Download or read book Plc and Your Small School written by Breez Longwell Daniels and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Small schools can have a big impact. With the guidance of author Breez Longwell Daniels, an award-winning principal in Wyoming, you will learn how to build a successful professional learning community (PLC) in your small school. The resource addresses every key aspect of a PLC system and outlines how to drive immense academic success while staying true to your school's small-town roots. Use this resource to implement a PLC that ensures high levels of learning for every student in your small school: Learn how to define your school's mission and vision in a way that both centers the school's role within the community and builds a foundation for a strong PLC. Become familiar with how to develop a strong PLC school system in a small school or rural area that contains many singleton and shared teachers. Learn how to effectively collect and use data to increase the effectiveness of your PLC system. Study the research and real-world examples that support the strategies and concepts introduced in the book to help students meet their academic goals. Contents:

Download or read book Critical Small Schools written by Maria Hantzopoulos and published by IAP. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Critical Small Schools: Beyond Privatization in New York City Urban Educational Reform features the most current empirical research about the successes and challenges of the small schools movement and the implications of such for urban public educational policy. Situated in a climate of hierarchical reform, many of the principles of the original small schools movement——which are rooted in community participation, innovative pedagogies and assessment, and equity and social justice——have become obscured by an educational agenda that emphasizes top-down mandates and standards-based reform. With the increased popularity and the rapid proliferation of small schools, the emphasis on ‘‘size only’’ has resulted in a bifurcation of the small schools movement; on one end are the small schools which have embraced the democratic, participatory, and self-governing nature of the original movement, while on the other end are schools that have simply reduced their size without rethinking school structures and practices. This book distinguishes the small schools featured and researched in this volume from schools that are simply small and labels them ““critical small schools.”” By documenting the practices that take place in various critical small schools in New York City, we show how these schools have narrowed the achievement gap and increased graduation and college acceptance rates. Although smallness is an essential feature in the design of these schools, it is certainly not the only one and this volume illuminates the other elements that contribute to these schools’’ successes and shortcomings. Critical Small Schools also challenges the recent emphasis on charter schools as a panacea for urban educational reform. By featuring research about the inner workings of public schools, this volume challenges this new direction that steers successful school development away from public education. Moreover, as every site is fraught with some tension, Critical Small Schools not only offers glimpses into intellectually vibrant and democratic learning communities, but also acknowledges that these concepts are not static and necessitate continual reflection and renewal. At this pivotal moment in educational reform, this volume provides keen insight into the challenges and possibilities of the small schools movement and is indispensable for anyone interested in comprehensive public school reform.

Download or read book The On Your Feet Guide to Blended Learning written by Catlin R. Tucker and published by Corwin. This book was released on 2019-04-02 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Blended learning is more than just "teaching with technology"; it allows teachers to maximize learning through deliberate instructional moves. This On-Your-Feet Guide zeroes in on one blended learning routine: Station Rotation. The Station Rotation model moves small groups of students through a series of online and off-line stations, building conceptual understanding and skills along the way. This On-Your-Feet-Guide provides: 7 steps to planning a Station Rotation lesson A full example of one teacher's Station Rotation A blank planning template for designing your own Station Rotation Helpful assessment strategies for monitoring learning at each station Ideas to adapt for low-tech classrooms or large class sizes Use blended learning to maximize learning and keep kids constantly engaged through your next Station Rotation lesson! Laminated, 8.5”x11” tri-fold (6 pages), 3-hole punched

Download or read book Why I Started a Small School written by Rosalyn Spencer and published by Troubador Publishing Ltd. This book was released on 2013-03-28 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ‘Anyone interested in children and their education should read this’. More than 20 years ago, long before the days of the UK’s government funded free schools, Rosalyn Spencer was the driving force behind the setting up of a non-fee paying ‘alternative’ small school. She had felt compelled to do this, not only because of the difficulties her 9 year old son was facing in mainstream education, and painful memories of her own schooling, but also because of concerns other parents had shared with her about problems their children were experiencing. Whereas the current free schools are generously funded by the government, Rosalyn opened the school with 12 children with virtually no funding at all. In this book, the first in a series of three, Rosalyn tells her personal story leading up to the opening of the small school. It demonstrates some of the failings of the education system and highlights the need for alternative approaches. Her story will appeal to childcare professionals, teachers, parents and anybody who enjoys reading memoirs and narrative non-fiction. Following its release as an ebook in March 2013 it received excellent reviews and became an Amazon Number 1 Best Seller.

