Lead Collectively

Peter DeWitt, Ed.D., is the founder and CEO of the Instructional Leadership Collective. A former K–5 teacher for 11 years and principal for eight years, Peter has spent more than 12 years supporting educators and leadership teams across the United States and internationally. He provides keynotes, workshops, and long-term hybrid professional learning that combines in-person facilitation, virtual coaching, and sustained collaborative inquiry. His work focuses on instructional leadership, collective leader efficacy, and helping leadership teams turn professional learning into meaningful action.Peter’s work has been adopted by state and provincial agencies, universities, school districts, school boards, regional networks, and ministries of education across North America, Australia, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and the United Kingdom. He is the author, co-author, or contributor to numerous bestselling books, many of which have been translated into multiple languages. Peter co-authors Education Week’s Finding Common Ground column with Michael Nelson, co-hosts Corwin’s Leaders Coaching Leaders podcast, and co-created Education Week’s A Seat at the Table.Michael Nelson has been an educator for nearly 40 years and continues to consider “teacher” his most important professional title. Throughout his career, he has served as a classroom teacher, principal, district instructional leader, superintendent, and assistant executive director responsible for developing professional learning across the state of Washington. He currently serves as Thought Partner for the Instructional Leadership Collective, where he supports educational leaders through keynotes, workshops, coaching, and long-term hybrid partnerships.Michael has received numerous state and national honors for his leadership. As a 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 and was elected by his peers to serve as president of the Washington Association of School Administrators. Across every role, Michael’s work has remained grounded in listening, empathy, collaborative leadership, and an unwavering commitment to keeping students at the center of educational decision-making.

We all have our own ‘Jimmys’—students whose stories stay with us. DeWitt and Nelson blend heartfelt storytelling, practical tools, andresearch-backed strategies to help school and district teams evaluate and amplify their collective impact. This is a book you’ll not only learn from— you’ll enjoy reading it too. It doesn’t just talk about leadership; it lives it.

