Community Guidelines

Welcome to the New Leaders Online Community!  The purpose of this online community is to serve as the space where New Leaders can connect across geographic regions and cohorts to share best practices, expertise, resources and experiences to accomplish our shared mission of driving high levels of academic achievement for every child.
 
This community is your forum for sharing knowledge, resources, and experiences. The way you interact and participate in the community will shape the content, discussion and everyone’s overall online experience. The New Leaders Online Community must reflect the values of excellence that we have come to expect from ourselves and each other.

In order for us to be the most valuable online community for you, we ask you to adhere to the following guidelines to promote a healthy, safe and vibrant online learning environment.

Take pride in the community. 
Ultimately, as members, we are collectively responsible for the quality of our community.  By sharing your very best, most useful and relevant practices, everyone in the community benefits.  By giving of our time—through participating in discussions, contributing knowledge, and reviewing resources—each of us brings our unique blend of expertise and experience to the community. 

Encourage constructive participation.
All members are contributors and learners of the community. Foster a safe environment where individuals feel able to communicate effectively and collaboratively by respecting different viewpoints, experiences and opinions.

Participate thoughtfully.
Always try to be thoughtful in your communications; be as polite and straightforward as possible. Please pay careful attention to how you wield your words. Whenever possible, be specific and avoid generalizations. 

Challenge ideas not people.
Treating others with respect is key to collaborating effectively. Our community is known for its different views, perspectives, and backgrounds. There may be times when you find yourself in disagreement with someone in the community. If so, challenge the idea and not the person, listen harder; stretch your thinking and present alternatives.

Contribute high quality resources.
It is imperative that we focus on providing quality contributions to our community—ones that are research based and have enough context so that other members may utilize them effectively.  When publishing documents, take pride in the quality of your work. Spell-check your document and review it for clarity. Members of the Community will appreciate the time and effort that resulted in a high-quality product. The site will be of higher quality for your effort. 

Respect copyright.
Everything you contribute must be compatible with copyright laws.  If you do not obtain, in writing, explicit copyright permission to use a document, you may not post this object.  You should never assume you have copyright permission to republish documents onto the community.

Own your words.
You are responsible and liable for your own posts. Inappropriate posts, which include, but are not limited to, those containing advertising, copyrighted materials used without permission, libel or obscenities will be deleted. If posts are off topic, moderators may move your post to a more relevant topic or discussion area. 

If you have any questions or comments or need additional assistance, please don't hesitate to contact the Community Administrator.