Peter M. DeWitt

A new way to think together, work together, and impact students… together. Despite regular meetings and planning sessions, collective leader efficacy often remains an untapped resource, leaving leadership teams working in silos and increasing the challenge of creating environments where every student and adult can thrive. Lead Collectively bridges this gap by providing a comprehensive framework for shared understanding, joint work, and evidence-based decision-making to strengthen leadership teams and amplify their impact on teaching and learning. Drawing on decades of leadership experience and research, authors Peter M. DeWitt and Michael Nelson offer actionable tools, protocols, and insights to help educational leaders foster trust, coherence, and accountability. Additional features include: A step-by-step Collaborative Inquiry Cycle to guide leadership teams from identifying problems of practice to tracking measurable resultsGuidance on integrating AI tools to analyze data, assess impact, and enhance collaborationCase studies and real-world stories illustrating how schools and districts have transformed their leadership practices through collective efficacy More than a guide, Lead Collectively is an invitation for leaders to foster collaboration to achieve meaningful, lasting change. Whether you’re leading at the school or district level, this book equips you with the tools to grow as a leader and drive measurable improvement for your students and educators.

Deepen your connections with students, staff, and your larger community. Behind every thriving school or district are deeply interconnected teams that consistently engage in a reciprocal transfer of learning. Leading With Intention aims to make this process visible by helping leaders and teachers understand how their thinking impacts their decision-making and the overall well-being of their learning communities. Through five highly practical chapters, authors DeWitt and Nelson explore self-awareness, nurturing human interconnectedness, collective inquiry, establishing a learning network, and crafting a personal learning environment. Filled with research, stories, and places to process information, this timely book is focused on how educators think, the choices they make, and how they develop deeper academic and social-emotional connections. Other features include: Success criteria to help readers identify personal goalsSuggested activities to apply knowledgeReflection sheets with guiding questionsIn-depth examples to illustrate content School-leaders will come away with a deeper understanding of the importance of self-awareness in leadership and the pedagogical knowledge required to focus initiatives on student learning. Leading with Intention helps education leaders go from being merely ‘on task’ to deeply engaged and reconnected with why they entered the education profession in the first place.

When it comes to school initiatives, more isn’t always better. Today’s educators are buried under old practices, new ideas, and recommended initiatives. The problem? With such an abundance of strategies, it’s hard to recognize what, if anything, is working. Before you’re tempted to add just one more idea to the pile, take a step back—and an objective look—so that you, central office leaders, building leaders, and teachers can decide which practices to keep, which to modify, and which to eliminate altogether. This guide provides A research- and evidence-based framework for determining efficacyPractical steps for removing, reducing, or replacing ineffective practicesAction steps, examples, and tips for beginning the work—and getting teacher buy-inTemplates for charting your school’s individual path to de-implementation Ineffective practices don’t just waste teacher time; they can have a catastrophic impact on student progress. Use de-implementation to shine a light on the path forward—one where teachers can focus on what works, and students can focus on learning.

Not just another book on leadership teams For school teams to succeed, they need leadership, independence, meaningful collaboration, and a shared conviction that they have real power to enact actual change. Educators know this, but they often lack an inquiry process that creates a community of learning leaders that is capable of deep collective impact on student learning and wellbeing. In this research-based, hands-on guidebook, school leadership coach Peter DeWitt introduces eight key drivers to integrating teacher and leader efficacy (mindset, well-being, context beliefs, working conditions, professional learning, organizational commitment, skills, and confidence) and harnesses it with a process to help you focus on the nuances of instruction and teaming to develop powerful collective leader efficacy. Readers will find: Activities and strategies designed to build collective efficacy in instructional teams and foster leadership and interdependence among teachersTheories of action to focus team efforts and how to create your ownTools, reflection prompts, and guiding questions to help you define your desired outcomes and the steps necessary to get there With this book and the research within it, your instructional leadership team will develop a learner’s mindset, a collective commitment to improvement, and a shared process for inquiry and continual growth so you can nurture greater impact together.

Bridge the gap between good intentions and real results Instructional Leadership is one of the most researched and discussed leadership practices, but most school leaders don’t know where to begin or how to balance this role with all of their other responsibilities. Peter DeWitt’s Instructional Leadership provides practical tools for delivering lasting improvement through small, manageable changes over time. This step-by-step, how-to guide presents the six driving forces of instructional leadership—implementation, focus on learning, student engagement, instructional strategies, efficacy, and evaluation of impact—within an easy-to-follow, multi-stage implementation model. It also includes: · Practical strategies grounded in research · "Entry point" sections highlighting the best places to start · Help working with PLCs, faculty meetings, teacher observations, and walkthroughs · Study questions As a leader, you are the guide for your teachers, staff, and students. Let this book guide you to a vision of instructional leadership that really works.

Peter DeWitt offers leaders practical high impact strategies to improve school climate, deepen involvement in student learning, and engage broader family networks. Focusing on community stakeholders and research-based practices, this book features tools to help leaders build their self-efficacy as well as creating an early warning system to identify potential at-risk students. Establishing a supportive and inclusive school climate where professionals can take risks to improve the lives of students is vital to maximizing learning in any school community.

Get the fuel you need to drive collaborative leadership in your school!What type of leadership do you practice? Many of us rely on transformational and instructional leadership. But there are advantages in applying a holistic angle including all stakeholders-an approach known as collaborative leadership. Peter DeWitt unpacks six factors framed through John Hattie's research while painting a powerful scheme: meet stakeholders where they are, motivate stakeholders to strive for improvement, model how to do it. The blueprint will inspire you to:Transform your leadership practice Identify where you can make changes Build and empower your team Incorporate all stakeholders into the conversation

This short book will be a guide for school leaders on how to flip communication with staff members, parents, and the larger school community. The author emphasizes that flipping information - or providing information in digital form so that recipients can ingest it on their own time, before coming together to discuss in person - allows for richer face-to-face discussions and more meaningful face-to-face meetings. The book will offer both step-by-step guidance on various tools that enable flipping communication as well as the rationale for why flipping provides for a more meaningful school community and relationships between staff members.

All students deserve a safe, respectful school environmentStudents who identify as lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgendered are susceptible to being harassed by their peers and are at high risk of dropping out of school. This book provides professional development ideas and strategies that will help educational leaders foster a more caring school culture not only for LGBT students, but for all students. Peter DeWitt provides specific strategies for school leaders that includeImplementing a student code of conduct and school board policies to safeguard studentsHelping staff members recognize and respond to overt and covert LGBT issuesProfessional development guidelines to equip staff to interveneWays to include appropriate LGBT topics in the curriculumSupporting Gay-Straight Alliances (GSA) in middle and high school settingsThis practical and compassionate guide contains numerous cases and examples, proposed strategies and templates for codes of conduct (including the NY Code), book study questions, and links to pertinent articles, websites, and blogs for further information. Dignity for All helps inform educators of the issues and methods for building acceptance in a diverse world.