Download or read book Aligning School Districts as PLCs written by Mark Van Clay and published by Solution Tree Press. This book was released on 2011-06-02 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In order for a professional learning community to achieve its full potential, all levels districtwide must align with the three big ideas: ensuring a focus on learning, building a collaborative culture, and establishing a results orientation. This book breaks down the complex process of aligning the work of central office staff, building leadership, and teachers to increase student achievement.

Download or read book Districts on the Move written by Jay Westover and published by Corwin. This book was released on 2019-08-16 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Building off the framework Fullan and Quinn introduced in the International best-seller Coherence The Right Drivers in Action for Schools, Districts, and Systems, Westover presents a roadmap to help district and school leaders navigate the journey of creating a coherent system of continuous improvement. Based on more than 15 years of successful partnerships with school districts, this book includes case studies of how districts progressed over time, leadership competencies shown to be critical factors for success, tools and rubrics for action planning and guiding implementation, and reflective questions for inquiring about the current state of district systems and practices and strategies for systemic improvements efforts. Readers will discover Benchmarks of Capacity that will serve as guideposts to • Create clarity of district goals and school priorities for student learning • Cultivate a culture of shared leadership and systemic collaboration • Develop collective expertise with a coherent instructional framework • Engage in evidence-based cycles of inquiry for continuous improvement Learn how to lead systemic improvement that builds capacity at the classroom, school and district levels.

Download or read book Managing School Districts for High Performance written by Stacey Childress and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Managing School Districts for High Performance brings together more than twenty case studies and other readings that offer a powerful and transformative approach to advancing and sustaining the work of school improvement. At the center of this work is the concept of organizational coherence: aligning organizational design, human capital management, resource allocation, and accountability and performance improvement systems to support an overarching strategy. This central idea provides a valuable conceptual framework for current and future school leaders. The case studies presented in Managing School Districts for High Performance grow out of the Public Education Leadership Project (PELP), a unique partnership between the Harvard Business School, the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a network of urban school districts. This rich array of cases explores the managerial challenges districts face as they seek to ensure rich learning opportunities and high achievement for all students across a system of schools. "This book of insightful case studies fills a void long felt by educational administrators in search of practical, real-world training tools. It will serve as a catalyst for the tough conversations district leaders need to have about achieving high-quality outcomes for all students. The Broad Center for the Management of School Systems has used many of these cases with great success, and we are excited that they are now compiled into a single collection." -- Dan Katzir, Managing Director, The Broad Foundation "This volume is not a treatise about how schools and districts should work. Rather, it provides a deep immersion in the real dilemmas involved in advancing school district reform. Anyone who works through these cases cannot help but come away with a more informed vision for change, a more reflective orientation about the interrelationships among the multiple tasks involved, and a more prudent grasp of what it takes to educate all children to high academic standards. The course of study presented by Managing School Districts for High Performance should be required professional education for anyone charged with advancing a coherent agenda of school improvement in our diverse, demanding, and rapidly changing society." -- Anthony S. Bryk, Spencer Professor of Organizational Studies, Stanford University "This set of case studies offers practitioners, policymakers, and scholars the opportunity to learn from the collective wisdom and real-life experiences of educational leaders involved in systemic transformation. Implementing coherent reform strategies designed to improve and sustain student performance often takes place in a vacuum. As a former urban superintendent, I believe that these selected educational case studies provide a compelling forum for shared experiential teaching and learning." -- Arlene Ackerman, Christian A. Johnson Professor of Outstanding Educational Practice, Teachers College, Columbia University "This collaboration between the Harvard Business School and the Harvard Graduate School of Education provides a set of analytical tools to address the most complex and challenging issues facing urban public schools. The contemporary case studies document actual choices and constraints and point to patterns and similarities across organizations, from urban schools to corporate environments." -- Carol Johnson, Superintendent, Boston Public Schools Stacy Childress is a lecturer at Harvard Business School. Richard F. Elmore is the Gregory R. Anrig Professor of Educational Leadership at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Allen S. Grossman is the MBA Class of 1957 Professor of Management Practice at Harvard Business School. Susan Moore Johnson is the Pforzheimer Professor of Teaching and Learning at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Download or read book Oregon Blue Book written by Oregon. Office of the Secretary of State and published by . This book was released on 1895 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Schools on the Move written by Jay Westover and published by Corwin Press. This book was released on 2022-02-10 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The greatest influence on school district improvement is the extent to which school leaders and teachers collectively transform climate, develop culture and build capacity for the purpose of creating coherence. Districts on the Move (DOTM) paved the way for system change by establishing coherent cultures of learning. Now that DOTM has been written and district leaders can establish the context for positive system change, this new book, Schools on the Move (SOTM), will delve into bringing that vision to life and realizing school improvement at the building level. At the heart of this matter is a foundational principle that schools are the unit of change for systemic improvement. It is imperative to reduce the variances in climate, culture, capacity and coherence that exist among and within school sites if school districts are to create a coherent system of continuous improvement. This book will provide practical tools and guidance to help schools create coherent systems (and thereby improve the whole district) in these four domains: 1. Shared Leadership: partnering with teachers and staff to develop a culture of co-learning 2. Clarity of Focus: creating a strategic focus on equitable student growth 3. Collective Expertise: developing instructional coherence through cycles of collaborative inquiry 4. Continuous Improvement: maintaining a focus on evidence and impact Collaborative inquiry is the vehicle through which this change is realized. Collaborative inquiry "shapes a common mindset" (Donohoo) and allows educators to develop collective efficacy through mastery of shared learning experiences"--

