Md.


Uncommon Leadership: Live Well, Lead Strong for Courage and Integrity
by Debbie McFalone, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Md., 2018, 92 pp., $22 softcover

Debbie McFalone leads the ASCD Instructional Leaders Institute and teaches at Michigan State University with a focus on empowering and equipping instructional leaders to be resilient and transformational leaders.

She was inspired by a troubling coaching session with a talented young administrator who exemplified much of what McFalone works to inspire. However, when the administrator said she knew she could do the job, but added, “I’m just not sure for how long,” McFalone could see there was a problem. She decided that her institute needs to provide the tools that will make leaders more resilient and courageous in their important roles as administrators. This book shares what she developed.

Uncommon Leadership was written to give aspiring and acting leaders the skills and attitudes necessary to thrive in their personal and professional lives. Uncommon leaders are described as those who develop two key characteristics. First, they “live well” by “intentionally cultivating habits of reflection and mindfulness that keeps them in touch with their beliefs.” Second, they develop the courage and integrity to align their actions with their beliefs and “lead strong.”

The book begins with a recommendation to slow down, reflect and think about what really matters in one’s personal and professional life. Each chapter then builds on self-reflective questions and protocols to help the reader give deep consideration to the suggestions the author believes will guide leaders to successful careers and lives.  

The importance of self-awareness and self-care surfaces throughout the book, beginning with a chart that clearly shows the dangers of being a servant leader who sacrifices personal for professional life. McFalone notes that a servant leader who takes care of personal and family needs will be energized as a leader and will be a more effective role model.

An especially strong section of the book talks about dealing effectively with difficult conversations. McFalone shares reasons leaders might give to avoid difficult conversations with teachers or other administrators who are not living up to expectations. Dismissing each of the reasons for not holding the conversation, McFalone says simply that, “You must act on what is best for the organization and you must uphold the high standards to which you aspire.” She says that failure to move forward would break trust with the good educators and the children leaders serve. She then lays out a protocol that readers can adapt to guide themselves through the difficult conversations and follow up actions to take.

Reviewed by Bob Schultz, adjunct professor and co-chair of Brandman University School of Education advisory board, Sacramento, Calif.


What We Know About Grading: What Works, What Doesn’t, and What’s Next
edited by Thomas R. Guskey and Susan M. Brookhart, ASCD, Alexandria, Va., 2019, 236 pp. with index, $29.95 softcover

What We Know About Grading, is edited by Thomas Guskey and Susan Brookhart, professors at the University of Kentucky and Duquesne University, respectively. Both are national experts in grading and assessment.

The book contains eight chapters of research gathered from a team of distinguished scholars. Each chapter addresses a different area of research and describes how the findings may lead to improve grading policy and practice. Topics include reliability in grading, report card grades, composition of grades, surveys of teacher grading practices, standards-based grading, grading students with learning differences, leadership for grading reform and grading in higher education. Each chapter also contains a listing of research conducted on the topic and a brief summary of findings.

I particularly enjoyed the chapters on students with learning differences and leadership for grade reform. With learning differences, the author reviewed the research on determining grades for students with learning disabilities and offered a five-step process for linking IEP goals to general curriculum standards and reporting student learning meaningfully and clearly. The author quickly admitted that much more research is required on this topic.

In the chapter regarding leadership for grade reform, the major finding was the vital role of the principal in moving successfully into this initiative. The critical themes discussed were frequent communication, teacher collaboration, training and time to guide work. While support from the central office and extensive reading of the research is important, the principal’s leadership is essential for change to take place.

Several themes emerged throughout the book, including starting with clear learning goals, the importance of clear feedback, accuracy of the grading and multiple grading opportunities. The book is better suited to leaders who want to make changes in grading policies and who are willing to have a huge commitment into doing the work necessary to achieve this goal. 

Reviewed by Paul A. Shaw, director of educator ethics, Georgia Professional Standards Commission, Atlanta, Ga.

 

Children’s Mental Health
A new report from the Board on Children, Youth and Families calls for the creation of a broad-based effort to improve the mental, emotional and behavioral health for children and youth.

Statewide Reform
A new report by Marc S. Tucker of the National Center on Education and the Economy discusses how American education lags behind 24 other nations in performance and the impact on the economy, democracy and social stability of many Americans.

Digital Learning
Schoology surveyed more than 9,200 education professionals about their challenges, priorities and use of ed-tech tools to further student achievement. The survey found, for the second successive year, professional development tops the list.

Sports Participation
For the first time in 30 years, participation in high school sports declined in 2018-19 after reaching an all-time record the previous year, according to a survey conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations.

Instructional Materials
A new white paper from Learning Forward found that implementing high-quality instructional materials is complex and requires intensive support for educators.

Head Start Classes
A new study from the American Educational Research Association found that the high-stakes accountability policies used to monitor the quality of Head Start preschool centers may misrepresent their quality.

Social-Emotional Learning
Early support for parent engagement and its effects on child outcomes, SEL at different ages, and how SEL influences teacher well-being, health equity and school climate are some of the topics covered in a series of issue briefs from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

INSIGHTS Program
Students in the INSIGHTS social-emotional learning intervention were less likely to receive special education services between kindergarten and fifth grade, according to a study published in AERA Open.