Download or read book Superintendent Crisis Leadership During the Development of the COVID 19 Reopening Plans written by David S. Marr and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The unanticipated extended school closures in the Spring of 2020 across New York State (NYS) due to the COVID-19 global health crisis will likely have significant impacts on the students who experienced them (Aldeman, 2021; Bernstein et al., 2020). Superintendents and the impact they have on student outcomes is a well-studied topic (Marzano et al., 2005). How those leaders performed the executive tasks of crisis management (Boin et al., 2013) during the development of reopening plans (NYSED, 2020) is demonstrative of their crisis leadership. The exhibition of that leadership also impacts the resilience of the organization (Barasa et al., 2018). The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to explore the crisis leadership of superintendents from the perspective of Hudson Valley and Capital Region Elementary principals who participated in the development of their school's COVID-19 reopening plan development. This study used Boin et al.'s (2013) 10 Executive Tasks of Crisis Management and Barasa et al.'s (2018) Nine Factors that Influence Organizational Resilience to establish three research questions aimed at understanding the experience of elementary school principals who acted as members of their superintendent's crisis leadership team.The findings that resulted from this study indicate that superintendents who effectively performed the executive tasks of crisis management (Boin et al., 2013) also impacted the resilience of their organization (Barasa et al., 2018). Several conclusions and recommendations have resulted from the findings in this study, but possibly the most important is the recommendation that superintendents grow the leadership capacity of actors within their organization, to increase the system's ability to respond to challenge and change.

Download or read book Exploring the Role of Superintendent Leadership in Managing the COVID 19 Crisis written by Jennifer L. Steimle and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Literature over the past several decades offers a plethora of information regarding crisis management in the private sector (Burnett, 1998; Fink, 1986; Coombs, 2007; Pauchant & Mitroff, 1992; Pearson & Clair, 1998; Pearson & Mitroff, 1993). Conversely, there is little research regarding crisis management in a school setting (Gainey, 2009; Smith & Riley, 2012). Leadership in a school setting is often discussed in terms of student achievement (Fullan, 2014; Marzano & DuFour, 2011; Waters & Marzano, 2006; Waters, Marzano & McNulty, 2003) or through change initiatives (Bennis, 2009; Boleman & Deal, 2006). School district leaders need to have a more diverse skill set and management techniques specific to the challenges that a crisis presents. The purpose of this qualitative comparative case study is to explore the crisis leadership actions of Superintendents while managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Four key members of four school districts were interviewed to capture the Superintendent's perceived actions while managing a crisis. The Superintendent, a building principal, the teachers' union president, and the board of education president were interviewed using Fink's (1986) Four-Stage Framework for Crisis Management. Data was collected using an interview process and hand-coded to identify themes. The key findings for this study included actions most valued by school district leaders in relation to how the Superintendent addressed the COVID-19 crisis. The actions identified included a portrayal of consistent decision-making, consistent communications, and the ability to collaborate. Twelve of twelve participants noted the high value of confidence in decision-making and providing consistent communications. All of the districts studied continued to emphasize the importance of collaboration with all stakeholders, including the importance of collaboration with the regional BOCES groups and regular Superintendent meetings. Participants from all four school districts discussed the importance of these actions to effectively and successfully address the challenges of the ongoing pandemic.

Download or read book District Superintendents Experiences During the COVID 19 Crisis written by Alexis Victoria Campbell and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are many forms of crises a district leader may experience, including school closure, severe weather, school shooting, flooding, student or staff death, and more recently, a pandemic. There is a lack of research concerning how leaders make sense of widespread societal crises such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Daily, superintendents must make decisions that will affect students and staff. As the leader of an organization, there are always multiple factors superintendents must keep in mind. During the COVID-19 pandemic, superintendents led their districts without having prior knowledge of leading in a pandemic such as this and were forced to adjust and adapt schooling to new COVID-19 regulations. My goal in this study was to, through phenomenological research, develop a holistic view of each participant's lived experience as a district leader to better understand the reasoning for how they processed and reacted to the crisis created by COVID-19. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 10 public-school superintendents. Data were collected that can be used by other superintendents to help prepare them to lead through future crises. Bolman and Deal's (2017) Reframing Organizations Four Frame Model as well as Smith and Riley's (2012) cyclical model of crisis management guided this qualitative study. From the data collected, four themes emerged: the unforeseen, emotional state, team alignment, and pre-pandemic and pandemic leadership. A summary of the findings, as well as implications, connections to theory, and recommendations, are provided in this dissertation.

