Books

Explore the “how” and “why” behind team-based school staffing with books from the Next Education Workforce.

Learn more about two books — “Unlocking the Potential of Team-Based Staffing: A Guide for School and System Leaders” and “The Next Education Workforce: How Team-Based Staffing Models Can Support Equity and Improve Learning Outcomes” — written for school and system leaders, educators and anyone else interested in creating better outcomes for students and experiences for educators through team-based models. 

Unlocking the Potential of Team-Based Staffing: A Guide for School and System Leaders

This book offers concrete actions for the successful design and launch of team-based staffing models.

In “Unlocking the Potential of Team-Based Staffing,” authors Brent W. Maddin, R. Lennon Audrain, Lisa Maresso Wyatt and Kaycee Salmacia make a persuasive case for redesigning the education workforce to facilitate deeper and more personalized learning experiences in K–12 schools. They advocate disrupting the traditional one-teacher, one-classroom model in favor of team-based school-staffing models in which multiple educators are responsible for rosters of students.

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  • This new team-based model deserves attention … Thinking back to my earlier life as a high school teacher, the Next Education Workforce is just the kind of thoughtful design that I would have loved to have been a part of and now would love to see further develop, spread and succeed.

    Richard IngersollProfessor of education and sociology, University of Pennsylvania

  • ‘Unlocking the Potential of Team-Based Staffing’ is a critical guide for today’s education leaders, ensuring systems for staffing are designed to keep pace with our dynamic and fast-paced learning landscape. Prioritizing both effective leadership and public school success are paramount to the future of American education and civic life.

    David R. SchulerExecutive director, The School Superintendents Association

  • The first book, which I was lucky enough to co-author, was really more of a manifesto — it laid out the theory and the argument for the Next Education Workforce and team-based staffing models. This second book responds to a different need: a hands-on guide that shows leaders how to actually build these models. Writing it also pushed us to codify our own work, both for ourselves and for others — what already exists that helps schools get started, and what the phases of implementation look like in practice.

    R. Lennon AudrainResearch assistant professor, program manager, Next Education Workforce

The Next Education Workforce: How Team-Based Staffing Models Can Support Equity and Improve Learning Outcomes

Learn how strategic school staffing models like the Next Education Workforce can support equity and improve learning outcomes

In this first book about the Next Education Workforce, the book’s authors — Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation Dean Carole G. Basile, Next Education Workforce Executive Director Brent W. Maddin and Research Professor R. Lennon Audrain — make the case that, to achieve more equitable learning outcomes for students and better working conditions for teachers, schools should create teams of educators with distributed expertise that can deliver deeper and more personalized learning experiences for students.

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  • There are few, if any, contemporary ‘industries’ that have changed as little as education. While many leaders propose many siloed ‘remedies’ to improve schools and learning, no one has addressed the fact that our contemporary education system is still rooted in the 18th century, one-teacher, one-classroom model. [This book] asks that we abandon antiquated ways of educating and embrace a new vision of education for all — team-based, learner-centric, community-focused and workforce ready. Our 21st century students and their educators eager to embrace new models of teaching and learning deserve an educational approach for the future — not one stuck in the past.

    Lynn M. GangonePresident and CEO, American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education

  • Educators transform lives daily. Teams of educators can provide greater equity and access, impacting generations of learners. The Next Education Workforce provides educator teams with the vision, research and strategies to support robust learning opportunities and connections for all they serve.

    Virgel HammondsCEO, Aurora Institute

Get in touch

Ask about opportunities to have one of the book’s authors speak at your next event or conference.


    More resources

    View even more Next Education Workforce resources, created for educator teams and school and system leaders implementing team-based strategic staffing models.

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