CHAPTER 1
Meaningful Collaboration
©️2022 by Solution Tree Press
The most valuable resource that all teachers have is each other. Without collaboration, our grow th is limited to our own perspectives.
—Robert John Meehan
K
–12 schools and districts face daunting challenges as they strive to ensure all students learn at high levels and are prepared to be successful when they exit the school system. These challenges, such as student mobility, family trauma, and inconsistent preschool preparation, multiply as educators work with diverse student populations with a wide range of learning needs. Coupled with increased federal, state or provincial, and local accountability, schools and districts face an intensified need to eliminate the ineffective practice of educators working in isolation—when educators are left to themselves to determine what to teach, how to best teach it, how to assess, and how to respond to the varying needs of their students. Most educators have had experience being part of a team at some point in their lives; maybe it was on an athletic team, in the school band, or at work, such as Jon’s first job as a busboy. In Jon’s team experience, the cooks prepared food and placed it on plates. The servers served the plates of food to the customers. Jon cleared the plates, washed them, and returned them to the cooks. They worked as a team. As a Coast Guard officer, Brig was part of lifesaving teams conducting dangerous rescues,
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