Creating the Schools Our Children Need

Creating the Schools Our Children Need
Author: Dylan Wiliam
Publisher: Learning Sciences International
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2018-03-29
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9781943920334

Research shows school improvement initiatives are most effective when they come from the district level, rather than the state. While there is no one solution to school improvement that holds true in every classroom every time, there are two clearly identified aspects that improve the odds of school success: implementing a curriculum focused on developing knowledge, and supporting a culture where every teacher improves.In Creating the Schools Our Children Need, Dr. Dylan Wiliam outlines a framework for evaluating new district initiatives, and guides school boards, administrators, and district leaders through a breakdown of why what we¿re doing right now isn¿t working, and what we need to be doing instead.

The Schools Our Children Deserve

The Schools Our Children Deserve
Author: Alfie Kohn
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Total Pages: 356
Release: 1999
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9780618083459

Arguing against the tougher standards rhetoric that marks the current education debate, the author of No Contest and Punished by Rewards writes that such tactics squeeze the pleasure out of learning. Reprint.

The Education We Need for a Future We Can′t Predict

The Education We Need for a Future We Can′t Predict
Author: Thomas Hatch
Publisher: Corwin Press
Total Pages: 181
Release: 2021-01-19
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1071838504

Improve Schools and Transform Education In order for educational systems to change, we must reevaluate deep-seated beliefs about learning, teaching, schooling, and race that perpetuate inequitable opportunities and outcomes. Hatch, Corson, and Gerth van den Berg challenge the narrative when it comes to the "grammar of schooling"--or the conventional structures, practices, and beliefs that define educational experiences for so many children—to cast a new vision of what school could be. The book addresses current systemic problems and solutions as it: Highlights global examples of successful school change Describes strategies that improve educational opportunities and performance Explores promising approaches in developing new learning opportunities Outlines conditions for supporting wide-scale educational improvement This provocative book approaches education reform by highlighting what works, while also demonstrating what can be accomplished if we redefine conventional schools. We can make the schools we have more efficient, more effective, and more equitable, all while creating powerful opportunities to support all aspects of students’ development. "You won’t find a better book on system change in education than this one. We learn why schools don’t change; how they can improve; what it takes to change a system; and, in the final analysis, the possibilities of system change. Above all, The Education We Need renders complexity into clarity as the writing is so clear and compelling. A powerful read on a topic of utmost importance." ~Michael Fullan, Professor Emeritus, OISE/Universtiy of Toronto "I cannot recommend this book highly enough – Tom tackles long-standing and emerging educational issues in new ways with an impressive understanding of the challenging complexities, but also feasible possibilities, for ensuring excellence and equity for all students." ~Carol Campbell, Associate Professor, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto

School is More Than a Building

School is More Than a Building
Author: Kelley Donner
Publisher:
Total Pages: 36
Release: 2021-05-20
Genre:
ISBN: 9781955698993

A great school is so much more than a building? It is a place where children feel accepted for who they are. It is a place where kindness and empathy are commonplace. It is a place where children know and feel that people are there for them and that they are safe and loved. With its delightful watercolor illustrations of school life, School is More Than a Building paints a positive picture of a school environment where children know and understand that the people who work there care and look out for their best interests. When read aloud, children are reminded that they are part of a very special community and that schools are there for them. The pandemic made it painfully clear just how sensitive children are to the world around them and how important schools are for many children's health and well-being. Unfortunately, for some children, schools are more than just a place for learning, they are also a place of refuge and escape. It is important that children are aware that schools are a safe place where there are people that they can trust and go to if they need help. School is More than a Building, it is a place where people listen.In addition to celebrating schools and everything they do, School is More Than a Building is a great book to generate discussion about the many aspects of school life. At KelleyDonner.com/school-is-more-than-a-building you will find lesson plans, bulletin board ideas, activities and more that can be used on a school wide-level, in the classroom, or in your library. School is an integral part of a child's life. School is more than a building, it is a place where?

Creating Great Schools

Creating Great Schools
Author: Phillip C. Schlechty
Publisher: Jossey-Bass
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2005-02-21
Genre: Education
ISBN:

Helping educational leaders sustain continuous innovation and improvement in schools, this text presents a framework for understanding the norms, behaviours and structures that make school systems so intractable to change.

Creating the Opportunity to Learn

Creating the Opportunity to Learn
Author: A. Wade Boykin
Publisher: ASCD
Total Pages: 246
Release: 2011-09-08
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1416614079

"Unless we believe that those who have more are inherently superior to those who have less, we should be troubled by the fact that patterns of achievement are often fairly predictable, particularly with respect to students' race and class." In Creating the Opportunity to Learn, Wade Boykin and Pedro Noguera help navigate the turbid waters of evidence-based methodologies and chart a course toward closing (and eliminating) the academic achievement gap. Turning a critical eye to current and recent research, the authors present a comprehensive view of the achievement gap and advocate for strategies that contribute to the success of all children. Boykin and Noguera maintain that it is possible to close the achievement gap by abandoning failed strategies, learning from successful schools, and simply doing more of what the research shows is most effective. Success is founded on equity, but equity involves more than simply ensuring students have equal access to education; equity also entails a focus on outcomes and results. If we want to bring about significant improvements in those outcomes, we have to do more to address the context in which learning takes place. In short, we must create schools where a child's race or class is no longer a predictor for how well he or she might perform.