Download or read book How to Develop PLCs for Singletons and Small Schools written by Aaron Hansen and published by Solution Tree Press. This book was released on 2015-05-12 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Part of the Solutions for Professional Learning Communities series. Ensure singleton teachers feel integrally involved in the PLC process with this concise, user-friendly guide. You'll quickly discover how small schools, full of singleton teachers who are the only ones in their schools teaching their subject areas, can build successful PLCs and avoid teacher isolation. Explore five methods for structuring PLC teams for better teacher support and collaboration. Better involve singletons, and read short examples that highlight how real schools have made collaboration among teachers possible. Quickly learn how to create your own singleton teacher support network using the PLC process: Understand what it means to practice collaboration lite and evaluate teacher collaboration in your school or district. Examine scenarios, opportunities, challenges, recommendations, and PLC ideas for electives teachers or other singletons. Review specific ways that teams can connect teachers and help small teams be active participants in the PLC process. Learn the essential steps for creating vertical, virtual, and interdisciplinary teams. Read sample dialogues and quick tips for how to state intentions related to building PLC teams and including singletons in the process. Contents: Introduction Chapter 1: Vertical Teams Chapter 2: Interdisciplinary Teams Chapter 3: Singletons Who Support Chapter 4: Virtual Teams Chapter 5: Changing Structures Epilogue Books in the Solutions for Professional Learning Communities Series: How to Use Digital Tools to Support Teachers in a PLC How to Launch PLCs in Your District How to Leverage PLCs for School Improvement How to Cultivate Collaboration in a PLC How to Coach Leadership in a PLC How to Develop PLCs for Singletons and Small Schools

Download or read book Creating and Sustaining Small Learning Communities written by Grace Sammon and published by Corwin Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: CD-ROM contains: 33 planning templates -- data collection and assessment tools -- frequently asked questions.

Download or read book Small Schools written by Michael Klonsky and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2008-03-25 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When education activists in New York, Chicago, and other urban school districts in the 1980s began the small-schools movement, they envisioned a new kind of public school system that was fair and equitable and that encouraged new relationships between teachers and students. When that movement for school reform ran head-on into the neo-conservative takeover of the Department of Education and its No Child Left Behind strategy for school change, a new model of federal power bent on the erosion of public space and the privatization of public schooling emerged. Michael and Susan Klonsky, educators who were among the early leaders of the small-schools movement, tell the story of how a once-promising model of creating new small and charter schools has been used by the neocons to reproduce many of the old inequities. Small Schools is the engaging story of what happens when the small-schools movement meets the Ownership Society.

Download or read book Classrooms as Learning Communities written by Chris Watkins and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2005-05-27 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents the practice and vision of classrooms that operate as learning communities.

Download or read book Sustaining and Improving Learning Communities written by Jodi Levine Laufgraben and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2004-06-28 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sustaining and Improving Learning Communities is the long awaited follow-up to the groundbreaking book Creating Learning Communities. The authors continue their exploration of the concept of learning communities as an innovation in undergraduate curricular instruction that allow students to actively participate in their own education, and deepen and diversify their college experience. Jodi Levine Laufgraben and Nancy S. Shapiro address a wide range of topics such as campus culture for sustaining learning communities, learning communities and the curriculum, pedagogies, and faculty development.

Download or read book Curriculum Community and Urban School Reform written by B. Franklin and published by Springer. This book was released on 2010-03-01 with total page 437 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book asserts that efforts to reform schools, particularly urban schools, are events that engender a host of issues and conflicts that have been interpreted through the conceptual lens of community.

Download or read book Building School Based Teacher Learning Communities written by Milbrey W. McLaughlin and published by Teachers College Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Building on extensive evidence that school-based teacher learning communities improve student outcomes, this book lays out an agenda to develop and sustain collaborative professional cultures. McLaughlin and Talbert—foremost scholars of school change and teaching contexts—provide an inside look at the processes, resources, and system strategies that are necessary to build vibrant school-based teacher learning communities. Offering a compelling, straightforward blueprint for action, this book: Takes a comprehensive look at the problem of improving the quality of teaching across the United States, based on evidence and examples from the authors’ nearly two decades of research.Demonstrates how and why school-based teacher learning communities are bottom-line requirements for improved instruction. Outlines the resources and supports needed to build and sustain a long-term school-based teacher professional community. Discusses the nature of high-quality professional development to support learning and changes in teaching.Details the roles and responsibilities of policymakers at all levels of the school system. “This book offers vivid examples of how teacher learning communities are formed and sustained. A must-read for educators at all levels who are serious about enacting change.” —Amy M. Hightower, Assistant Director, American Federation of Teachers

Download or read book Education in Crisis written by Judith A. Gouwens and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2009-05-14 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A description and critique of education reform in the United States since the 1950s, focusing on the current condition of American schools and efforts to increase both educational opportunity and overall excellence. Authoritative and objective, Education in Crisis: A Reference Handbook is a critical look at the current state of the American school system, the conditions that have led many to label it "in crisis," and solutions aimed at leveling the educational playing field, elevating overall student achievement, and keeping American students competitive on the world stage. Education in Crisis shows how competing economic, political, philosophical, psychological, and global interests have influenced American education reform. It then covers a range of reform initiatives, including magnet schools, basic skills curriculum, home schooling, and the role of technology. A comparison of the U.S. education system to those of other countries and a presentation of helpful resources round out this essential volume for educators, policymakers, parents, and anyone concerned about the nation's schools.