• ForewordAcknowledgmentsAbout the AuthorsINTRODUCTIONWHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?WHAT IS COLLECTIVE LEADER EFFICACY?OUR EXPERIENCEINTRODUCTORY SURVEYPart I: LEADERSHIP FOUNDATIONChapter 1: HOW ARE YOUR PRIORITIES FOCUSED ON STUDENT OUTCOMES?DOOR #1: DEVELOPING YOUR BELIEFS, VALUES, AND VISIONDOOR #2: DEVELOPING YOUR OWN SET OF LEADERSHIP LESSONSDOOR #3: KEEPING STUDENTS AT THE CORECHAPTER SUMMARYTEAM ACTIVITIESChapter 2: UNDERSTANDING COLLECTIVE LEADER EFFICACYLEADING PROACTIVELYCOLLECTIVE LEADER EFFICACYKEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN COLLECTIVE TEACHER EFFICACY AND COLLECTIVE LEADER EFFICACYEXPERIENCES THAT IMPACT EFFICACYWHY AFFECTIVE STATES MATTERCHAPTER SUMMARYTEAM ACTIVITIESPart II: SHARED UNDERSTANDINGChapter 3: BUILDING SHARED UNDERSTANDINGMISSED OPPORTUNITIESSHARED UNDERSTANDING, NOT JUST SHARED LANGUAGEDEVELOPING A SHARED UNDERSTANDINGCHAPTER SUMMARYTEAM ACTIVITIESChapter 4: SHARED UNDERSTANDING IN ACTIONBUILDING SHARED UNDERSTANDING: A LEADERSHIP STORY FROM THE FIELDTHE COLLABORATIVE INQUIRY CYCLE PLACEMATBEGINNING WITH STUDENT OUTCOMESEXPLAINING STUDENT OUTCOMESUSING EXAMPLES AND NONEXAMPLES TO DEVELOP TRUST, CLARITY, AND COHERENCECHAPTER SUMMARYTEAM ACTIVITIESPart III: JOINT WORKChapter 5: UNDERSTANDING JOINT WORKPERSONALPROFESSIONALCLIMATE AND CULTUREDEVELOPING JOINT WORKCOMPONENTS OF JOINT WORKCHAPTER SUMMARYTEAM ACTIVITIESChapter 6: JOINT WORK IN ACTIONESTABLISHING THE CULTURE FOR JOINT WORKESTABLISHING A NETWORK OF LEADERS FOR JOINT WORKWHAT DOES JOINT WORK LOOK LIKE?ESTABLISHING SYSTEMS TO INVOLVE ALL STAKEHOLDERS IN JOINT WORKREVISITING THE COLLABORATIVE INQUIRY CYCLE PLACEMATTHEORY OF ACTIONCHAPTER SUMMARYTEAM ACTIVITIESPart IV: EVIDENCE OF IMPACTChapter 7: WHAT IS EVIDENCE OF IMPACT?ONE PRIORITY, MULTIPLE MEASURESDATA AND EVIDENCE: ONE CAN’T HAPPEN WITHOUT THE OTHERHOW TEAMS TALK ABOUT EVIDENCELEADERSHIP TEAM MATRIX PROTOCOL: “LEADING WITH PURPOSE”COMPONENTS OF EVIDENCE OF IMPACTCHAPTER SUMMARYTEAM ACTIVITIESChapter 8: LINKING THEORY OF ACTION AND DATA TO CREATE AN EVIDENCE MINDSETA JARRING PROFESSIONAL LEARNING MOMENT LEADS TO IMPROVEMENTREVISITING THE COLLABORATIVE INQUIRY CYCLE PLACEMATEVIDENCE OF IMPACTTHE IMPORTANCE OF STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATIONEQUITYTHE QUESTION BECOMES: WHAT DO WE DO WITH THIS INFORMATION?INTEGRATION OF PROFESSIONAL LEARNINGIMPLEMENTATION TIMELINECHAPTER SUMMARYTEAM ACTIVITIESPart V: CCOLLECTIVE LEADER EFFICACY INTERSECTIONChapter 9: BRINGING IT TOGETHER: REFLECTION TO IMPROVE YOUR LEADERSHIP PRACTICELEARNING FROM JIMMY’S STORYA PRINCIPAL’S VISION FOR TRUE PARTNERSHIPSTHE POWER OF LISTENING AND PARTNERSHIPAfterwordAppendixA.1 RUBRIC FOR SHARED UNDERSTANDING: TRUSTA.2 RUBRIC FOR SHARED UNDERSTANDING: CLARITYA.3 RUBRIC FOR SHARED UNDERSTANDING: COHERENCEA.4 SHARED UNDERSTANDING: EXAMPLES AND NONEXAMPLES OF THREE-COMPONENT QUESTIONSA.5 RUBRIC FOR JOINT WORK: CULTUREA.6 RUBRIC FOR JOINT WORK: NETWORKA.7 RUBRIC FOR JOINT WORK: SYSTEMSA.8 JOINT WORK: EXAMPLES AND NONEXAMPLES OF THREE-COMPONENT QUESTIONSA.9 RUBRIC FOR EVIDENCE OF IMPACT: STUDENT LEARNINGA.10 RUBRIC FOR EVIDENCE OF IMPACT: LEADERSHIP AND DECISION-MAKINGA.11 RUBRIC FOR EVIDENCE OF IMPACT: PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND GROWTHA.12 EVIDENCE OF IMPACT: EXAMPLES AND NONEXAMPLES OF THREE-COMPONENT QUESTIONSA.13 FRAYER MODEL PART I: COLLECTIVE LEADER EFFICACYA.14 FRAYER MODEL PART II: SHARED UNDERSTANDINGA.15 FRAYER MODEL PART III: JOINT WORKA.16 FRAYER MODEL PART IV: EVIDENCE OF IMPACTReferences CitedIndex