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Leader Credibility

The Essential Traits of Those Who Engage, Inspire, and Transform

By: Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, Cathy Lassiter, Dominique Smith

Foreword by Michael Fullan

With Leader Credibility, learn how to attain the qualities that all school leaders need: trustworthiness, competence, dynamism, immediacy, and forward-thinking.

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Product Details

Grade Level: PreK-12
ISBN: 9781071889107
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2022
Page Count: 160
Publication date: July 18, 2022

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Review copies may be requested by individuals planning to purchase 10 or more copies for a team or considering a book for adoption in a higher ed course. To request a review copy, contact sales@corwin.com.

Description

Passion, vision, relatability—can we ever quantify the facets of successful leadership? Is there sufficient “there-there” behind these feel-good words to transform a school into a culture of learning and bold hope? Yes, and yes! Inspired by John Hattie’s impressive research, Fisher, Frey, Lassiter, and Smith bring their trademark clarity to turn aspiration into energized action.

For each of the five components that all effective leaders possess—trustworthiness, competence, dynamism, immediacy, and forward-thinking—leaders learn the first steps and bold leaps to mentor others. Each chapter abounds with professional development tools, including:

Self-assessments so you know your baseline
Pause and ponder questions to envision change
REAL features to lead with alacrity
Checklists to stay focused and strategic
Relevant research to assimilate and share

Now more than ever, schools need to be places where openness and trust are baked into every hallway hello and every meeting, so collective talents can take us farther than we ever imagined. Let Leader Credibility be your guide to steering others to that greatness.

Author(s)

Douglas Fisher

Douglas Fisher is professor and chair of educational leadership at San Diego State University and a leader at Health Sciences High and Middle College. Previously, Doug was an early intervention teacher and elementary school educator. He is a credentialed teacher and leader in California. In 2022, he was inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame by the Literacy Research Association. He has published widely on literacy, quality instruction, and assessment, as well as books such as Welcome to Teaching, PLC+, Teaching Students to Drive their Learning, and Student Assessment: Better Evidence, Better Decisions, Better Learning.

Nancy Frey

Nancy Frey is professor of educational leadership at San Diego State University and a leader at Health Sciences High and Middle College. Previously, Nancy was a teacher, academic coach, and central office resource coordinator in Florida. She is a credentialed special educator, reading specialist, and administrator in California. She is a member of the International Literacy Association’s Literacy Research Panel. She has published widely on literacy, quality instruction, and assessment, as well as books such as The Artificial Intelligences Playbook, How Scaffolding Works, How Teams Work, and The Vocabulary Playbook.

Cathy Lassiter

Cathy Lassiter, Ed.D., is an international consultant with over 35 years of combined experience as a public school teacher, principal, central office administrator, and consultant. Her areas of expertise are in Visible Learning, Teacher Clarity, and all aspects of school leadership. Before this role, she held various positions including Executive Director of Middle Schools and Senior Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Staff Development. She also was a successful middle school principal and was named Virginia's Middle School Principal of the Year. Cathy has served as an adjunct professor at The George Washington University, teaching graduate courses in educational leadership.

Dominique Smith

Dominique Smith, EdD, is chief of educational services and teacher support at Health Sciences High and Middle College in San Diego, California. Smith is passionate about creating school environments that honor and empower students. His research and instruction focus
on restorative practices, classroom management, growth mindset, and the culture of achievement. Dominique also provides professional learning
to K-12 teachers in small and large groups that address classroom and school climate and organization. He holds a doctorate in educational leadership from San Diego State University with an emphasis on equity as well as a master’s degree in social work from the University of Southern California. Dominique also holds credentials from San Diego State University in administrative services, child welfare, PPS, and attendance.
Smith has been recognized with the National School Safety Award from the School Safety Advocacy Council. In 2018, he delivered a TED Talk
on building relationships between students and teachers.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Michael Fullan

Chapter 1: From Teacher Credibility to Leader Credibility

Chapter 2: Trustworthiness in Leadership

Chapter 3: Competence: The Language and Skills of Leaders

Chapter 4: Dynamism: Passion, Excitement and Self-Confidence to Build Credibility

Chapter 5: Immediacy: Verbal and Nonverbal Indicators of Relatedness

Chapter 6: Forward-Thinking to be Future Ready

Reviews

Leader Credibility is a must read for every educational leader. All too often school improvement plans and initiatives fail - not on their merits but on the credibility of the leader. Educational leaders need to be strategic about how they contribute to or derail the success of these initiatives. This book provides a frame for how to build leader credibility and provides many opportunities for structured self-reflection.

Randy Clyde

This book offers tangible ways to build your leadership credibility and concrete methods for building strong relationships that will cultivate a culture of trust and community.

Betty Zavala

I highly recommend this book. Teachers are yearning for great leadership. This book helps educational leaders analyze the skillset it takes to lead with credibility.

Dawn Massey

The authors share relevant research, illustrations, and tools for self-reflection which can be used to impact the daily work of school leaders. By reading this book, leaders will be challenged to think more intentionally about how they build trust, competence, dynamism, immediacy, and how they become more forward-thinking.

Alisa Barrett

Other Titles in: Administration & Leadership | Instructional Leadership | Leadership

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Impactful Instructional Leadership: Integrating Credibility & R.I.G.O.R. for Excellence Certification

Related Resources

Five Elements of Leader Credibility [Video]
From Teacher Credibility to Leader Credibility [Book Excerpt]
Leader Credibility [Podcast]
What is Leader Credibility? [Video]