This book shows principals how to successfully balance the needs and priorities of their schools while continuously developing and refining their leadership skills.
This book provides a unique map of the focus and directions of contemporary research on school leadership since 2000 in 24 countries. Each of these directions has its own particular cultural, educational and policy history. Taken together, the various chapters in the volume provide a rich and varied mosaic of what is currently known and what is yet to be discovered about the roles and practices of principals, and their contributions to the improvement of teaching and the learning and achievement of students. The particular foci and methodological emphases of the research reported illustrate the different phases in the development of educational policies and provision in each country. This collection is an important addition to existing international research that has shown beyond any reasonable doubt that the influence of school principals is second only to that of teachers in their capacity to impact students’ progress and achievement and to promote equity and social justice.
The first in the IASL-Libraries Unlimited partnership series, this book features contributions written by authors from around the world about their effective collaboration experiences. Collaboration between teachers and school librarians is a topic that is often discussed in the quest for educational excellence, but the international perspective is something that is rarely explored. This text documents the collaboration endeavors in international school libraries and—drawing upon research and direct experience—demonstrates effective collaboration experiences in a range of countries. It also features selected brief case studies as well as several original essays on the topic of collaboration between teachers and teacher librarians in curriculum planning. The result of a joint effort between Libraries Unlimited and the International Association of School Librarianship (IASL), this book shows how collaboration with teachers looks in the international arena. It addresses topics such as collaborating for success with student searching, the roles of librarians and teachers in the research process, principal involvement, information literacy, inquiry-based learning, use of digital resources, models of collaboration for diversity, and evaluation of collaboration. Additionally, the current research findings presented will offer readers new insights into their profession.
Strengthen programs of family and community engagement to promote equity and increase student success! When schools, families, and communities collaborate and share responsibility for students′ education, more students succeed in school. Based on 30 years of research and fieldwork, the fourth edition of the bestseller School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action, presents tools and guidelines to help develop more effective and more equitable programs of family and community engagement. Written by a team of well-known experts, it provides a theory and framework of six types of involvement for action; up-to-date research on school, family, and community collaboration; and new materials for professional development and on-going technical assistance. Readers also will find: Examples of best practices on the six types of involvement from preschools, and elementary, middle, and high schools Checklists, templates, and evaluations to plan goal-linked partnership programs and assess progress CD-ROM with slides and notes for two presentations: A new awareness session to orient colleagues on the major components of a research-based partnership program, and a full One-Day Team Training Workshop to prepare school teams to develop their partnership programs. As a foundational text, this handbook demonstrates a proven approach to implement and sustain inclusive, goal-linked programs of partnership. It shows how a good partnership program is an essential component of good school organization and school improvement for student success. This book will help every district and all schools strengthen and continually improve their programs of family and community engagement.
Bridge the great divide between distanced administrative duties and daily classroom impact. This book introduces a top-down power mechanism called defined autonomy, a concept that focuses on district-defined, nonnegotiable, common goals and a system of accountability supported by assessment tools. Defined autonomy creates an effective balance of centralized direction and individualized empowerment that allows building-level staff the stylistic freedom to respond quickly and effectively to student failure.
Your school is a lot more than a center of student learning--it also represents a self-contained culture, with traditions and expectations that reflect its unique mission and demographics. In this groundbreaking book, education experts Steve Gruenert and Todd Whitaker offer tools, strategies, and advice for defining, assessing, and ultimately transforming your school's culture into one that is positive, forward-looking, and actively working to enrich students’ lives. Drawing from decades of research on organizational cultures and school leadership, the authors provide everything you need to optimize both the culture and climate of your school, including * "Culture-busting" strategies to help teachers adopt positive attitudes, outlooks, and behaviors; * A framework for pinpointing the type of culture you have, the type that you want, and the actions you need to take to bridge the two; * Tips for hiring, training, and retaining teachers who will actively work to improve your school's culture; and * Instructions on how to create and implement a successful School Culture Rewiring Team. Though often invisible to the naked eye, a school's culture influences everything that takes place under its roof. Whether your school is urban or rural, prosperous or struggling, School Culture Rewired is the ultimate guide to making sure that the culture in your school is guided first and foremost by what's best for your students.
Preparing Teachers for Deeper Learning answers an urgent call for teachers who educate children from diverse backgrounds to meet the demands of a changing world. In today’s knowledge economy, teachers must prioritize problem-solving ability, adaptability, critical thinking, and the development of interpersonal and collaborative skills over rote memorization and the passive transmission of knowledge. Authors Linda Darling-Hammond and Jeannie Oakes and their colleagues examine what this means for teacher preparation and showcase the work of programs that are educating for deeper learning, equity, and social justice. Guided by the growing knowledge base in the science of learning and development, the book examines teacher preparation programs at Alverno College, Bank Street College of Education, High Tech High’s Intern Program, Montclair State University, San Francisco Teacher Residency, Trinity University, and University of Colorado Denver. These seven programs share a common understanding of how people learn that shape similar innovative practices. With vivid examples of teaching for deeper learning in coursework and classrooms; interviews with faculty, school partners, and novice teachers; surveys of teacher candidates and graduates; and analyses of curriculum and practices, Preparing Teachers for Deeper Learning depicts transformative forms of teaching and teacher preparation that honor and expand all students’ abilities, knowledges, and experiences, and reaffirm the promise of educating for a better world.
This exciting book helps educators translate the concept of equity into the context of pedagogy in the K-12 classroom. Providing a practice-oriented framework for understanding what equity entails for both teachers and learners, this book clarifies the theoretical context for equity and shares rich teaching strategies across a range of content areas and age groups. Unpacking six themes to understand Culturally Responsive Education (CRE), this powerful book helps teachers incorporate equity into behaviors, environments, and meaningful learning opportunities. Culturally Responsive Education in the Classroom provides specific, practice-based examples to help readers develop a culturally responsive pedagogical mindset for closing equity gaps in student achievement.