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    ‘Collaboration lite’ puts student achievement on a starvation diet

    By Rick DuFour
    October 2003
    Vol. 24, No. 4
    In my previous column, I argued that 1) a professional is obligated to seek and apply best practice when serving clients; 2) it is evident that the best practice for meeting the needs of students and improving professional practice in schools is to build a collaborative culture; and 3) educational leaders should, therefore, focus their improvement efforts on building a collaborative culture in their districts and schools. Calls for a collaborative culture come from leading educational researchers who use unusually emphatic language. Milbrey McLaughlin and Joan Talbert (2001) found that effective high schools and effective departments within high schools were characterized by powerful professional collaboration. Kenneth Eastwood and Karen Seashore Louis (1992) concluded that creating a collaborative environment featuring cooperative problem solving was the single most important factor in successful school restructuring. Fred Newmann and Gary Wehlage (1995) found that nurturing a

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    Authors

    Rick DuFour

    Rick DuFour is an educational consultant. You can contact him at 465 Island Pointe Lane, Moneta, VA 24121, (540) 721-4662, fax (540) 721-0382, e-mail: rdufour@district125.k12.il.us.

    References

    Eastwood, K. & Louis, K.S. (1992). Restructuring that lasts: Managing the performance dip. Journal of School Leadership, 2(2), 213-224.

     Little, J.W. (1990). The persistence of privacy: Autonomy and initiative in teachers’ professional relations. Teachers College Record, 91(4), 509-536.

    Marzano, R. (2003). What works in schools:Translating research into action. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

     Marzano, R. (2003). What works in schools: Translating research into action. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

     McLaughlin, M.W. & Talbert, J.E. (2001). Professional communities and the work of high school teaching. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

     Newmann, F.M. & Wehlage, G.G. (1995). Successful school restructuring: A report to the public and educators. Madison, WI: Center on Organization and Restructuring of Schools.


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