Keep, Start, Stop, or Improve Chart

members and leaders of the Sanger Unified team for over a decade, we will speak to the paradoxes, research, and lessons that impacted our experiences and tenure. New and veteran practitioners alike will gain valuable insight into the importance of collective efficacy at all levels of the school organization in three critical areas: (1) balanced leadership, (2) how to build and empower teams, and (3) collective learning with a systematic response. The first six chapters focus on building six different aspects to enhance collective efficacy. Chapter 1 discusses changing organizational culture, exploring efforts to change a toxic culture of dysfunction into one of intentionality and reflection by utilizing Margaret J. Wheatley’s (1992) concept of below the green line (BTGL). Chapter 2 stresses the importance for teams to discover their purpose—the connection to something greater than themselves. Leaders that help teams find the “right why” speak to the heart of human beings and develop hope around a compelling message. In chapter 3, we examine the importance of unleashing the power of a meaningful vision that incorporates and involves all stakeholders in the crafting of the vision through collaboration. Chapter 4 then presents our case that belief and accountability are essential components in building collective team efficacy. When leaders can inspire through non-negotiable beliefs and convictions, teams cultivate an ability to take on challenging situations. In chapter 5, we discuss the process for using integrity as the reward for autonomy to build the collective commitments of teacher teams. We explore why merely having norms may not be enough for some teams, and how using autonomy to build and reinforce behaviors is crucial for building collective efficacy. Then, in chapter 6, we finalize our story by putting the focus on collaboration as the foundation for building collective team efficacy. Chapter 7 then combines all these lessons together and introduces our Theory of Action, a framework of understanding for how teams assess and build collective team efficacy and how teams can identify the types of experiences they need to foster and enhance collective team efficacy. In the epilogue, we tie everything together so teams can internalize the clear and compelling case for prioritizing collective efficacy. Lastly, to assist teams in measuring and improving collective efficacy, we share tools, resources, and processes at the end of each chapter as well as in the appendix. The first six chapters include the following sections.

• The Challenge: This opening section provides a description of the organizational experience and sets the context for the chapter. • The Change: This section describes the change event (or events) that

Sanger’s leadership instituted to address the identified challenge. • Leadership Paradoxes: This section defines the specific paradoxes that challenged team collective efficacy during a specific time period and helps leaders and teachers see the balance required to successfully build collective efficacy.

• Leadership Research: This section reflects on the research that helps define the paradoxes discovered previously. • Reflection Questions: This section provides the reader an opportunity to reflect on what has been shared thus far and gives them thoughts to consider as they work to improve collective team efficacy in their own districts. • Leadership Lessons: In this section, we present our learnings from the challenge we experienced as we sought to build collective team efficacy. • Practitioner Perspectives: These insights and experiences from various practitioners within Sanger Unified School District bring to life the lessons individual teachers learned during that specific time in the turnaround journey. • Conclusion: This section allows us to consolidate the learning of the chapter into one succinct lesson that gives practitioners considerations for building collective team efficacy in their own schools. • Next Steps: Each chapter includes a 1–5–10 rating tool to assist teams in evaluating their current reality against a standard of essential elements that help build collective team efficacy. Self-assessment must occur first, followed by teams collectively assessing the sum of their findings. This will lead to a quick organizational acknowledgment and provide potential changes that are connected to the overarching themes for leadership. The 1–5–10 tools pave the way for increased awareness and further alignment in key areas most valued by the organization.

Our Hope

The book highlights some of the most important experiential lessons for us as both leaders and practitioners. As you explore the following chapters, please consider our hope for this book: that you, as educators, consider creating the conditions necessary to foster collective team efficacy that will directly and positively impact the lives of children. It is important to underscore the profound and lasting impact that collective efficacy can have on school organizations. Universal educational constructs such as leadership, vision, culture, and collaboration are all undeniably influenced by collective efficacy, for better or for worse. Therefore, if leaders can learn and create the conditions necessary to foster high levels of collective team efficacy, school organizations are more likely to experience the changes necessary to attain higher levels of student achievement. Finally, we ask that you reflect; find parallels to your own story; and apply the paradoxes, research, and lessons we learned at Sanger Unified to the schools and organizations you serve. We truly hope that by reading this book, you may learn vicariously through our experience, hardships, and insights that will help to build collective efficacy for your organization.

CHAPTER 2

BUILDING PURPOSE TO ENHANCE COLLECTIVE EFFICACY

“To inspire starts with clarity of WHY.

—Simon Sinek

Rachel Eells (2011), in her dissertation titled Meta-Analysis of the Relationship Between Collective Teacher Efficacy and Student Achievement, writes, “Together, people can accomplish that which one person cannot. Social action depends on a belief that a group can effect change. Collective efficacy helps people realize their shared destiny” (p. 51). Building purpose to enhance collective efficacy for Sanger would require leaders to examine exactly “Why do we exist?” (DuFour et al., 2010). To answer this, leaders were compelled to reflect on their personal and collective journeys and draw on examples from the past.

One of the greatest visionaries of modern time was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In his famous speech on August 28, 1963, during the March on Washington, King brought a powerful vision infused with greater purpose as he stood before his fellow Americans. “I have a dream!” were the words etched in the annals of history. He didn’t say, “I have a strategy,” or “I have a program,” or “I have a schedule.” The people in attendance, physically or otherwise, were inspired for change because he presented a shared destiny and delivered it heart-to-heart with extraordinary belief and undying conviction. The why of Dr. King’s message was a higher calling, a higher purpose, that connected millions of people to something greater than themselves.

To this end, collective efficacy begins and ends with beliefs: the beliefs of individuals and the beliefs within teams. Decades of research have continued to make the