I hope everyone had a wonderful Spring Break.  We are on the home stretch for this school year....

Today, Learning Forward shared an interesting study that finds link between school climate, teacher turnover, and student achievement in New York City Schools.  You can access the study at this LINK.

Four aspects of middle school organizations were identified:

1. Leadership and professional development;
2. High academic expectations for students;
3. Teacher relationships and collaboration; and
4. School safety and order.

Of course, I was interested in the collaboration aspect of the study.  Here are a couple highlights from their study about collaboration.

• "Over time, teachers improve their ability to raise student achievement more when they work in school environments characterized by meaningful opportunities for feedback, productive peer collaboration, responsive administrators, and an orderly and disciplined environment" (Kraft, Marinell, & Yee, 2016, p. 3).
• "The third factor, Relationships, primarily reflects items that capture the nature of teacher relationships and collaboration in a school and explains 14% of the total variance" (Kraft, Marinell, & Yee, 2016, p. 12).

After reading over the study, what are some insights you gained from it?

There is a professional resources reading list available as part of the collaborative inquiry toolkit located at http://www.mnpscollaboration.org/reading-list.html.

Are there other articles, research, and/or resources around collaboration that you can share?

If so, please email them to Margie Johnson at margie.johnson@mnps.org.

"Trust is the glue of life.  It's the most essential ingredient in effective communication.  It's the foundation principle that holds all relationships together."  ~Stephen Covey

Component C of the MNPS IC Map for Collaborative Inquiry is all about fostering a culture of trust.  When groups have high relational trust, "it is safe to display both high competence and vulnerability" (Lipton & Wellman, 2012, p. 13).  There is a section on the Seven Qualities of High-Performing Groups--Scaled Group Inventory and the Seven Qualities of High-Performing Groups--Self-Assessment Inventory (see below questions).  I encourage you to review the questions about yourself and your teams to gauge the trust levels. 

Using the data from the inventories, what might be some strategies you start using to increase the trust levels?  Here's the link to the Component C Resources, which may help.

If you already have high levels of trusts, do you have resources to share with others?  If so, please email Margie Johnson at margie.johnson@mnps.org.  I will add them to the MNPS Collaboration website and share with others in the next blog post.

Have a great week.  T-2 days until Spring Break begins.  :)  Have a wonderful break!

Scaled Group Inventory Questions about Trust:

• Do we clarify and communicate high expectations for ourselves as a group?
• Do we make it safe not to know?
• Do our actions reflect our commitments?

Self-Assessment Inventory Questions about Trust

• What makes me feel safe or not in this group?
• How am I making it safe for others?
• Am I following through on my commitments?

Reference:
Lipton, L, & Wellman, B. (2012).  Got data? Now what?: Creating and leading cultures of inquiry.  Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

"Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend." ~Theophrastus

And....once it's spent, you can never get it back.

Therefore, the premise of collaborative inquiry is to work toward developing highly efficient and effective teams, so time is not wasted and impact is maximized.

Last week several of us got to spend time in a workshop with Dr. Laura Lipton.  Day one of the session was all about providing us with structures, strategies, and principals for facilitating collaborative inquiry teams.

While reflecting upon the workshop, I wondered if there was a video from Dr. Lipton about data teams.  I found one that I want to share entitled, Growing as a Group: Effective Use of Teacher Time. 

In this video, she discusses the 5 Assumptions of Effective Group Work.  I’ll list them below the video, but also want you watch the 6 min video as she explains the assumptions and their application.

1. Assessment and Feedback drives group growth.
2. Group development and task accomplishment intertwine.
3. When groups change the way they talk, they change the way they work.
   
4. Comfort with discomfort is necessary for group learning.
5. Patterns become habits, and habits become norms.

In two places in the video, she mentions group assessments and/or inventories.  If you group is looking for one, see the below links:

• Component A Resources
  • Got Data? Now What? Reflect Upon Your Experiences
  • Got Data? Now What? Scaled Group Inventory
  • Got Data? Now What? Self Assessment Inventory
• Component B Resources
  • Gap Analysis Tool
  • Meeting Reflection Tool
• Component C Resources
  • Got Data? Now What? Determining Your Stage of Group Development

If you have other resources to share, please email them to Margie Johnson at margie.johnson@mnps.org.

Here’s to a great week of learning and growing……  Countdown to spring break: 8 days.  :)