Download or read book Examining the Influence of Social Networks on Decisions Made by Superintendents During the Rapid Transition to Remote Learning at the Onset of the COVID 19 Crisis written by David J. Collins and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On January 31, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) virus to be a global health emergency. Within months, schools across the nation began to suspend in-person instruction and transition to a fully remote means of delivery (Ballotopedia, 2020). This transition created an immediate crisis for educational leaders as they were instantly forced to determine how to deliver educational services in an entirely remote setting (Fernandez & Shaw, 2020; Kuhfeld et al., 2020). The purpose of this phenomenological study is to investigate how the priorities and actions of superintendents were influenced by established social networks and existing organizational culture during the rapid transition to remote instruction in the context of the COVID-19 health crisis using Daly's (2010) Social Network Theory as the conceptual frame. "Social network research suggests that informal webs of relationships are often the chief determinants of how well and quickly change efforts take hold, diffuse, and sustain." (Daly, 2010, p.2). Key findings showed that every superintendent consulted and included various internal and external social networks in the planning and decision-making during the transition to remote learning during the COVID-19 crisis. Superintendents also perceived the involvement of these network groups to facilitate rather than impede the development, communication and implementation of the resulting remote learning plans. Lastly, superintendents were able to identify key strengths, challenges and opportunities that were realized during the early stages of the crisis and how they may inform practice into the future.Several conclusions were identified from the findings. Superintendents believed it was necessary to include internal and external network groups when making decisions regarding the transition to remote learning. This provided various perspectives to strengthen outcomes and distribute responsibilities that facilitated the number of tasks necessary to be performed. Superintendents perceived that the inclusion of internal and external groups facilitated the transition to remote learning and sustained relationships throughout the crisis through consistent and frequent communication between the participating stakeholder groups. Superintendents identified key strengths of the remote learning plans to be derived from prior planning in technology, curriculum, and relationship building. Challenges during the delivery of remote learning were related to inconsistencies and inequities in the availability of technology for students, the technological competence of faculty delivering instruction and the platforms and communication methods used to interact with students. Finally, opportunities realized from the transition to remote learning included an increase in technological aptitude among faculty and a deeper understanding for the inequities that exist among students and the impact of these disparities on their educational performance. This study contributes to the literature on crisis leadership and the role of social networks in facilitating decision-making and the organizational response during disruptive change. The focus on the interrelationship between organizational structure and culture and how leadership beliefs and actions are influenced by existing social networks in education is understudied. This research will provide insight into how organizations can use Social Network Theory to promote relationships and to improve outcomes during times of disruptive change.

