Instructional Playbook

Effective Teaming Practices

Critical Actions for Educators Establish clear team roles and responsibilities and communication protocols Cultivate a collaborative culture Meet at a consistent time Make decisions based on data Differentiate instruction and support based on data Ensure there is alignment between school goals and initiatives and team decisions Participate in professional learning to increase skillsets Commit to inclusion and equity

Effective school teams are essential to helping schools thrive, but working effectively as a school team is not as straightforward as gathering a group of educators in a room with an assigned task. Rather, effective teaming requires planning, structure, commitment, and collaboration. The first step in effective teaming is building a schedule with a common meeting time that is protected so that teams can come prepared to use their time together productively and efficiently. It is critical that a team has clarity of purpose so that team members’ time and work together is relevant and meaningful. Each team member should willingly participate in working collaboratively and holds each other accountable. The structure of the team involves establishing roles, such as facilitator, minutes-taker, data coordinator, and timekeeper, as well as creating protocols for team meetings (clear agenda, documented minutes, decision-making process).

Working together as a team allows educators the opportunity to learn with and from each other through improving lessons, deepening understanding of content and standards, observing peer instruction, and sharing learning experiences. Trust is essential among team embers and is built through equitable participation and shared decision making. Each team member has a voice, accepts and values each other, and the team is a safe place to express opinions. Shared leadership facilitates a team approach to decision making (Marzano, 2023). Rotating the facilitator role within team meetings can help ensure that all team members have opportunities to oversee the meetings, along with rotating through the other team roles. Shared leadership also fosters inclusivity so that no team member feels excluded from the decision-making process.