System-wide Efforts to Improve Student Achievement

System-wide Efforts to Improve Student Achievement

Author: Kenneth K. Wong

Publisher: IAP

Published: 2006-03-01

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 1607527650

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Strong system-wide support is increasingly being identified as laying an important role in policy efforts aimed at increasing student achievement (Hightower, Knapp, March, and McLaughlin: 2002). Yet current research often views district and other system-wide support as largely governance changes without substantive linkage to school improvement outcomes (Cuban and Usdan: 2003). In this volume we seek to deepen our understanding of the role of school districts and system-wide initiatives through a series of case studies that focus on how school districts and system-wide actors facilitate policy innovation and reform initiatives that are designed to improve student achievement. Through both quantitative and qualitative studies from diverse settings across the country, chapters in this volume examine the role of instructional technology, alternative accountability practices, management and partnership reforms, and school improvement efforts through new incentive and support practices. While challenges remain, these case studies demonstrate how districts support and facilitate school change aimed at improving student achievement.


Handbook on Restructuring and Substantial School Improvement

Handbook on Restructuring and Substantial School Improvement

Author: Herbert J. Walberg

Publisher: IAP

Published: 2007-08-01

Total Pages: 134

ISBN-13: 1607526522

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(Published in cooperation with The Center on Innovation & Improvement) As suggested by the title, the purpose of this Handbook on Restructuring and Substantial School Improvement is to provide principles for restructuring and substantially improving schools. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, the Center on Innovation & Improvement (CII) engaged leading experts on restructuring and school improvement to prepare modules for this handbook to assist states, districts, and schools in establishing policies, procedures, and support to successfully restructure schools. The Handbook is organized into three sections. The topic of the Handbook’s modules – restructuring with a focus on the district as the impetus for dramatic improvement – is relatively new in the nation’s education history. For this reason, the module authors were selected because they are highly experienced experts in their fields and can be counted on to judiciously weigh the less than definitive evidence and to state useful guiding principles.


Learning Analytics in Higher Education

Learning Analytics in Higher Education

Author: John Zilvinskis

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2017-09-28

Total Pages: 102

ISBN-13: 1119443830

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Gain an overview of learning analytics technologies in higher education, including broad considerations and the barriers to introducing them. This volume features the work of practitioners who led some of the most notable implementations, like: the Open Learning Initiative now at Stanford University, faculty-led projects at the University of Michigan, including ECoach and SLAM, the University of Maryland, Baltimore Countys Check My Activity and Indiana Universitys FLAGS early warning system and e-course advising initiatives. Readers will glean from these experiences, as well as from a national project in Australia on innovative approaches for enhancing student experience, an informed description of the role of feedback within these technologies, and a thorough discussion of ethical and social justice issues related to the use of learning analytics, and why higher education institutions should approach such initiatives cautiously, intentionally, and collaboratively. This is the 179th volume of the Jossey-Bass quarterly report series New Directions for Higher Education. Addressed to presidents, vice presidents, deans, and other higher education decision makers on all kinds of campuses, it provides timely information and authoritative advice about major issues and administrative problems confronting every institution.


D.C. Public Schools

D.C. Public Schools

Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia

Publisher:

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 158

ISBN-13:

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OECD Reviews of Evaluation and Assessment in Education Synergies for Better Learning An International Perspective on Evaluation and Assessment

OECD Reviews of Evaluation and Assessment in Education Synergies for Better Learning An International Perspective on Evaluation and Assessment

Author: OECD

Publisher: OECD Publishing

Published: 2013-04-11

Total Pages: 721

ISBN-13: 9264190651

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This report provides an international comparative analysis and policy advice to countries on how evaluation and assessment arrangements can be embedded within a consistent framework to improve the quality, equity and efficiency of school education.


