Creating Dynamic Schools Through Mentoring, Coaching, and Collaboration

How can you create a school environment where everyone — staff and students alike — will become an active, engaged learner? How can you develop a collegial school culture that will improve morale, expand professional opportunities, and raise student achievement? How can you make a difference in your school?

Judy F. Carr, Nancy Herman, and Douglas E. Harris show how to transform your school into a dynamic learning community. Drawing on decades of experience and success, these former educators and trusted consultants provide expert guidance on

* Identifying potential leaders and fulfilling their professional ambitions

* Selecting coaches and strengthening professional development capabilities

* Recognizing and maximizing the talents and resources of veteran and beginning teachers

* Establishing a self-renewing, satisfying mentor program

* Designing and running effective study groups

Whether you are a teacher leader, district supervisor, or principal, these valuable and practical strategies will help you build and sustain collaborative relationships in your school—and embark on a shared journey toward mutual support, continuous learning, and higher achievement.

Judy F. Carr teaches half-time in the Educational Leadership Program at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee. She is also codirector of the Center for Curriculum Renewal, a consultant, facilitator, professional development specialist, workshop presenter, and program evaluator with educators and policy makers in the US, Canada, and the Caribbean. She is coauthor or coeditor of the following books: A Pig Don t Get Fatter the More You Weigh It: Balancing Classroom Assessment; Creating Dynamic Schools Through Mentoring, Coaching, and Collaboration; Succeeding with Standards: Linking Curriculum, Assessment, and Action Planning; How to Use Standards in the Classroom; Integrated Studies in the Middle Grades: Dancing Through Walls; and Living and Learning in the Middle Grades: The Dance Continues: A Festschrift for Chris Stevenson. Carr has expertise in K-12 curriculum, instruction, and assessment; standards-based education reform; design of professional development materials and processes; systems change implementation with leadership teams in school districts and state agencies; and middle grades education. She has been a middle school teacher and a K-12 curriculum director. She was the recipient of the second annual Vermont ASCD Curriculum Leadership Award.