So, you want to be an academy trust leader? This book will show you how. Sir David Carter knows what it feels like to be responsible for multiple schools and how the best leaders make large-scale collaboration work for their teachers, pupils, parents and the whole community.
So, you want to be an academy trust leader? This book will show you how. Sir David Carter started his career as a music teacher in several comprehensive schools before spending thirty years in school leadership before becoming one of the first Regional Schools Commissioners and then National School Commissioner. He knows what it feels like to be responsible for multiple schools and how the best leaders make large-scale collaboration work for their teachers, pupils, parents and the whole community. This book will share the recipe for understanding the purpose of academy trust leadership and give insider knowledge of how to do it well and with all stakeholders at the forefront of your mission.
Most Americans agree on the necessity of education reform, but there is little consensus about how this goal might be achieved. The rhetoric of standards and vouchers has occupied center stage, polarizing public opinion and affording little room for reflection on the intangible conditions that make for good schools. Trust in Schools engages this debate with a compelling examination of the importance of social relationships in the successful implementation of school reform. Over the course of three years, Bryk and Schneider, together with a diverse team of other researchers and school practitioners, studied reform in twelve Chicago elementary schools. Each school was undergoing extensive reorganization in response to the Chicago School Reform Act of 1988, which called for greater involvement of parents and local community leaders in their neighborhood schools. Drawing on years longitudinal survey and achievement data, as well as in-depth interviews with principals, teachers, parents, and local community leaders, the authors develop a thorough account of how effective social relationships—which they term relational trust—can serve as a prime resource for school improvement. Using case studies of the network of relationships that make up the school community, Bryk and Schneider examine how the myriad social exchanges that make up daily life in a school community generate, or fail to generate, a successful educational environment. The personal dynamics among teachers, students, and their parents, for example, influence whether students regularly attend school and sustain their efforts in the difficult task of learning. In schools characterized by high relational trust, educators were more likely to experiment with new practices and work together with parents to advance improvements. As a result, these schools were also more likely to demonstrate marked gains in student learning. In contrast, schools with weak trust relations saw virtually no improvement in their reading or mathematics scores. Trust in Schools demonstrates convincingly that the quality of social relationships operating in and around schools is central to their functioning, and strongly predicts positive student outcomes. This book offer insights into how trust can be built and sustained in school communities, and identifies some features of public school systems that can impede such development. Bryk and Schneider show how a broad base of trust across a school community can provide a critical resource as education professional and parents embark on major school reforms. A Volume in the American Sociological Association's Rose Series in Sociology
Children in today's world are inundated with information about who to be, what to do and how to live. But what if there was a way to teach children how to manage priorities, focus on goals and be a positive influence on the world around them? The Leader in Meis that programme. It's based on a hugely successful initiative carried out at the A.B. Combs Elementary School in North Carolina. To hear the parents of A. B Combs talk about the school is to be amazed. In 1999, the school debuted a programme that taught The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Peopleto a pilot group of students. The parents reported an incredible change in their children, who blossomed under the programme. By the end of the following year the average end-of-grade scores had leapt from 84 to 94. This book will launch the message onto a much larger platform. Stephen R. Covey takes the 7 Habits, that have already changed the lives of millions of people, and shows how children can use them as they develop. Those habits -- be proactive, begin with the end in mind, put first things first, think win-win, seek to understand and then to be understood, synergize, and sharpen the saw -- are critical skills to learn at a young age and bring incredible results, proving that it's never too early to teach someone how to live well.
School leadership and management are fundamental components of school improvement. This is the first study of its kind to relate the principles of effective leadership to the broad spectrum of school life in Ireland. A key resource for school leaders in their personal and professional study, this book critically appraises issues in leading and managing schools. The editors bring together an array of renowned scholars to inform and stimulate the debate on the future of leadership development in Irish schools. Each author explores different perspectives and sets a framework for rethinking school leadership and management and an agenda for future research. The book includes in-depth discussions of a broad spectrum of issues encountered by practitioners, such as: - justice and equality as cornerstones of any educational system and the challenges they pose for those in leadership positions; - principles of good governance; - the key positions of accountability and leadership of change. Inspiring and informative in its style, the authors bring together a range of perspectives on every aspect of school leadership and management, from well known contributors such as Michael Fullan, Ciaran Sugrue and Marty Linsky, creating a unique and rich canvas. Focusing on national and international perspectives this book adds to the growing canon of international studies of school leadership. With a unique Irish perspective on Leadership and Management, this book provides an authoritative reference point for practitioners, scholars and students of educational leadership and management, as well as for policy makers in Ireland. It is also extremely useful for practitioners, scholars and students nationally and internationally.