The Teaching Delusion 2: Teaching Strikes Back

The Teaching Delusion 2: Teaching Strikes Back
Author: Bruce Robertson
Publisher: John Catt
Total Pages: 173
Release: 2021-09-24
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1914351517

The Teaching Delusion 2: Teaching Strikes Back will give teachers and school leaders the supportive shake-up they need, helping them to abandon practices that aren’t making the difference they should be, and to focus on the things that will really make the biggest difference to students in our schools.|Whisper it quietly: a lot of time is being wasted in a lot of schools. Actually, why are we whispering? What we should really be doing is calling this out – loudly! The job of schools is too important for us to keeping quiet. Schools are in the ‘transforming lives’ business. There is no time to waste! In The Teaching Delusion: Why Teaching In Our Schools Isn’t Good Enough (And How We Can Make It Better), Bruce Robertson explored ‘delusions’ that are holding our schools back. In this sequel, The Teaching Delusion 2: Teaching Strikes Back, he digs deeper into three areas: curriculum, pedagogy and leadership. In doing so, he tackles the issue of time-wasting head-on. By calling out specific delusions in each area, Robertson suggests strategies for dismantling these and offers a clear roadmap forward. Backed by a depth of research and a breadth of experience, The Teaching Delusion 2: Teaching Strikes Back will give teachers and school leaders the supportive shake-up they need, helping them to abandon practices that aren’t making the difference they should be, and to focus on the things that will really make the biggest difference to students in our schools.

What The Academy Taught Us: Improving Schools from the Bottom Up in a Top-Down Transformation Era

What The Academy Taught Us: Improving Schools from the Bottom Up in a Top-Down Transformation Era
Author: Eric Kalenze
Publisher: John Catt
Total Pages: 311
Release: 2019-08-23
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1398384054

Early in the 2000s, a high-school principal in Minnesota, Dr. Bob Perdaems, faced a complex challenge. The demographics of his school were shifting, political tensions in the surrounding communities were rising, and, thanks to the No Child Left Behind Act's new testing and accountability requirements, his school's performance was soon to be scrutinized more intensely and more publicly than ever before. While he had several visions of how his school could continuously improve through these realities, however, he had no additional budget to bring his ideas to life.Undaunted, Dr. Bob set to creating school improvements the best way he knew how--and that, of course, he could afford: he prioritized his school's areas for growth, found teachers who would lend minds and hands, and gathered them to look at the blueprints. What the Academy Taught Us is a book about the collaborative school-improvement culture Dr. Bob created in his Minnesota high school: the principles that initiated it, the collective effort that kept it running, and the lasting effects it had on its teachers and students. The book also brilliantly explores how bottom-up approaches like Dr. Bob's fare in the current era, which seeks to transform schools through more top-down and 'disruptive' means. Ultimately, What the Academy Taught Us offers today's educators a way forward. While largely viewing the difficult work of school improvement through the prism of a single school, it presents abundant recommendations about how schools everywhere can build effective and continuous improvement from the bottom up.

Building Blocks for Social-Emotional Learning

Building Blocks for Social-Emotional Learning
Author: Tracy A. Hulen
Publisher: Solution Tree Press
Total Pages: 430
Release: 2022-01-03
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1952812488

Support the growth of your students with meaningful, effective social-emotional learning (SEL). Full of resources, tools, and planning templates, this comprehensive guide provides everything you need to embed SEL practices within your daily work. You'll engage in deep reflection and discover ways to refine instruction, lesson planning, and assessment; promote whole-child development; and foster a productive learning environment for all. Readers will: Gain a deeper understanding of students' neurological development. Learn the benefits of social-emotional learning. Create a culture of social-emotional learning across entire schools. Plan and teach for social-emotional learning. Assess students on their social-emotional progress in order to encourage continual growth. Contents: Introduction: Why Teach Social-Emotional Learning to All? Chapter 1: What Is Social-Emotional Learning? Chapter 2: Establishing Culture, Climate, and the Learning Environment for SEL in Elementary Schools Chapter 3: Building a Schoolwide Foundation for SEL in Elementary School Chapter 4: Effective SEL Teaching Practices and Strategies in Elementary Schools Chapter 5: Effective SEL Lesson Planning Chapter 6: Monitoring Student Learning of SEL Appendix References and Resources Index