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Shifting
Foreword by Kimberly Davis
Shifting empowers educational change leaders to proactively and coherently navigate complex, unprecedented change in schools to establish a school culture in which changemakers can thrive.
- Grade Level: PreK-12
- ISBN: 9781544381398
- Published By: Corwin
- Year: 2020
- Page Count: 192
- Publication date: April 13, 2020
Price: $39.95
Description
Establish a school change culture where desired outcomes are actually achieved
Change in schools is hard, but often essential. Internal and external factors require careful analysis before jumping into any change. Are you prepared to work with colleagues with confidence and clarity through such shifts?
In Shifting, educators and leadership experts Jeff Ikler, Kirsten Richert, and Margaret Zacchei empower educational change leaders to proactively and coherently navigate complex change in schools to achieve the desired outcomes. Using a three-part framework—Assess, Ready, Change—this book leads educators to examine a school’s imperatives and readiness for change, identity the tools and abilities required to manifest change, and take action by defining the roles and processes necessary to effectively implement both sweeping change and smaller day-to-day adjustments. Change leaders learn to
· Shift the emphasis in the change process from procedure to the people implementing change
· Move from an environment of “command and control” to one of leaders creating other leaders
· Reframe change as an essential shift in school culture rather than a series of episodic events
Rich with leadership insights, stories, podcasts, and hands-on activities, Shifting offers an integrated tapestry of wisdom and support for changemakers intent on meaningful collaboration in a positive, engaged workplace.
Author(s)

Kirsten Richert
Formerly vice president of product management and marketing at Pearson, the world’s leading educational publisher, Kirsten oversaw the creation of breakthrough “digital-first” K–12 curriculum. Trained as a corporate on-call innovation coach, she’s helped teams plan new efforts, generate ideas, and execute on strategies.
Now, as an innovation catalyst, Kirsten guides change efforts for organizations, especially in the areas of education and human development. She is particularly interested in organizations that integrate the arts into their work towards social change, such as the Alliance for Arts and Health New Jersey, Real Beauty: Uncovered, and The Barat Foundation.

Jeffrey Ikler
Jeff holds a master’s in the teaching of history, along with a bachelor’s in history, from the University of Illinois. He taught high school history in Maywood and Batavia, Illinois, for seven years. Like Kirsten, he is a certified innovation facilitator using the SIT (systematic inventive thinking) process.
He is a former executive vice president at Pearson Learning where he directed the development of text- and technology-based products for all disciplines. He finished his career at Pearson by leading the development of its multidimensional Leadership Development program for school administrators, working closely with authors Lyle Kirtman and Michael Fullan. He currently works with Lyle Kirtman to support change in school districts and nonprofit organizations.
Jeff and Kirsten also cohost Getting Unstuck—Shift for Impact, a podcast that helps individuals and organizations identify and overcome obstacles that stand in the way of implementing changes that lead toward achieving desired results and impact.

