Facing the Challenges of Whole-School Reform
Facing the Challenges of Whole-School Reform

Author: Mark Berends

Publisher: Rand Corporation

Published: 2002-04-03

Total Pages: 267

ISBN-13: 0833032240

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About a decade ago, New American Schools (NAS) set out to address theperceived lagging performance of American students and the lacklusterresults of school reform efforts. As a private nonprofit organization,NAS's mission was-and is-to help schools and districts raise studentachievement levels by using whole-school designs and design team assistanceduring implementation. Since its inception, NAS has engaged in adevelopment phase (1992-1993), a demonstration phase (1993-1995), and ascale-up phase (1995-present). Over the last ten years, RAND has been monitoring the progress of the NASinitiative. This book is a retrospective on NAS and draws together thefindings from RAND research. The book underscores the significantcontributions made by NAS to comprehensive school reform but also highlightsthe challenges of trying to reform schools through whole-school designs.Divided into sections on each research phase, the book concludes with anafterword by NAS updating its own strategy for the future. This book willinterest those who want to better understand comprehensive school reform andits effects on teaching and learning within high-stakes accountabilityenvironments.

Facing the Challenges of Whole-School Reform: New American Schools After a Decade
Facing the Challenges of Whole-School Reform: New American Schools After a Decade

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13:

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New American Schools (NAS) was formed in 1991 to create and develop whole-school designs that would be adopted by schools throughout the country in order to improve student performance. It was established as a nonprofit and funded largely by private sector donations. NAS founders thought that in the past many reforms were "programmatic," focused on a particular set of individuals in a school or a particular subject or grade level. They believed that adoption of multiple and unconnected approaches to address each area of schooling resulted in a fragmented education program, a balkanized school organization, and low performance by students. NAS's core premise was that all high-quality schools possess, de facto, a unifying design that allows all staff to function to the best of their abilities and that integrates research-based practices into a coherent and mutually reinforcing set of effective approaches to teaching and learning for the entire school. The best way to ensure that lower-performing schools adopted successful designs was to fund design teams to develop "break the mold" school designs that could be readily adopted by communities around the nation. After developing the design, teams would go on to implement their designs in schools throughout the country. This adoption would lead to NAS's primary goal of improving the performance of students. This whole-school approach to educational improvement was a dramatically different way of initiating and disseminating large-scale educational improvements. It was a unique combination of (1) private sector involvement using a venture capitalist approach; (2) the choice of whole-schools designs as a vehicle for reform; and (3) the ambitious goal of scale-up across the country.

School Leadership in the Context of Standards-Based Reform
School Leadership in the Context of Standards-Based Reform

Author: Louis Volante

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-05-16

Total Pages: 271

ISBN-13: 9400740956

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“Although standards-based reform emerged in the United States and the United Kingdom, the idea has spread across the world, as an approach to systemic reform. It might appear that there is a world-wide “tsunami” of standards-based reform that will standardize and homogenize the educational system across the globe. This volume makes it very clear, however, that there is no one approach to standards-based reform and countries change – there is a danger in paying attention to its evolution and impact in only one context. That’s what makes this volume so valuable. Louis Volante has drawn together descriptions from a wide range of countries, all involved in large-scale reform and using standards and assessments as part of their process. What becomes very obvious is that the language may be the same but the words reflect different contexts and can represent very different ideals, values, and processes. I’m sure you will find this book as interesting and challenging as I have – a gem that pushes your thinking and does not allow readers to remain neutral.” (Lorna Earl)

Encyclopedia of Education and Human Development
Encyclopedia of Education and Human Development

Author: Stephen J. Farenga

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-07-17

Total Pages: 1472

ISBN-13: 1317471822

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This comprehensive and exhaustive reference work on the subject of education from the primary grades through higher education combines educational theory with practice, making it a unique contribution to the educational reference market. Issues related to human development and learning are examined by individuals whose specializations are in diverse areas including education, psychology, sociology, philosophy, law, and medicine. The book focuses on important themes in education and human development. Authors consider each entry from the perspective of its social and political conditions as well as historical underpinnings. The book also explores the people whose contributions have played a seminal role in the shaping of educational ideas, institutions, and organizations, and includes entries on these institutions and organizations. This work integrates numerous theoretical frameworks with field based applications from many areas in educational research.

Improving Schools and Educational Systems
Improving Schools and Educational Systems

Author: Alma Harris

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-05-09

Total Pages: 329

ISBN-13: 1000948773

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School improvement has become a dominant feature of educational reform in many countries. The pressure upon schools to improve performance has resulted in a wide-range of improvement programmes and initiatives which can provide both inspiration and advice to everyone involved in school improvement. This book draws together the most effective school improvement projects from around the world in one comprehensive text, including detailed comparative analysis of a wide variety of initiatives. Drawing on examples from the UK, the USA, Canada, South Africa and Australia this book gives both an international snapshot and a coherent synthesis of initiatives that have given achievable results.

