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Lead Collectively - Book Cover

Lead Collectively

From Belief to Action to Impact

Afterword by Chris Beals
Foreword by Michael Butler, Sylvie Arseneau, and Rosemary Southard

Explore 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.

Full description

Lead Collectively - Book Cover
Product Details
  • Grade Level: PreK-12
  • ISBN: 9781071982112
  • Published By: Corwin
  • Year: 2025
  • Page Count: 256
  • Publication date: September 23, 2025
Price: $37.95

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Description

Description

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 results
  • Guidance on integrating AI tools to analyze data, assess impact, and enhance collaboration
  • Case 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.
Author(s)

Author(s)

Peter M. DeWitt photo

Peter M. DeWitt

Peter DeWitt (Ed.D) is the founder and CEO of the Instructional Leadership Collective, and approaches everything with a learner's mindset. He was a K-5 teacher for 11 years and a principal for 8 years. For over 12 years, he has been facilitating professional learning nationally, and internationally, based on the content of many of his best-selling educational books.

DeWitt's professional learning relationships are a monthly hybrid approach that includes both coaching and the facilitating workshops on instructional leadership and collective efficacy. His work has been adopted at the state level, university level, and he works with numerous school districts, school boards, regional networks, ministries of education around North America, Australia, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the U.K.

Peter writes the Finding Common Ground column for Education Week with Michael Nelson and they host Corwin’s Leaders Coaching Leaders podcast. In 2020 DeWitt co-created Education Week's A Seat At the Table where he moderates conversations with experts around the topics of race, gender, research, trauma and many other educational topics.

Peter is the author, co-author or contributor of numerous books and his articles have appeared in educational research journals at the state, national and international level. His books have been translated into numerous languages.

Michael Nelson photo

Michael Nelson

There is no more noble profession than that of an educator was what Michael Nelson’s mom said almost every day while he was growing up. For almost 40 years, Michael has been an educator. His mom would be pleased.

Even though Michael still considers “teacher” as his primary title, he has served in roles of principal, district instructional leader, superintendent, assistant executive director developing professional development for the state of Washington, and currently as the Thought Partner for the Instructional Leadership Collective.


Michael has received many state and national awards during his time as a principal and superintendent. As principal, his school received the National Blue Ribbon Award from the United States Department of Education. As a superintendent, he was named Washington state’s 2019 Superintendent of the Year. During his tenure as superintendent, Michael was elected President of the Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA) by his peers.


Michael Nelson co-facilitates coaching, keynotes, and workshops with Peter DeWitt. Their first book “Leading with Intention” was released in May 2024.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Part I: Leadership Foundation

Chapter 1: How Are Your Priorities Focused on Student Outcomes?

Chapter 2: Understanding Collective Leader Efficacy

Part II Shared Understanding

Chapter 3: Building Shared Understanding

Chapter 4: Shared Understanding in Action

Part III: Joint Work

Chapter 5: Understanding Joint Work

Chapter 6: Joint Work in Action

Part IV: Evidence of Impact

Chapter 7: What Is Evidence of Impact?

Chapter 8: Linking Theory of Action and Data to Create an Evidence Mindset

Part V: CLE Intersection

Chapter 9: Bringing it Together: Reflection to Improve Your Leadership Practice

Afterword

Appendix

References Cited

Price: $37.95

Review Copies

This book is not available as a review copy.

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