Margaret Zacchei
Margaret’s leadership style can be summarized in three words: collaboration, communication, and community. Throughout her career, she has engaged teachers, students, parents, and fellow administrators to collaboratively define problems and implement practical solutions that achieve sustainable school improvement.
Margaret is currently serving as a consultant and coach to school districts and administrations, sharing her experiences and perspective as a leader and change agent to help them achieve their goals. She is also coaching aspiring leaders enrolled in the University of Connecticut’s administrator preparation program as they complete a two-year internship program in various districts in the state.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Kimberly Davis
Reviews
Knowing when and how to launch a change initiative is often as challenging as knowing when and how to hop onto a swinging jump rope. The process can be quite daunting. Shifting provides easy-to-manage examples of how leadership must enact change with intentionality and build guideposts that staff can utilize when navigating the complex variables of who, what, when, and why in organizational transformation. The authors lead the reader to understand that change is never simply a single initiative or series of events, rather it is a multifaceted process that involves shifting the mindset of the whole. The paradigm shift changes you from the inside out. Powerful...
Gayle Stinson, Ed.D.Knowing when and how to launch a change initiative is often as challenging as knowing when and how to hop onto a swinging jump rope. The process can be quite daunting. Shifting provides easy-to-manage examples of how leadership must enact change with intentionality and build guideposts that staff can utilize when navigating the complex variables of who, what, when, and why in organizational transformation. The authors lead the reader to understand that change is never simply a single initiative or series of events, rather it is a multifaceted process that involves shifting the mindset of the whole. The paradigm shift changes you from the inside out. Powerful...
Superintendent of Schools, Lake Dallas ISD, Past President, TASA
Shifting: How School Leaders Can Create a Culture of Change could be a breakthrough book on change management in education. The authors have done a masterful job of combining theory and practice for the reader. The special sauce is the quotes and stories of the practitioners throughout each chapter. The book comes alive to the point that it feels like you are in conversation and learning from the authors and the leaders that are sharing their knowledge. Every leader needs to read this book before they embark on change to choose the best strategies and to understand their role in the change process.
Lyle KirtmanShifting: How School Leaders Can Create a Culture of Change could be a breakthrough book on change management in education. The authors have done a masterful job of combining theory and practice for the reader. The special sauce is the quotes and stories of the practitioners throughout each chapter. The book comes alive to the point that it feels like you are in conversation and learning from the authors and the leaders that are sharing their knowledge. Every leader needs to read this book before they embark on change to choose the best strategies and to understand their role in the change process.
CEO, Future Management Systems, Author of Coherent School Leadership: Forging Clarity from Complexity with Michael Fullan
At last, a book on how to lead productive change that embodies the premise that educational leaders should model what we want to see in the classroom. We can trust Shifting: How School Leaders Can Create a Culture of Change because it is filled with case studies about working educators from a variety of backgrounds. Reflective prompts guide teachers and administrators to adapt these insights to their unique school settings. Shifting speaks with an authentic voice and delivers the strategies that help us consider the changes we want so as to develop the schools we need.
Peter PappasAt last, a book on how to lead productive change that embodies the premise that educational leaders should model what we want to see in the classroom. We can trust Shifting: How School Leaders Can Create a Culture of Change because it is filled with case studies about working educators from a variety of backgrounds. Reflective prompts guide teachers and administrators to adapt these insights to their unique school settings. Shifting speaks with an authentic voice and delivers the strategies that help us consider the changes we want so as to develop the schools we need.
Developer of the "Taxonomy of Reflection", University of Portland, School of Education
Books on change tend to be either slickly glib and useless, or hopelessly complex and useless. Shifting offers a path that weaves together theory and stories from the front line, models and a practical call to action. It's an essential primer for change, whether you work in education or not.
Michael Bungay StanierBooks on change tend to be either slickly glib and useless, or hopelessly complex and useless. Shifting offers a path that weaves together theory and stories from the front line, models and a practical call to action. It's an essential primer for change, whether you work in education or not.
Author of WSJ bestseller The Coaching Habit
As someone who knows first-hand how challenging it is to lead and sustain long-term, transformational change, I am especially grateful for this book. The authors condense insights from decades of research and dozens of frontline change leaders to extend a supportive hand to every educator who wants and needs to lead change, but doesn’t don’t know where to begin. My advice to every educator: keep this book close. If you don’t have the answers now, this book gives you the right questions and invaluable “real world” gold nugget guidance – and that will be enough.
April ArmstrongAs someone who knows first-hand how challenging it is to lead and sustain long-term, transformational change, I am especially grateful for this book. The authors condense insights from decades of research and dozens of frontline change leaders to extend a supportive hand to every educator who wants and needs to lead change, but doesn’t don’t know where to begin. My advice to every educator: keep this book close. If you don’t have the answers now, this book gives you the right questions and invaluable “real world” gold nugget guidance – and that will be enough.
CEO, AHA Insight
A must-read for aspiring or current education practitioners, and highly recommended for leaders of organizations experiencing a culture of constant flux and change. In a time when “self” seems to eclipse “team,” the authors remind us that people are at the center of any effective change, and leaders who demonstrate integrity, vulnerability, intentionality and mindfulness are far more likely to achieve organizational outcomes that have a lasting impact on all children.
Lynne B. Pierson, Ed.D.A must-read for aspiring or current education practitioners, and highly recommended for leaders of organizations experiencing a culture of constant flux and change. In a time when “self” seems to eclipse “team,” the authors remind us that people are at the center of any effective change, and leaders who demonstrate integrity, vulnerability, intentionality and mindfulness are far more likely to achieve organizational outcomes that have a lasting impact on all children.
Former Connecticut Superintendent of Schools
We love Shifting because the authors are candid about what schools need to do to "shift" toward excellence. Too many change initiatives fail because of surface level actions and a focus on what we're doing instead of actually getting results. This book confronts that reality in an honest way, but also provides a call-to-action with exactly what leaders need to do next. The "Try This" sections are perfect--providing both a platform for reflection and the critical steps forward.
Joseph Jones & T.J. VariWe love Shifting because the authors are candid about what schools need to do to "shift" toward excellence. Too many change initiatives fail because of surface level actions and a focus on what we're doing instead of actually getting results. This book confronts that reality in an honest way, but also provides a call-to-action with exactly what leaders need to do next. The "Try This" sections are perfect--providing both a platform for reflection and the critical steps forward.
Authors of Candid and Compassionate Feedback: Transforming Everyday Practice in Schools
For Instructors
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Related Resources
- Access to companion resources is available with the purchase of this book.
- Podcast: Why a podcast series on student trauma now? [Podcast]
- Video: Trauma in Schools: A District Leaders Video Roundtable [Video]
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