Download or read book Besieged written by William G. Howell and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2005-04-01 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: School boards are fighting for their survival. Almost everything that they do is subject to regulations handed down from city councils, state boards of education, legislatures, and courts. As recent mayoral and state takeovers in such cities as Baltimore, Chicago, and New York make abundantly clear, school boards that do not fulfill the expectations of other political players may be stripped of what few independent powers they still retain. Teachers unions exert growing influence over board decision-making processes. And with the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, the federal government has aggressively inserted itself into matters of local education governance. B esieged is the first full-length volume in many years to systematically examine the politics that surround school boards. A group of highly renowned scholars, relying on both careful case studies and quantitative analyses, examine how school boards fare when they interact with their political superiors, teachers unions, and the public. For the most part, the picture that emerges is sobering: while school boards perform certain administrative functions quite well, the political pressures they face undermine their capacity to institute the wide-ranging school reforms that many voters and local leaders are currently demanding.

Download or read book Curriculum 21 written by Heidi Hayes Jacobs and published by ASCD. This book was released on 2010-01-05 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "What year are you preparing your students for? 1973? 1995? Can you honestly say that your school's curriculum and the program you use are preparing your students for 2015 or 2020? Are you even preparing them for today?" With those provocative questions, author and educator Heidi Hayes Jacobs launches a powerful case for overhauling, updating, and injecting life into the K-12 curriculum. Sharing her expertise as a world-renowned curriculum designer and calling upon the collective wisdom of 10 education thought leaders, Jacobs provides insight and inspiration in the following key areas: * Content and assessment: How to identify what to keep, what to cut, and what to create, and where portfolios and other new kinds of assessment fit into the picture. * Program structures: How to improve our use of time and space and groupings of students and staff. * Technology: How it's transforming teaching, and how to take advantage of students' natural facility with technology. * Media literacy: The essential issues to address, and the best resources for helping students become informed users of multiple forms of media. * Globalization: What steps to take to help students gain a global perspective. * Sustainability: How to instill enduring values and beliefs that will lead to healthier local, national, and global communities. * Habits of mind: The thinking habits that students, teachers, and administrators need to develop and practice to succeed in school, work, and life. The answers to these questions and many more make Curriculum 21 the ideal guide for transforming our schools into what they must become: learning organizations that match the times in which we live.