Download or read book Departments of Labor Health and Human Services Education and Related Agencies Appropriations for 2002 Department of Education written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 1588 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Building School based Teacher Learning Communities written by Milbrey Wallin McLaughlin and published by Teachers College Press. This book was released on 2006-01-01 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Building on evidence that school-based teacher learning communities improve student outcomes, this book lays out an agenda to develop and sustain collaborative professional cultures. It provides an inside look at the processes, resources, and system strategies that are necessary to build vibrant school-based teacher learning communities.

Download or read book Engaging Schools written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2003-12-21 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When it comes to motivating people to learn, disadvantaged urban adolescents are usually perceived as a hard sell. Yet, in a recent MetLife survey, 89 percent of the low-income students claimed "I really want to learn" applied to them. What is it about the school environmentâ€"pedagogy, curriculum, climate, organizationâ€"that encourages or discourages engagement in school activities? How do peers, family, and community affect adolescents' attitudes towards learning? Engaging Schools reviews current research on what shapes adolescents' school engagement and motivation to learnâ€"including new findings on students' sense of belongingâ€"and looks at ways these can be used to reform urban high schools. This book discusses what changes hold the greatest promise for increasing students' motivation to learn in these schools. It looks at various approaches to reform through different methods of instruction and assessment, adjustments in school size, vocational teaching, and other key areas. Examples of innovative schools, classrooms, and out-of-school programs that have proved successful in getting high school kids excited about learning are also included.

Download or read book Trust in Schools written by Anthony Bryk and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2002-09-05 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most Americans agree on the necessity of education reform, but there is little consensus about how this goal might be achieved. The rhetoric of standards and vouchers has occupied center stage, polarizing public opinion and affording little room for reflection on the intangible conditions that make for good schools. Trust in Schools engages this debate with a compelling examination of the importance of social relationships in the successful implementation of school reform. Over the course of three years, Bryk and Schneider, together with a diverse team of other researchers and school practitioners, studied reform in twelve Chicago elementary schools. Each school was undergoing extensive reorganization in response to the Chicago School Reform Act of 1988, which called for greater involvement of parents and local community leaders in their neighborhood schools. Drawing on years longitudinal survey and achievement data, as well as in-depth interviews with principals, teachers, parents, and local community leaders, the authors develop a thorough account of how effective social relationships—which they term relational trust—can serve as a prime resource for school improvement. Using case studies of the network of relationships that make up the school community, Bryk and Schneider examine how the myriad social exchanges that make up daily life in a school community generate, or fail to generate, a successful educational environment. The personal dynamics among teachers, students, and their parents, for example, influence whether students regularly attend school and sustain their efforts in the difficult task of learning. In schools characterized by high relational trust, educators were more likely to experiment with new practices and work together with parents to advance improvements. As a result, these schools were also more likely to demonstrate marked gains in student learning. In contrast, schools with weak trust relations saw virtually no improvement in their reading or mathematics scores. Trust in Schools demonstrates convincingly that the quality of social relationships operating in and around schools is central to their functioning, and strongly predicts positive student outcomes. This book offer insights into how trust can be built and sustained in school communities, and identifies some features of public school systems that can impede such development. Bryk and Schneider show how a broad base of trust across a school community can provide a critical resource as education professional and parents embark on major school reforms. A Volume in the American Sociological Association's Rose Series in Sociology

Download or read book Fallacies in Education written by Randy K. Trani and published by R&L Education. This book was released on 2010-01-16 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book argues for a complete reassessment of the ways schools are conceived, organized, operated and managed. Authors Trani and Irvine challenge traditional assumptions about grade levels, teachers, students and administrators in pursuit of higher student achievement and academic excellence. Building on the methods that turned an average school district into one widely recognized as one of the best in the nation, this book argues for fundamental, logical changes to the way Americans operate their public schools. Fallacies in Education is purposefully written to support community-based changes to schools that encourage superior achievement and educational results. This book provides a pathway for concerned parents, administrators, teachers and citizens to improve their schools with their current resources. The techniques used in Corbett to produce an academic renaissance can be used everywhere and this book provides a starting point for schools to strive for academic achievement and excellence in education. The book demonstrates how every school can better serve their students and deliver a better education without increasing costs or incurring new ones.