Download or read book Education Leadership and the COVID 19 Crisis written by Michelle Diane Young and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2022-03-04 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Leadership During the COVID 19 Crisis in Rural Schools written by Sarah J. Atkinson and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In March of 2020, leaders across the globe were faced with the unprecedented crisis of COVID-19. This was a crisis with a magnitude like nothing they had ever encountered. Abrupt school closures affected about 70% of students globally, as many school building closures were highly recommended or mandated by government officials for the remainder of the 2020 school year in response to the public health crisis of COVID-19 (Grissom & Condon, 2021). As a result, school leaders found themselves in a predicament to continue supporting their students and leading their staff who were no longer allowed to come to the school building. This prompts the question of how does one lead in the midst of an unprecedented crisis? A crisis of global magnitude in which no leader had specifically experienced nor led through. A crisis that required significant systematic changes almost instantaneously with no step-by-step guide to follow. Educational leaders across the globe found themselves in this particular predicament as they led their organizations through the global pandemic while the world itself was in a state of uncertainty. As a result of this global crisis, the educational system had to pivot and change the way teaching and learning took place almost instantly. Educational leaders had to adapt and develop practices and protocols which would allow learning to continue while simultaneously keeping everyone safe from the potential deadly harm of the COVID-19 virus.The world of education has had its fair share of crisis situations; such as school safety breeches and shootings; national security threats including terrorist attacks; deaths of students and/or staff; gang violence; sexual misconduct/assault; natural disasters of hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunami’s; even medical outbreaks such as flu and ebola. However, what sets these apart from the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic is that these situations occurred in a concentrated, relatively small area which allowed for the crisis to be contained. The COVID-19 pandemic challenged just about all areas of our day-to-day lives and basic survival. Yet, as the world was literally shut down, educational leaders were charged with persevering to pivot and adapt their practices in order to forge a way to continue educating students amidst a global pandemic.The purpose of this study was to capture first-hand accounts from K-12 educational leaders in southwest Texas as they led their rural schools through the unprecedented COVID-19 global pandemic. The participants of this study were in the trenches of leading schools through a crisis of which no one had ever dealt with prior. By exploring the experiences of these leaders the intent was to identify characteristics of leadership that could potentially empower other leaders in the future as they too encounter an unpredictable crisis that has no prescribed set of protocols. This study explored the experiences of these leaders in an effort to better understand what actions and behaviors were most useful in order to continue leading their organization forward in a time of crisis rather than becoming frozen or stuck. By exploring the reflections of leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic, it was a goal of this study to allow educational leaders to learn from these lived experiences of their colleagues in order to be better prepared when faced with a crisis in the future. This research study had three participants all of whom were principals of public schools in the rural southwest Texas region. While the participants were located in the same region, each principal served a different district. Each of the three districts where the principals were from all had similar demographics to each other and served a generally diverse population. The interview process followed a semi-structured protocol in which participants responded to questions in order to support the following research question: “How did principals of rural public schools in southwest Texas lead their organization throughout the COVID-19 crisis?” The data for this qualitative study was gathered and interpreted utilizing an interpretive phenomenological approach to better understand the experiences of principals during the COVID-19 pandemic.This study attempted to identify characteristics of leadership that could potentially empower other school leaders in the future as they encounter situations of crisis that have no playbook or protocols. When we actively learn from a previous crisis event we enhance our ability to respond to future emergencies (Pauchant, 2002). This study created the opportunity for principals to reflect on and share their own unique experiences of leading through the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19. Through this study, we were able to learn from the shared experiences of the participants to be better prepared to handle crises in the future (Ulmer, Sellnow, and Seeger, 2011). This study captured each participant's detailed account of their experiences at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic when schools were mandated to close in the Spring of 2020. Followed by their experiences of reopening their schools for the 2020-2021 school year. Lastly, participants provided detail in regards to the continuation of schooling for the duration of the 2021-2022 school year. Each of the themes that emerged indicated specific characteristics that were used by each of the principals to lead their organization through the unprecedented crisis of COVID-19. The primary themes that were presented through this study captured the characteristic essence of leadership during a time of widespread crisis.