School Change and the MicroSociety® Program
School Change and the MicroSociety® Program

Author: Cary Cherniss

Publisher: Corwin Press

Published: 2005-06-28

Total Pages: 233

ISBN-13: 1483363953

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Be an agent of positive, enduring change with these specific strategies gleaned from the MicroSociety® program and apply them to your school improvement efforts.

School Choice at the Crossroads
School Choice at the Crossroads

Author: Mark Berends

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-10-04

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 1351213296

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School Choice at the Crossroads compiles exemplary, policy-relevant research on school choice options—voucher, private, charter, and traditional public schools—as they have been implemented across the nation. Renowned contributors highlight the latest rigorous research findings and implications on school vouchers, tuition tax credits, and charter schools in states and local areas at the forefront of school choice policy. Examining national and state-level perspectives, each chapter discusses the effects of choice and vouchers on student outcomes, the processes of choice, supportive conditions of school choice programs, comparative features of school choice, and future research. This timely volume addresses whether school choice works, under what conditions, and for whom—further informing educational research, policy, and practice.

Rethinking Readiness
Rethinking Readiness

Author: Rafael Heller

Publisher: Harvard Education Press

Published: 2021-02-17

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13: 168253054X

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Rethinking Readiness offers a new set of competencies to replace the narrow learning goals of No Child Left Behind and, in chapters written by some of the nation’s most well-respected education scholars, explores their implications for schools. Today’s students must cultivate the full range of intellectual, interpersonal, and intrapersonal capacities that have been grouped together under the banner of “deeper learning.” Rethinking Readiness focuses on how educators and policy makers should move forward to provide the educational experiences that students need to become truly well prepared for college, careers, and civic life, including changes in curriculum, teacher evaluation, and student assessment. As state leaders chart a new course for K–12 education in the Every Student Succeeds Act era, Rethinking Readiness offers a succinct and compelling vision for a new agenda for school reform so future generations can prosper in a rapidly changing world.

Changing for Good
Changing for Good

Author: Melissa Evans-Andris

Publisher: Corwin Press

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 433

ISBN-13: 1412968682

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'This important work identifies the critical elements of sustainability--the necessary goal of systemic reform--which requires a long-term commitment to change for the benefit of students' - Lois Adams-Rogers, Deputy Executive Director, Council of Chief State School Officers The recent emphasis on educational reform has lead to many books on initiating school improvement, but relatively few on how to sustain reform efforts so that improvements have a lasting impact. Changing for Good offers a detailed examination of current schoolwide reform efforts and identifies strategies for introducing, managing, and sustaining successful school renewal programs. Based on a six-year study of 74 schools, the book provides a model for generating the necessary district support, schoolwide leadership, teacher commitment, and performance outcomes to cultivate improvement that lasts. Applicable at all levels, this model helps readers: - Align reform efforts with educational standards and accountability guidelines - Create a research-based improvement plan - Support change by developing a shared vision - Promote distributed leadership - Celebrate gains to encourage cooperation The most beneficial school improvements are the ones that endure. With this exceptional resource, educational administrators and leaders can create a school environment that embraces meaningful change, sustains positive reform, and ensures successful learning outcomes.

Leading With Data
Leading With Data

Author: Ellen Goldring

Publisher: Corwin Press

Published: 2008-09-17

Total Pages: 217

ISBN-13: 1452293058

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"Goldring and Berends provide practical and strategic counsel on what data should be collected, how data can be productively analyzed, and who should be involved. Their book positions this advice deftly in research on leadership and organizational change. As school leaders confront the challenges of meeting the needs of all students through continuous school improvement, they will find this book an essential resource." —Willis D. Hawley, Professor of Education and Public Policy University of Maryland A comprehensive, practical guide to using data effectively for school improvement! For any educator focused on enhancing student outcomes and schoolwide performance results, knowing how to collect appropriate data isn′t necessarily enough. Understanding how to analyze and use data as a pathway to improvement is the key. This comprehensive, hands-on guidebook discusses the essential statistical and assessment information that principals need to know, what types of data to look at, how to analyze the information, and how to use what they′ve learned to make critical choices for teaching and learning. Full of examples and recommendations, this book illustrates proactive strategies for collecting data and generating change while focusing on other measures of learning and school organization, including data about professional development, allocation of resources, family involvement, and community standards. Part of the Leadership for Learning series, this resource: Provides leaders with support in developing and sustaining schoolwide capacity for continuous improvement Links data-based decision making with accountability issues and shared mission and goals Includes numerous examples and cases, a glossary, school improvement template, sample forms, and data tools Leading With Data demonstrates how administrators can apply knowledgeable analysis of meaningful data for continuous, sustainable, and significant school improvement.