Leadership Team Meeting for Live OakFebruary 23, 2010

4:30-5:30 PMAgendaBy the conclusion of today’s activities members of the Live Oak Leadership Team will• Be able to review the characteristics of a strong leadership team;• Be able to create a leadership team profile;• Review and come to consensus on a Leadership Team Charter• Brainstorm and come to a consensus on Team and Meeting Norms• Review next Leadership Teams Agenda items.

Time Topic Materials

4:30-4:40 Introductions, Agenda and Objective Review Agenda

4:40-4:45 Aspects of High-Performing Leadership Teams

Chart

5:45-5:00 Creating a Leadership Team Profile Individual Profile SheetsChart Paper

5:00-5:15 Leadership Team Charter Charter Proposal

5:15-5:25 Leadership Team Norms Chart Paper

5:25-5:30 Review Agenda Items for Next Meeting

Building a High Performing Leadership Team

LEADERSHIP TEAM STANDARDSI. CORE BELIEFS, VISION, AND MISSION

A. Each leadership team member believes that every child can reach high levels of academic excellence.B. The team embraces that its primary focus is student learning.C. The team has ambitious and measurable student achievement goals and a comprehensive plan for achieving those goals.D. Each team member supports and upholds the school vision and mission for the school relentlessly throughout the year.E. The team members ensure that standards, instruction, curriculum, assessment, and programs are aligned with the school

vision and student achievement goals.II. CULTURE OF COLLABORATION

A. The leadership team values the role of staff members as partners in the effective functioning of the school; the role of families as partners in the education of their children; and the role of the governing board as partners.

B. A system of communication to involve and inform all stakeholders is in place and used.C. The processes and decisions of the team are transparent to all stakeholders.D. The diversity of the school staff is reflected within the team.E. The team aligns the work of the team to its relationship with other teams and structures in the school.F. A climate of trust, respect and mutual accountability exists among the members of the school leadership team.

III. CYCLE OF IMPROVEMENTA. A 4-step Cycle of Improvement is used to inform leadership team decisions: (1) Analyze Data, Diagnose and Plan; (2)

Implement; (3) Reflect; and (4) Adapt and Improve.B. Team members facilitate the 4-step process for other teams in the school so that all staff use the Cycle of Improvement to

make decisions and inform their practice. C. Time is made available for the learning of the 4-step process to occur – both within the leadership team meetings and in

other staff / team meetings throughout the school.D. The team ensures that professional development is aligned with the needs identified by the Cycle of Improvement process.

IV. EFFECTIVE TEAM PROCCESSES A. A set of ground rules / norms has been discussed and accepted, and each leadership team member abides by those rules.B. Roles within the team are identified and rotated in order to share responsibilities and build leadership skills.C. Team members understand the levels of decision-making; team consensus is the preferred method for decision-making. D. Meeting agendas are developed with clear outcomes, specific timeframes and processes for achieving those outcomes.E. Problem-solving and conflict resolution tools are used when appropriate; debriefing of difficult discussions and decisions is

held routinely.F. At the end of each leadership team meeting, action steps and deadlines are identified, and the person responsible for each

step is noted; these action minutes are communicated to appropriate stakeholders in the wider school community.G. An evaluation of each meeting is conducted for continuous improvement.

V. STRATEGIC PLANNINGA. The leadership team translates the vision and mission of the school into a step-by-step school improvement (action) plan.B. The team sets priorities and allocates resources based upon these priorities.C. In the school improvement plan, the team determines what success will look like by identifying the measures of progress. D. A variety of data sources are used to monitor the school’s progress and the team uses technology to expedite the reporting

of data.E. The team analyzes its data continuously to modify or refine its intervention strategies quickly.F. The leadership team sets clear expectations for the performance of staff.G. The team monitors student learning to evaluate the effectiveness of staff members and provides support (professional

development) to improve teaching.H. The leadership team supports the administration in improving or removing underperforming staff.

Creating Your Own Leadership Team Profile

Think about what it takes to give you the feeling of power or control over the events for which you are responsible. Answer the questions below about yourself in your role as a team member. This will create an individual profile of you as a team member.

What motivates me as a team member?

What unique perspective, strengths, or skills do I bring to the team?

What opportunities can I take to assume greater responsibility or make a greater contribution to the team?

What additional information or assistance do I need to work productively?

In what ways can I work best with others on the team?

Make a power profile of your group using the profile on the next page.

Team Profile

Team member Skills / strengths /

contributions

Areas of learning or

growth

Responsibilities or roles willing

to take

What is needed to work most effectively?

What are the strengths of the group?

Are there areas where individuals or the whole group will need some assistance?

Team Charter ProposalPurpose

What is the purpose of our team?

The purpose of the leadership team is to ensure that all students at our school reach high levels of academic achievement.

Decision-Making Process How will we make decisions? If we chose consensus, what is our fall-back

position should we not be able to reach consensus?

The team will attempt to reach consensus for all major decisions. When consensus can not be reached, the principal will make the final decision, with the ongoing support of the entire team.

Roles and Responsibilities Each meeting should have a facilitator, recorder, time-keeper

Facilitator, recorder and time-keeper will be chosen at the beginning of every meeting.

Working Agreements Given the purpose of our team and our responsibilities, what working agreements

do we need in order to do our best work together? What is our process for resolving conflict?

Conflict that arises will be dealt with professionally and respectfully. One-on-one conflict should be dealt with individually and then brought to the principal if unresolved. Group conflict should be an agenda item for discussion, with the principal having been made aware of the concern before the meeting.

Team NormsWhat norms do we want to hold ourselves to in these meetings and in the way we act as a team?

Agenda Items for Next Meeting• Review Charter and Norms

• Goal Setting

• Clear roles and responsibilities

• Meeting outcomes and agenda with Action minutes Ongoing