Download or read book Communicating Science in Times of Crisis written by H. Dan O'Hair and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2021-05-11 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Learn more about how people communicate during crises with this insightful collection of resources In Communicating Science in Times of Crisis: COVID-19 Pandemic, distinguished academics and editors H. Dan O’Hair and Mary John O’Hair have delivered an insightful collection of resources designed to shed light on the implications of attempting to communicate science to the public in times of crisis. Using the recent and ongoing coronavirus outbreak as a case study, the authors explain how to balance scientific findings with social and cultural issues, the ability of media to facilitate science and mitigate the impact of adverse events, and the ethical repercussions of communication during unpredictable, ongoing events. The first volume in a set of two, Communicating Science in Times of Crisis: COVID-19 Pandemic isolates a particular issue or concern in each chapter and exposes the difficult choices and processes facing communicators in times of crisis or upheaval. The book connects scientific issues with public policy and creates a coherent fabric across several communication studies and disciplines. The subjects addressed include: A detailed background discussion of historical medical crises and how they were handled by the scientific and political communities of the time Cognitive and emotional responses to communications during a crisis Social media communication during a crisis, and the use of social media by authority figures during crises Communications about health care-related subjects Data strategies undertaken by people in authority during the coronavirus crisis Perfect for communication scholars and researchers who focus on media and communication, Communicating Science in Times of Crisis: COVID-19 Pandemic also has a place on the bookshelves of those who specialize in particular aspects of the contexts raised in each of the chapters: social media communication, public policy, and health care.

Download or read book School Tax Elections written by Don E. Lifto and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2019-07-12 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Whether it is requests for bricks and mortar or more operating money, each election type and context is unique with no guarantee that a set of campaign strategies successful in one district will not fail in another community. If successful campaigns were not such a delicate balance of science and art, the key to success would have long since been discovered, resulting in significantly more school districts winning at the ballot box. As members of the baby-boom generation collectively watch their last child receive a diploma from our nation's public schools, passing school tax elections is going to be even more difficult, promising tougher battles with the electorate and tighter margins between success and failure. School Tax Elections represents a marriage of research and successful practice, presenting a comprehensive planning model for school leaders preparing for and conducting school tax elections. Information presented emphasizes systems and strategies rather than specific campaign tactics, allowing school leaders to elevate their thinking to a more comprehensive and long-range vision of election planning. The authors provide school leaders with important resources to guide their planning and execution of school tax elections.

Download or read book Breakthrough Leadership written by Alan M. Blankstein and published by Corwin. This book was released on 2020-08-25 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now is the time for Breakthrough Leadership This book was borne out of urgency. We face the consequences of a raging pandemic, coupled with an unprecedented call to end racial injustice. COVID-19 has exposed longstanding structural inequities, while at the same time offering a rare “breakthrough” opportunity to dismantle inequitable systems that have harmed our most marginalized students for generations. Breakthrough Leadership is rooted in moral courage and calls us to act upon a new discovery, or epiphany about a fundamental truth that challenges previous beliefs. While this book offers examples of schools that were “beating the odds” pre-COVID-19 as well as strategies for changing those odds in the future. Breakthrough Leadership also spotlights professionals now leveraging crises like this to shape local and national priorities toward a more equitable and healthy society for our children in order to: Create and sustain Equitable Learning Communities (ELCs) that are grounded in relational trust Establish comprehensive systems to ensure that all students thrive Implement cutting-edge principles of effective curriculum, instruction, and assessment including culturally responsive teaching, trauma-informed practice, and blended learning Meaningfully engage families and community Leadership from the classroom to the board room is needed to advance an agenda of equitable and successful outcomes for our students. The facts stakes couldn’t be starker. Good leadership saves lives both in pandemics, and in our profession. “The critical variable that determines whether or not our schools can respond adequately to the numerous challenges that they and their children face is leadership. . . This book is about the work of such leaders. In big cities, small towns, and rural areas, a small number of principals and superintendents are showing that progress can be made when leaders have the resourcefulness and courage to address equity challenges directly. The educational leaders profiled in this book have a clear sense of how to systematically build the capacity of teachers and schools to meet the needs of the students they serve. I urge other leaders to learn from them so that great schools that serve all children well, will be the norm, rather than the exception.” ~Pedro Noguero "With all its devastation, COVID-19 also presents the opportunity of the century to transform the public education system that, to say the least, has become stalled and stagnant in the past 50 years. . . . Breakthrough Leadership makes a significant contribution to our next phase, which must be one of definable and targeted transformation of equity-based learning. ~Michael Fullan

