She earned a bachelor of science degree from Stephens College. She earned master of education degrees in early childhood education and middle school administration, a specialist degree in elementary administration, and a doctorate in education in general administration from the University of Missouri.
To learn more about Terri’s work, follow @drtlm on Twitter.
Cameron L. Rains is the assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction for Clark-Pleasant Community School Corporation. In this role, he is part of a team working to ensure that all students in the district learn at high levels. Cameron also serves as a Marzano Research associate, where he delivers professional development on a wide range of topics across the United States. Previously, Cameron served as a teacher and instructional coach, and he acquired almost ten years of administrative experience as a director of elementary education and director of curriculum and instruction.
Cameron is passionate about school and district leadership and applying research findings in the school environment. He coauthored an article on the importance of reading fluency for Reading and Writing Quarterly and is coauthor of the book Leading a High Reliability School.
Cameron earned a bachelor of science degree in elementary education and a master of science degree in educational leadership from Indiana University. He also holds an educational specialist degree and a doctorate in educational leadership from Ball State University.
To learn more about Cameron’s work, follow @CameronRains on Twitter.
To book Terri L. Martin or Cameron L. Rains for professional development, contact [email protected].
FOREWORD
By Robert J. Marzano
Stronger Together by Terri L. Martin and Cameron L. Rains is both straightforward and unique in its approach to leadership. It is straightforward in the sense that it makes the case that no one can lead effectively in isolation. Just as it takes a village to educate a child, it takes a team to lead the school that educates that child. Interestingly, this relates directly to the burgeoning field of collective efficacy. At its most basic level and as it relates to K–12 schooling, collective efficacy means that teachers and leaders in a building truly believe that they can have more of a positive impact on students if they work as an integrated team, than they can if they operate as individuals.
While this simple premise has been articulated before, albeit expressed in different ways, it has previously not been articulated in steps as concrete as those that Martin and Rains provide. They propose six questions that, when answered, allow leaders to marshal the collaborative efforts of educators in a building or district in such a way that collective efficacy is a natural byproduct.
Question 1: What kind of leader am I? There is no correct answer to this question. However, its answer should provide a leader with clear guidance on how to interact with others. Specifically, leaders should emphasize and capitalize on their own strengths.
Question 2: How can I earn trust? The answer to this question is less open ended than is the answer to the first question. More specifically, Martin and Rains demonstrate that trust is earned by demonstrating intensity, empathy, accessibility, and humility.
Question 3: How do I build teams? The answer to this question should be guided by the growing body of work on the PLC process. Specifically, leaders should assemble different teams to meet the specific needs of their schools. When doing so, they should utilize the expertise of others and ensure stakeholder representation.
Question 4: How can I help develop a vision? This question involves specific actions a leader should take. Martin and Rains recommend that leaders begin by differentiating facts from beliefs since it is beliefs that are the basis for visions. But visions must be realistic, and facts can serve to help hone visions into an attainable yet inspiring possible future. Obviously, a school’s vision should be shared by all relevant stakeholders and used by the leader to generate commitment to concrete goals that are grounded in the vision.
Question 5: How can I support teams? As before, the answer to this question should be guided by established PLC practices. These include examining common times; creating team tools; focusing on curriculum, instruction, and assessment; examining data; and monitoring progress.
Question 6: What, when, and how should I communicate? Arguably, this last question is the most important since it deals with day-to-day interactions with others. The quality of these interactions most probably has a one-to-one relationship with the quality of one’s leadership. High-quality interactions involve listening to others, sharing with others, and celebrating others.
Stronger Together not only affirms a belief held by many leaders but also provides actionable guidance for actualizing this belief.
INTRODUCTION
Beginning Thoughts
No one can lead alone. After all, an educational leader’s day can easily include a student missing the bus, an accident occurring in the pick-up lane, a teacher calling in sick, the cafeteria running out of cereal, and a bathroom pipe leaking—all in the first thirty minutes of the day and having nothing to do with learning. The responsibilities are too much for a single individual, with expectations of proficiency not only in management but also in pedagogy, instruction, assessment, curriculum, technology, research, staff evaluation processes, data analysis, and more. When you add making sure teachers have what they need and ensuring that students show academic growth, you can easily see that leadership is not a one-person job. It requires collaboration. But there is a way to protect sanity, strengthen organizations, and increase success: leading collaboratively.
Collaborative leadership requires someone to recognize and utilize the strengths of many people toward a single goal or vision. A collaborative leader fosters leadership skills in others and empowers them to be responsive to an organization’s needs. It is not enough to understand the required work and accomplish the goals that are tied to that work. After all, great leaders do not lead tasks; great leaders lead people. Working in tandem with and promoting leadership in colleagues not only supports an organization but also facilitates goal achievement. Richard DuFour (2015) offers this blunt but true message: “No one person has the energy, expertise, and influence to fulfill all the responsibilities of your job successfully. If you try to do it all by yourself, you will fail” (p. 225). To wit, author Linda Lambert (1998) states that “when we equate the powerful concept of leadership with the behaviors of one person, we are limiting the achievement of broad-based participation by a community or a society” (p. 5). A broader leadership community makes the difference.
The following sections in this introduction define collaborative leadership, this book’s audience and framework, and our hopes for you, the reader.
EXAMINING YOUR CURRENT REALITY
As you read this chapter, consider the following questions. Reflect on your personal growth as a leader and your support of growing leadership within your organization.
• How do you feel at the end of the day?
• What does your to-do list look like?
• Who supports you, and how do they provide that support?
• In what ways does that