In this book, award-winning educator Cathie West teaches readers how to confidently prepare for and respond to the challenges that come with being a school leader. Derived from professional experience and extensive research, the strategies can be put to work exactly as described or adapted to fit the unique situations that educators face in their schools. With more than thirty years of experience as a school principal, West provides tips for teacher leaders striving to expand their skills, brand new administrators looking for guidance, and experienced principals confronting the unfamiliar or looking for fresh problem-solving ideas.
In this book, award-winning educator Cathie West teaches readers how to confidently prepare for and respond to the challenges that come with being a school leader. Derived from professional experience and extensive research, the strategies can be put to work exactly as described or adapted to fit the unique situations that educators face in their schools. With more than thirty years of experience as a school principal, West provides tips for teacher leaders striving to expand their skills, brand new administrators looking for guidance, and experienced principals confronting the unfamiliar or looking for fresh problem-solving ideas.
Maximize the effectiveness of your professional activities through the use of wikis, and raise student achievement in turn! With strategies from online educator and technology expert Stephanie Sandifer, this book provides how-to advice on the way in which wikis result in a more efficient use of time, better communication, and increased adult learning for the members of your school community. Inside, you'll find out how to promote collaboration and productivity in your school, all while contributing to improved student learning. Topics include: The Dos and Don'ts of Wikis Social Networking Tools and Wikis Wikis for Leadership and Administration Wikis in the Classroom Wikis for Home-to-School Communications Implement each of these practical, innovative ideas and "wikify" your school today!
In her new book, award-winning principal and leadership expert Cathie West provides education leaders at all levels with the tools and guidance they need to engage teachers in the process of increasing student achievement. With authentic examples and research highlights, readers learn how to develop a motivated faculty that is truly dedicated to school improvement and student success. The "Six Keys" covered in the book are both substantive and comprehensive and offer a clear path to success: Key 1: Create a Culture of Engagement Teacher engagement definition, attributes, and steps towards attainment Key 2: Get Organizationally Engaged Exemplary organization qualities, leadership styles, and effectiveness strategies Key 3: Engineer Engagement Quality meeting characteristics, engagement activities, and leadership techniques Key 4: Zero in on Best Practice Effective teaching attributes, instructional practices, and success tips Key 5: Tap into Teacher Leaders Teacher leader selection, training, and strategic deployment Key 6: Confront Change Challengers Challenger profiles, interventions, and support suggestions BONUS! Every chapter includes a wrap-up to help readers review, apply, and retain new learning for each of the six keys to teacher engagement: Key Concepts provides a bulleted summary of each theme’s major concepts to help readers review key ideas. Best Strategies summarizes each chapter’s high impact teacher engagement strategies. Steps to Success suggests activities that will move new concepts and skills into practice. NOTEWORTHY: This book is also an excellent resource for university and college instructors who are responsible for teacher and principal preparation. The 6 Keys to Teacher Engagement substantially supports graduate level courses pertaining to educational leadership, school improvement, curriculum and assessment, and professional development.
This book identifies the six fearless decisions that school leaders need to make to be successful. The author analyzes the top fears that impede effective leadership and lower student achievement, then provides a step by step antidote that will change fear into intention, increase confidence, and produce positive results in your school. In this book, you’ll learn how to: • approach difficult classrooms and solve the problem of low-performing teachers • gain the strength to accept judgment when making controversial decisions during the change process • offer trust and gain it from your staff • use reflection questions and techniques to align thoughts with your best intentions • "re-wire" your thinking as you examine the risks that come with change • take action on standardized test results to improve student learning • feel comfortable making and implementing tough decisions Learn how to change fear into intention so you are able to act with confidence and get the results you really want.
For veteran principals, new principals, and aspiring principals, this book is a valuable resource for building instructional momentum during the beginning of the school year. Educational leadership expert Shawn Joseph guides administrators through five key areas: Vision Instructional Leadership Politics Data Planning With detailed timelines, practical advice, and ready-to-use resources, Joseph explains the essential steps to leadership success that will continue throughout the school year. Supplemental Downloads available to book-buyers!
Social media has exploded onto American culture — including our schools — giving educators a unique opportunity to shape this phenomenon into a powerful tool for improving educational leadership practices. With real-world examples and practical tips, this essential guide shows school leaders how to address both the potential benefits and common concerns presented by social media. It is written in a clear, reader-friendly format, and covers important topics, including: Responding to student safety issues, such as cyberbullying and sexting Improving school management, communication, and professional growth Instructional innovation Twenty-first century learning Preparing for future social media trends This is a must-have resource for school leaders who want to stay current and provide the best possible educational environment for learning in the 21st century.
At the heart of the effort to enact and scale up successful school reforms is the need for more robust links between research and practice. One promising approach is design development, a methodology widely used in other fields and only recently adapted to education, which offers a disciplined process for identifying practical problems, assessing evidence of outcomes, accounting for variability in implementation and results, and establishing a foundation for broader understanding of the problem and proposed solutions. This exciting new book provides a practical guide for education leaders who are seeking to address issues of equity in their schools and want to pursue this approach. The book provides a step-by-step description of the process, augmented by case studies of four education leaders: Christine, a middle school principal who is concerned with the volume of disciplinary referrals in her school; Michelle, an elementary school principal who wants to address achievement gaps; Eric, an assistant superintendent who wants to improve the quality of principals’ instructional feedback to teachers; and Nora, a high school principal who is concerned about the use of racial and homophobic slurs in the hallways. The book follows each of these leaders as they formulate and refine interventions to address these problems. Design-Based School Improvement also includes a series of “excursions into theory” that discuss the research basis for design-based improvement. The author—a leading thinker about policy implementation and school reform—shows a profound appreciation for the complexity of work in schools and the deep and sustained thinking entailed in undertaking productive change. By bringing theory to life and putting it in the hands of skilled practitioners, this book promises to become an invaluable resource for education leaders seeking to solve problems of equity and social justice in schools.