Download or read book Handbook of Research on Crisis Leadership in Organizations written by Andrew J. DuBrin and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2013-01-01 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modern organizational life seems dominated by crisis BP and the Gulf Oil spill, TEPCO and the Japanese tsunami, the global financial meltdown. Therefore it is particularly timely to find a collection of articles in this Handbook that provides research guidance and practical insights on how leaders manage or mismanage in crisis situations. The focus on the crisis leader highlights what they do, and how they do it, while at the same time raising important questions to guide subsequent analysis. Sydney Finkelstein, Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth, US and author of Why Smart Executives Fail With contributions from many of the leading researchers in the field, the Handbook of Research on Crisis Leadership in Organizations summarizes much of the theory, research, and opinion about various facets of crisis leadership in order to advance this emerging field. It recognizes that crises have become an almost inevitable part of organizational life, and describes how leaders can facilitate people getting through the crisis. The Handbook is divided into four parts: attributes and behaviors of the crisis leader; leadership of subordinates during a crisis; managing the present crisis and prevent future crises; and an integration of approaches to understanding crisis leadership. Enough knowledge has been accumulated about crisis leadership in organizations to serve as guidelines for practice, as well as a research base to build on for the future. Leaders must help others get through crises as well as prevent them. Researchers in the field of crisis leadership and crisis management will find this important resource invaluable. Academics and students of organizational behavior, industrial and organizational psychology, and management will also find much of interest and might also suggest the book as a valuable addition to their library as an important resource in the field of crisis leadership. Human resource professionals in larger organizations as well as management consultants who endeavor to acquire advanced knowledge about this field will find the practical aspects of keen interest as well.

Download or read book Communicating Science in Times of Crisis written by H. Dan O'Hair and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2021-04-29 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Learn more about how people communicate during crises with this insightful collection of resources In Communicating Science in Times of Crisis: COVID-19 Pandemic, distinguished academics and editors H. Dan O’Hair and Mary John O’Hair have delivered an insightful collection of resources designed to shed light on the implications of attempting to communicate science to the public in times of crisis. Using the recent and ongoing coronavirus outbreak as a case study, the authors explain how to balance scientific findings with social and cultural issues, the ability of media to facilitate science and mitigate the impact of adverse events, and the ethical repercussions of communication during unpredictable, ongoing events. The first volume in a set of two, Communicating Science in Times of Crisis: COVID-19 Pandemic isolates a particular issue or concern in each chapter and exposes the difficult choices and processes facing communicators in times of crisis or upheaval. The book connects scientific issues with public policy and creates a coherent fabric across several communication studies and disciplines. The subjects addressed include: A detailed background discussion of historical medical crises and how they were handled by the scientific and political communities of the time Cognitive and emotional responses to communications during a crisis Social media communication during a crisis, and the use of social media by authority figures during crises Communications about health care-related subjects Data strategies undertaken by people in authority during the coronavirus crisis Perfect for communication scholars and researchers who focus on media and communication, Communicating Science in Times of Crisis: COVID-19 Pandemic also has a place on the bookshelves of those who specialize in particular aspects of the contexts raised in each of the chapters: social media communication, public policy, and health care.

Download or read book Crisis Leadership written by Ian Mitroff and published by Jossey-Bass. This book was released on 2004 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The text presents a systematic, behavioral model that underlies crisis management, showing which personality functions are required for managing and preparing for major crises. The book discusses the extreme importance of Emotional IQ in handling, responding, and preparing for any crisis. Crisis Leadership presents the findings from new national surveys and new concrete, easy-to-understand models for implementing programs of proactive leadership. The combination of models-including a comprehensive look at what happens before, during, and after a crisis-creates a truly integrated and systematic approach.