Download or read book School and District Leadership in an Era of Accountability written by Bruce G. Barnett and published by IAP. This book was released on 2013-09-01 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our fourth book in the International Research on School Leadership series focuses on school leadership in an era of high stakes accountability. Fueled by sweeping federal education accountability reforms, such as the United States’ No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Race to the Top (R2T) and Australia’s Performance Measurement and Reporting Taskforce, school systems around the world are being forced to increase academic standards, participate in high-stakes testing, and raise evaluation standards for teachers and principals. These results-driven reforms are intended to hold educators “accountable for student learning and accountable to the public” (Anderson, 2005, p. 2, emphasis in original). While policymakers and the public debate the merits of student achievement accountability measures, P-12 educational leaders do not have the luxury to wait for clear guidance and resources to improve their schools and operating systems. Instead, successful leaders must balance the need to create learning communities, manage the organizational climate, and encourage community involvement with the consequences testing has on teacher morale and public scrutiny. The chapters in this volume clearly indicate that as school leaders attend to these potentially competing forces, this affects their problem-solving strategies, ability to facilitate change, and encourage community involvement. We were delighted with the responses from colleagues around the world who were eager to share their research dealing with how leaders are functioning effectively within a high-accountability environment. The nine chapters in this volume provide empirical evidence of the strategies school leaders use to cope with problems and negotiate external demands while improving student performance. In particular, the voices and actions of principals, superintendents, and school board members are captured in a blend of quantitative and qualitative studies. The breadth of studies is impressive, ranging from case studies of individual principals to cross-district comparisons to national data from the National Center for Education Statistics. To highlight important findings, we have organized the book into five sections. The first section (Chapters 2, 3, and 4) highlights the problem-solving strategies used by principals and superintendents when pressured to turn around low-performing schools. In the second section (Chapters 5 and 6), attention is devoted to ways in which school leaders act as “buffers” by reducing the impact of external demands within their local school contexts. Next, Chapters 7 and 8 explore creative ways in which financial analyses can be used to assess the cost effectiveness of programs and services. Chapters 9 and 10 examine how principals enact their instructional leadership roles in managing curriculum reforms and evaluating teachers. Finally, in the last section (Chapter 11), Kenneth Leithwood synthesizes the major themes and ideas emerging across these chapters, paying particular attention to practical issues influencing school leaders in this era of school reform and accountability as well as promising areas for future research.

Download or read book The Keywork of School Boards Guidebook written by National School Boards Association and published by . This book was released on 2020-08-26 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Newly revised in 2020, NSBA's Key Work of School Boards framework identifies the core skills that effective boards need to ensure that all students achieve at high levels through excellence in governance.

Download or read book School Districts and Instructional Renewal written by Amy M. Hightower and published by Teachers College Press. This book was released on 2002-01-01 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume shows how school districts can and do make essential contributions to the renewal and enhancement of American education. It expands the conversation on what school districts are, what they do, and how they can enhance the quality of teaching and learning in US schools.

Download or read book Using Data to Improve Student Learning in School Districts written by Victoria Bernhardt and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-10-11 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book helps you make sense of the data your school district collects, including state student achievement results as well as other qualitative and quantitative data. Easy-to-use templates, tools, and examples are available on the accompanying downloadable resources.

Download or read book The NEW School Rules written by Anthony Kim and published by Corwin Press. This book was released on 2018-01-06 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Actions to increase effectiveness of schools in a rapidly changing world Schools, in order to be nimble and stay relevant and impactful, need to abandon the rigid structures designed for less dynamic times. The NEW School Rules expands cutting-edge organizational design and modern management techniques into an operating system for empowering schools with the same agility and responsiveness so vital in the business world. 6 simple rules create a unified vision of responsiveness among educators Real life case studies illustrate responsive techniques implemented in a variety of educational demographics 15 experiments guide school and district leaders toward increased responsiveness in their faculty and staff

Download or read book Redefining Student Success written by Ken Kay and published by Corwin Press. This book was released on 2021-07-23 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Be the leader of a fresh, bold, enduring vision of education for your district or school. The future of learning has arrived, and it requires bold educational leadership and a dramatic redefinition of what it means to be a successful student today. Redefining Student Success invites you to lead this transformation with audacity. It engages leaders with the concepts and actions needed to reimagine schools, address inequities, and help today’s students develop the skills they need for personal, economic, and civic success. This vital guide supports transformative leadership with Concrete guidance on how to create a Portrait of a Graduate and Portrait of an Educator which will help ensure teachers have a unified vision for professional growth and student success. Reflection prompts that help you recognize your strengths, spark discussion among stakeholders, and identify next steps for inspired action. Compelling examples of students already engaged in creative, self-directed problem-solving around issues that matter to them and their communities, together with stories that illustrate how districts and schools have arrived at their own vision of what education must become. Companion guides to 21st century learning for parents and students available online. The time is now to reset educational outcomes, sync schools with the demands of 21st century society, and meet the needs of every learner, in every community.

