Douglas B. Reeves

While I've encountered the occasional article or presentation on change management, this is the first time I've ever sat down and actively started to research how to do it effectively. So, this is review is coming from the perspective of a newbie to the area. Areas covered in this book include personal and organizational change readiness assessments, planning, implementation, and how to sustain change.

I really liked this book. I was afraid at first that it might be a cheesy, jargon-filled waste of time, but I found the approach impressively pragmatic. Reeves strongly emphasizes using data and research in the decision-making and implementation process, not just when choosing new initiatives, but also when choosing what to stop doing and when assessing your effectiveness. He also repeatedly emphasizes that it takes more than one or two people to implement change.

Because change involves feelings of anxiety and loss, leaders are not going to get buy-in on change initiatives until after a change has proven itself successful in ways that are meaningful to stakeholders. This is helpful to me in the sense that it provides more perspective on my coworkers' points of view (especially the ones who've been around decades longer than I have). However, it leaves the problem of how to lead change in a team environment completely unanswered. But maybe that's okay - there are books specifically devoted to that topic and this book, while short and easy to get through quickly, has a lot of ideas that are worth thinking about over time.

I not only enjoyed this book, I enjoyed it enough that I'm planning to check it out again and reread in a few months. For anyone who doesn't have easy access to this at your local or school library, I think it would definitely be worth the purchase price.… (more)

In his latest book, Reeves places action research at the center of school improvement. He posits that teachers become leaders when they are testing ideas from research in their classrooms and reporting the results on Data Walls or science-fair type expositions. The key to school improvement, then, is based on evidence that our practices are effective based on increased learning. This idea follows the ideas of Reeves in his previous book The Learning Leader (ASCD, 2006) where he categorized the successful teacher is one who succeeds and knows why. We could not agree more and recommend that the Experimental Learning Center of the Learning Commons (the library media center) be the center of such research activity that informs the faculty as a whole. When there is an atmosphere of collaboration in the achievement of excellence because everyone expects that there is a place in the school where experimentation is the central focus, then the likelihood that a positive attitude toward continuous school improvement is likely to develop and sustained across years and across faculty turnover or student demographic evolution. If the action research combines both the classroom teacher and one or more specialists such as the teacher librarian, then the focus of school improvement turns to ascertaining the impact of collaboration among the faculty. Such a focus would go a long way in promoting the idea that everyone has a stake in school improvement rather than just isolated teachers in closed classrooms. For example, the theme of the school year through its action research could be on the impact of actual collaborative teaching and learning resulting in a data wall exhibition for the school board, parent groups, the news media, presentations at professional conventions, and to any other interested audience. What is leaned as a group becomes part of the repertoire of teaching strategies for the school. We named Reeves previous book a winner. And, while this one is a bit tougher read, its central message is well worth considering. Highly recommended.… (more)

Review from World Cat:
earts of many teachers and school leaders, leading to confusion and panic rather than improved student achievement. Author Douglas B. Reeves explains how to transform accountability from destructive and demoralizing accounting drills into a constructive decision-making process that improves teaching, learning, and leadership. Reeves encourages educators to become proactive in developing student-centered accountability systems. These systems capture the many aspects of teaching that test scores don't reveal--they tell the stories behind the numbers. Reeves shows how educators can create accountability systems that enhance teacher motivation and lead to significant improvements in student achievement and equity, even in traditionally low-performing schools.… (more)