Download or read book Promoting the Educational Success of Children and Youth Learning English written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2017-08-25 with total page 529 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Educating dual language learners (DLLs) and English learners (ELs) effectively is a national challenge with consequences both for individuals and for American society. Despite their linguistic, cognitive, and social potential, many ELsâ€"who account for more than 9 percent of enrollment in grades K-12 in U.S. schoolsâ€"are struggling to meet the requirements for academic success, and their prospects for success in postsecondary education and in the workforce are jeopardized as a result. Promoting the Educational Success of Children and Youth Learning English: Promising Futures examines how evidence based on research relevant to the development of DLLs/ELs from birth to age 21 can inform education and health policies and related practices that can result in better educational outcomes. This report makes recommendations for policy, practice, and research and data collection focused on addressing the challenges in caring for and educating DLLs/ELs from birth to grade 12.

Download or read book Reframing Organizations written by Lee G. Bolman and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013-07-16 with total page 561 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this fifth edition of the bestselling text in organizational theory and behavior, Bolman and Deal’s update includes coverage of pressing issues such as globalization, changing workforce, multi-cultural and virtual workforces and communication, and sustainability. A full instructor support package is available including an instructor’s guide, summary tip sheets for each chapter, hot links to videos & extra resources, mini-assessments for each of the frames, and podcast Q&As with Bolman & Deal.

Download or read book Special Interest written by Terry M. Moe and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2011-04-01 with total page 529 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why are America's public schools falling so short of the mark in educating the nation's children? Why are they organized in ineffective ways that fly in the face of common sense, to the point that it is virtually impossible to get even the worst teachers out of the classroom? And why, after more than a quarter century of costly education reform, have the schools proven so resistant to change and so difficult to improve? In this path-breaking book, Terry M. Moe demonstrates that the answers to these questions have a great deal to do with teachers unions—which are by far the most powerful forces in American education and use their power to promote their own special interests at the expense of what is best for kids. Despite their importance, the teachers unions have barely been studied. Special Interest fills that gap with an extraordinary analysis that is at once brilliant and kaleidoscopic—shedding new light on their historical rise to power, the organizational foundations of that power, the ways it is exercised in collective bargaining and politics, and its vast consequences for American education. The bottom line is simple but devastating: as long as the teachers unions remain powerful, the nation's schools will never be organized to provide kids with the most effective education possible. Moe sees light at the end of the tunnel, however, due to two major transformations. One is political, the other technological, and the combination is destined to weaken the unions considerably in the coming years—loosening their special-interest grip and opening up a new era in which America's schools can finally be organized in the best interests of children.

Download or read book Growing Into Equity written by Sonia Caus Gleason and published by Corwin Press. This book was released on 2013-07-09 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: High-Achieving Students and Teachers—Winning Strategies from Title I Schools! This illuminating book shows how four outstanding Title I schools make the goal of personalized learning a reality for every student and every teacher. The common thread is commitment to equity—the belief that every child can achieve. Readers will find: Guidance on identifying obstacles to equity within your school and building a case for personalized learning Case studies showing the lived values, practices, and leadership that have helped schools transform learning How-to’s and templates for creating a team-based professional development program that helps teachers individualize instruction

Download or read book Broader Bolder Better written by Elaine Weiss and published by Harvard Education Press. This book was released on 2021-02-23 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Broader, Bolder, Better, authors Elaine Weiss, of the Broader, Bolder Approach to Education campaign, and Paul Reville, former Massachusetts secretary of education, make a compelling case for a fundamental change in the way we view education. The authors argue for a large-scale expansion of community-school partnerships in order to provide holistic, integrated student supports (ISS) from cradle to career, including traditional wraparound services like health, mental health, nutrition, and family supports, as well as expanded access to opportunities such as early childhood education, afterschool activities, and summer enrichment programs. The book builds on nearly a decade of research by the Broader, Bolder Approach to Education, a national initiative endorsed by more than sixty policy experts and leaders from across the country, and draws on the work of Harvard’s Education Redesign Lab. It pulls from case studies of effective ISS efforts in twelve diverse communities to illustrate the variety of strategies that can be adopted locally. A call to action that also provides examples of communities that are successfully leveling the playing field for poor children, this book offers a detailed vision for building—through field work, mobilization, and financing—comprehensive systems to prepare all children for success.