Leading in Change: Implications for School Leadership Preparation in England and the United States considers the ways in which school leadership, and its preparation has changed and developed in response to a rapidly changing educational scenario over the past decade. Drawing together leading thinkers, researchers, and practitioners in the field of school leadership and management this text takes an international perspective to consider what we know about school diversification, and school leadership preparation. Theoretically and conceptually informed, the contributors’ draw on recent empirical research studies and practitioner experience into school leadership preparation to examine how neoliberal and neoconservative policies are working in unison to privatize and corporatize public schools. It looks at how these policies have impacted the preparation of school leaders. In addition to information, critique, and analysis, multiple perspectives are provided that readers can draw upon to ensure aspiring school leaders are successfully prepared to lead in a diversified and corporate school context. The book is divided into three sections. In the first section key topics covered include: • Relationship between school corporatization and leadership preparation in England and the United States • Comparative analysis of US charter schools and UK academy trusts Section two is focused on England. Key topics covered include: • System leadership and governance in networked systems • Role of a specialist leader • Role of social capital in the leadership of academy and free schools • Building leadership capacity • Women's leadership preparation in the independent sector Section three is focused on the United States. Key topics covered include: • Overview of current education reform, issues and challenges for school leadership • Historical analysis of standards for educational leadership preparation programs • Preparing charter school leaders, emerging challenges and opportunities • Role of a growth mindset in principal preparation programs • School leadership preparation and development in one state Leading in Change: Implications for School Leadership Preparation in England and the United States is essential reading for those who work, study, or research in k-12 school reform. Contributors examine the current research and best practices on present school leadership preparation programs in England and the US adding to the discourse on effective training methods for 21st century school leaders. Given the crucial importance of leadership for effective school performance, a number of strategies are proposed by chapter authors to help future school leaders operate successfully in demanding and changing times.
Mandy Coalter draws on her extensive HR experience in the schools sector and beyond to support you to build a great place to work where everyone can excel in the interests of the children. She provides practical tips and support that will help to improve staff retention, performance and engagement, while tackling topics such as addressing teacher workload, what really motivates and retains staff and the crucial role that leaders play in ensuring great people management in schools. Insightful, captivating and authentic, Mandy suggests fresh and practical new ideas and opportunities to strengthen your school and teachers, better equipping them to support their pupils.
New York Times bestselling author and leadership expert Ken Blanchard’s popular TrustWorks! training program is now available in book form! Trust Works!: Four Keys to Building Lasting Relationships is an insightful guide designed to help people navigate one of the most complex issues that affects all areas of our lives: trust. In Trust Works!, Ken Blanchard, Cynthia Olmstead, and Martha Lawrence demonstrate how to get along better with those around us. In today’s polarized society, building trust—and sustaining it—has never been more important or seemingly elusive. Trust Works! provides a common language and essential skills that can replace dissension with peace and cooperation and help us all work together productively and in harmony. Learn how the apply the “ABCD trust” model to address the factors that lead to discord, including low morale, miscommunication, poor response to problems and issues, and dysfunctional leadership.
This book samples recent and emerging trust research in education including an array of conceptual approaches, measurement innovations, and explored determinants and outcomes of trust. The collection of pathways explores the phenomenon of trust and establishes the significance of trust relationships in school life. It emboldens the claim that trust merits continued attention of both scholars and practitioners because of the role it plays in the production of equity and excellence. Divided into four parts, the book explores trust under the rubrics of learning, teaching, leading and bridging. The book proposes a variety of directions for future research. These include the simultaneous investigation of trust from the prospectives of various trusters, and at both the individual and group levels, longitudinal research designs, and an elaboration of methods.