Every Child, Every Classroom, Every Day

Every Child, Every Classroom, Every Day

Author: Robert Peterkin

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2011-03-21

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 1118037030

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Urban school superintendents face unprecedented challenges. They must ensure that all students achieve a high level of performance despite a lack of resources, the intractable problems of race and poverty, a chaotic governance structure, and the often conflicting demands of teachers, parents, unions, and the community. This important book, edited by the co-directors of the prestigious Harvard Urban Superintendents Program (USP), explores the ways in which superintendents can make a difference in the lives of each child, every day, by being knowledgeable about and driven by what happens in the classroom. The editors and distinguished contributors cover a wide range of vital topics that superintendents face from the day they are hired to the day they retire, such as how superintendents can most effectively communicate their vision, plan strategically, institute instructional reform, engage the community, and allocate resources. The book is filled with illustrative examples of well-known superintendents who are trailblazing new means to achieve educational fairness for all children and are changing the landscape of urban school systems today. In addition, Every Child, Every Classroom, Every Day highlights the Urban Superintendents Program's Leadership Framework, which is designed to aid administrators and educators in decision making and achieving equity. An ancillary CD containing teaching notes and exhibits is also included (in the print edition only) as an aid to teachers who wish to scaffold material discussed in the text. Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file. These materials will be made available for download upon purchase of the digital edition Co-published with Education Week and the American Association of School Administrators.


Leveraging Data for Student Success

Leveraging Data for Student Success

Author: Laura G. Knapp

Publisher: RTI Press

Published: 2016-09-29

Total Pages: 124

ISBN-13: 1934831204

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People providing services to schools, teachers, and students want to know whether these services are effective. With that knowledge, a project director can expand services that work well and adjust implementation of activities that are not working as expected. When finding that an innovative strategy benefits students, a project director might want to share that information with other service providers who could build upon that strategy. Some organizations that fund programs for students will want a report demonstrating the program’s success. Determining whether a program is effective requires expertise in data collection, study design, and analysis. Not all project directors have this expertise—they tend to be primarily focused on working with schools, teachers, and students to undertake program activities. Collecting and obtaining student-level data may not be a routine part of the program. This book provides an overview of the process for evaluating a program. It is not a detailed methodological text but focuses on awareness of the process. What do program directors need to know about data and data analysis to plan an evaluation or to communicate with an evaluator? Examples focus on supporting college and career readiness programs. Readers can apply these processes to other studies that include a data collection component.


Professional Development

Professional Development

Author: Sally J. Zepeda

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-10-02

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 1317926005

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This top-selling book will serve as the compass and road map to your school’s professional development journey. A comprehensive and authoritative resource you will go to again and again, this book helps guide principals, directors of professional development, school/district committees, and other leaders in creating an effective professional development program that moves ideas from knowledge to action. Topics include: Learning Communities Job-Embedded Learning Coaching Teacher Study Groups Critical Friends Lesson Study Portfolios And more! Additionally, this book features helpful case studies, useful forms and templates, sample agendas, and other invaluable resources for professional development. The second edition contains the following enhancements: Expanded coverage of job-embedded learning, which is a cost-effective way for administrators to enhance professional development with their staff More information on the theoretical grounding of professional development with applications that can be readily adapted for use in schools Updated references and figures to reflect newly published literature on the topics covered User-friendly tabs, so you can find and return to your favorite sections time after time


Hidden Markets

Hidden Markets

Author: Patricia Burch

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2009-01-13

Total Pages: 198

ISBN-13: 1135915067

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Across the U.S., test publishers, software companies, and research firms are swarming to take advantage of the revenues made available by the No Child Left Behind Act. In effect, the education industry has assumed a central place in the day-to-day governance and administration of public schools—a trend that has gone largely unnoticed by policymakers or the press until now. Drawing on analytic tools, Hidden Markets examines specific domains that the education industry has had particular influence on—home schooling, remedial instruction, management consulting, test development, data management, and staff development. Burch's analysis demonstrates that only when we subject the education industry to systematic and in-depth critical analysis can we begin to demand more corporate accountability and organize to halt the slide of education funds into the market.