What Leaders Can Do To Help Collaborative Teams
Stages of Practice
Characteristics
Leaders Can Help By:
Filling the Time
Not knowing what to do and/or
trying to do too much
Defining specific tasks: creating
essential outcomes or common
assessments; creating norms
Sharing Personal Practices
Teams begin to make instruction
“transparent”
Asking for team products—agree on
what those products should look
like?
Planning, Planning,
Planning
Team members use more common
pacing & common instructional
strategies; members delegate
responsibilities (share the work)
Teams identify what proficiency
looks like; determine what evidence
is needed
Challenging teams to focus on
learning rather than teaching & to
share data on results
Developing Common
Assessments
Providing support with difficult
conversations & modeling strategies
for consensus decisions
Analyzing Student
Learning
Teams begin to rely on the data to
determine what comes next
Providing support with data analysis
& with creating safe & trusting
environment
Differentiating Follow-up
Teams respond by providing
additional time and support for
students & taking collective
responsibility
Teams engage in reflection &
professional learning
Posing provocative questions which
encourage team “ownership.”
Reflecting on Instruction
Helps teachers find time to share
and learn together & observe each
other
Graham, P. & Ferriter, B., One Step at a Time, Journal of Staff Development, Summer, 2008,
p.38-42. Used with permission from NSDC (4-16-2010).