Download or read book The Curriculum Management Audit written by Larry E. Frase and published by R&L Education. This book was released on 2000-09-20 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Overviews the curriculum management audit (CMA) and compares and contrasts it with principles of total quality management (TQM), asking whether a school district can use curriculum audit principles in conjunction with TQM. Part I examines the history, critics, and practical compatibility of the CMA

Download or read book The Essential School Board Book written by Nancy Walser and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Essential School Board Book highlights effective practices that are common to high-functioning boards around the country--boards that are working successfully with their superintendents and communities to improve teaching and learning.

Download or read book The Transformation of Great American School Districts written by William Lowe Boyd and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Transformation of Great American School Districts, William Lowe Boyd, Charles Taylor Kerchner, and Mark Blyth argue that urban education reform can best be understood as a long process of institutional change, rather than as a series of failed projects. They examine the core assumptions that underlay the Progressive Era model of public education--apolitical governance, local control, professional hierarchy, and the logic of confidence--and show that recent developments in school governance have challenged virtually all of these assumptions. Drawing on case studies of five urban districts--Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington, D.C., New York, and Los Angeles--they trace the rise of new ideas and trends that are reshaping the institution of public education: mayoral control, shifting civic coalitions, federal and state involvement, standards-based accountability, and the role of educational outsiders in district administration. Although each city has evolved along a different path, the editors argue, the transformation of these districts reflects the auditioning of a new set of underlying ideas and the transition to a new institutional model of public education. "The Transformation of Great American School Districts provides fascinating portraits of the governance changes now occurring in America's major urban school systems, along with a trenchant discussion of the extent to which these changes signal a new direction for American education. The book will make a strong contribution to research on the politics of education in the United States and shows the promise of applying insights from the new institutionalism to research on educational governance." -- Brian Rowan, Burke A. Hinsdale Collegiate Professor in Education and Research Professor, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan "An important analysis of the evolution of urban education and some provocative ideas about what might be next. Whether your interest is urban schools or American education more generally, you'll learn from this book." -- Andrew J. Rotherham, Co-Director of Education Sector, Member of the Virginia Board of Education, and Author of Eduwonk.com "This cogent collection employs a cultural/historical lens to assess the challenges communities face in their decades-long struggles to transform failing urban school systems. These groundbreaking reflections make a persuasive case for devoting more attention to the political, cultural, and social dimensions of district reinvention--an endeavor that is often treated as a technical challenge alone." -- Warren Simmons, Executive Director, Annenberg Institute for School Reform William Lowe Boyd is Batschelet Chair Professor of Educational Leadership at the Pennsylvania State University and editor of the American Journal of Education. Charles Taylor Kerchner is research professor at Claremont Graduate University. Mark Blyth is associate professor of political science at the Johns Hopkins University and the author of Great Transformations: Economic Ideas and Institutional Change in the Twentieth Century.

Download or read book Roles and Relationships written by Joint AASA-NSBA Committee and published by R & L Education. This book was released on 1994 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This position statement, coauthored by a joint committee composed of members of the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) and the National School Boards Association (ASBA), outlines a new cooperative relationship for superintendents and school boards. In light of the challenges that today's superintendents and school boards face, it is necessary that both parties examine their roles and responsibilities. This document describes the work of the joint committee, professional standards for the superintendency, and the governance role of school boards. It also highlights some societal changes that have affected public school governance and administration. Three major factors of the board-superintendent relationship include the nature of policy development and administration; the increasing influence of external factors on local district governance; and the discretionary authority granted to boards by their chief administrators. The specific responsibilities for boards and superintendents are outlined. Effective communication is identified as a key to a successful board-administrator relationship. (LMI)