Why do so many professional learning communities (PLCs) fail? Terry Wilhelm answers this question--and more--by challenging educators to work together once and for all to cultivate shared leadership. Through simple practices and processes, Shared Leadership: The Essential Ingredient for Effective PLCs highlights approaches that spark and sustain a successful PLC. If you need how-to steps to fuel a healthy school culture in curriculum, instruction, and assessment, it's are all here: Developing teacher leadership and enhancing collaboration; Discussion protocols to fire up team meetings; Tools and troubleshooting tips; Common scenarios and dilemmas.

Access links and additional resources at www.corwin.com/sharedleadership.

The right team -- Creating the calendar and reflecting on readiness -- Preparations -- Guiding coalition meeting: getting started -- Essential learnings and common assessments -- Guiding a coalition meeting: more best practice meeting routines, essential learnings, and common assessments -- Guiding coalition meetingL mission, vision, collective commitments -- Managing complex change -- Discussion protocols: a bridge from meetings-as-usual to professional collaboration -- Guiding coalition meeting: student work protocol -- Guiding coalition meeting: student-based protocol -- Guiding coalition meeting: planning/problem solving protocol -- Guiding coalition meeting: goal setting and SMARTe goals -- Building shared knowledge about student interventions -- Guiding coalition meeting: student interventions -- Guiding coalition meeting: leading as optimizers and affirmers to build collective effficacy -- Sustaining a culture of shared leadership -- References and resources -- Index.