Download or read book The Redesign of Urban School Systems written by Donald R. McAdams and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The twelve case studies in this book were written to be taught at school board training institutes conducted by the Center for Reform of School Systesm (CRSS). They were selected from the CRSS portfolio of over fifty cases because their center of gravity is district reform strategy. They describe reform initiatives in nine major urban school districts across the United States. Of the nine shcool boards, seven were elected, one was appointed, and one was a hybrid board with both elected and appointed members. Collectively, these cases span the last two decades. They should be of interest to all who seek to understand the challenges of urban education reform, but they will be particularly compelling for urban school leaders charged with the repsonsibility of transforming their school districts.
Download or read book The Redesign of Urban School Systems Instructor s Guide written by Donald R. McAdams and published by Harvard Education Press. This book was released on 2013-08 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book uncovers the secrets behind district-based school reform while preparing administrators and school board members for these impending changes. It includes twelve teaching cases that explore urban school governance and district leadership.
Download or read book Breaking Through written by John Simmons and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is it possible to fundamentally improve the daily workings of the urban classroom in less than seven years? According to John Simmons, it will take a revolution in the way that leaders of urban school systems think and operate, from the classroom to the boardroom. In this ambitious volume, Simmons and a stellar group of contributors, including Linda Darling-Hammond, Richard Elmore, Michael Fullan, Charlotte Danielson, Susan Moore Johnson, Adam Urbanski, Alan Odden, and Valerie Lee, bring the best current research to bear on a range of critical topics, creating a practical framework that superintendents and their teams can use to transform their big-city school systems into true learning communities. As it integrates many voices into a larger vision, this book: demonstrates convincingly how current, cutting-edge thinking about system change in business has been used to successfully transform schools and close the achievement gap among diverse students; provides an overview and assessment of the reform efforts of current large-district superintendents, including Alan Bersin, Tom Payzant, Arne Duncan, and Kaye Stripling; directs the reader towards a larger understanding of issues and priorities with three principles and four key strategies; and applies current research to illuminate what has succeeded and what has not worked in cities such as Boston, San Diego, Houston, and especially Chicago.
Download or read book New Schools for a New Century written by Diane Ravitch and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 1997-01-01 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As we cross the threshold of a new century, which approaches are likely to improve public education? In this book, distinguished scholars discuss recent innovations--charter schools, contracting arrangements, and choice--designed to liberate educators from burdensome bureaucratic controls and improve the level of opportunity for all children. Focusing on the problems in cities, where far too many children have been denied access to quality institutions, the authors examine the lessons to be learned from Catholic schools, site-based management, private entrepreneurs, and specific developments in three cities--New York, Milwaukee, and Chicago. The authors, though realistic about the political and institutional obstacles that stand in the way of meaningful change, foresee the demise of the "one size fits all" approach to schooling. They envision a system of schools that is dynamic, diverse, performance based, and accountable; one that is supportive of professionals, responsive to creativity, intolerant of failure, and committed to high educational standards for all children. Contributors: Louann Bierlein Anthony Bryk John Chubb Chester Finn Paul Hill Valerie Lee Paul Peterson Diane Ravitch Joseph P. Viteritti Priscilla Wohlstetter
Download or read book What School Boards Can Do written by Donald R. McAdams and published by Teachers College Press. This book was released on 2005-12-22 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To provide essential guidance to urban school board members committed to high achievement for all children, Don McAdams presents a comprehensive approach to board leadership he calls reform governance. This accessible framework brings together all the work of an urban school board, including everything from big ideas about core beliefs and theories of action for change to the fundamental relationships and processes through which boards and superintendents work together and the leadership role boards have in building community support for sustained change. Taking into account the hot political arena of urban education, reform governance: Helps school board members understand why it is necessary to redesign urban districts and what their role in the process should be. Sets forth principles that boards can use as guides to action, and gives real-life examples of how they work. Shows how a strong board and superintendent team can work together to be agents for change.
Download or read book Spinning Wheels written by Frederick M. Hess and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2011-04-01 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Almost everyone agrees that America's urban schools are a mess. But while this agreement has fostered widespread support for aggressive reform, Frederick Hess argues that much of what ails urban education is actually the result of continuous or fragmentary reform. Hess explains that political incentives drive school superintendents to promote reforms--to demonstrate that they are "making a difference." Superintendents have to do this quickly, both because their tenure is usually three years or less and because urban communities are anxious to see educational improvement. However, the nature of urban school districts makes it very difficult to demonstrate concrete short-term improvement. The result is what he terms "policy churn," which distracts teachers and principals from efforts to refine classroom teaching while seldom resulting in successful long-term changes. Hess argues that policymakers have misallocated resources by pursuing the "right" structure or the "best" pedagogy while paying insufficient attention to the more mundane--and more important--questions of how to implement, refine, and sustain a particular approach in their particular district. Hess explains that previous research on high-performing schools suggests that the best schools are characterized by focus and by an ability to develop expertise in specific approaches to teaching and learning. To help educators and policymakers adopt and nurture a focused agenda, he recommends institutional changes that increase the effectiveness of performance outcomes and reduce the incentives to emphasize symbolic reform.
Download or read book It Takes a City written by Paul T. Hill and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2001-09-19 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mayoral takeovers of big city public education systems are desperation measures. After decades of decline in school quality, something must be done to make sure city children learn enough to function as adults in American society. But how can city leaders make a real difference? This book, a sequel to Fixing Urban Schools (Brookings, 1998), is a practical guide for mayors, civic leaders, school board members, and involved citizens. Based on case studies of city reform initiatives in Boston, Memphis, New York City District #2, San Antonio, San Francisco, and Seattle, the book provides practical guidance on how to formulate a plan bold enough to work and how to deal with political opposition to change. It concludes that mayors and private sector leaders must stay engaged in education reform by creating new public-private institutions to support high quality schools.
Download or read book Fixing Urban Schools written by Paul T. Hill and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2010-12-01 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Every year, in one out of three big cities, the school superintendent leaves his or her job, sending local community leaders back to square one. Cleveland, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., are struggling to recreate their failed school systems, and many more cities are likely to follow. City leaders need more than new superintendents. They need stable reform strategies strong enough to move an entrenched system. Unfortunately, it is not clear where they can turn for help. Education experts are deeply divided about whether teacher retraining or new standards are enough to reform a struggling city system, or whether more fundamental changes, such as family choice and family-run schools, are needed. Based on new research, this book identifies the essential elements of reform strategies that can transform school performance in big cities beset by poverty, social instability, racial isolation, and labor unrest. It also suggests ways that local leaders can assemble the necessary funding and political support to make such strategies work.
Download or read book A Decade of Urban School Reform written by S. Paul Reville and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Decade of Urban School Reform looks at this critical era in the Boston schools and distills valuable insights and lessons for school leaders and reformers everywhere. In the last decade, the Boston Public Schools has undergone critical reforms that have been of intense interest to school leaders and policymakers throughout the country. Under the leadership of superintendent Thomas Payzant, the Boston schools implemented extensive reform strategies that yielded notable results. Fittingly, at the end of Payzant's superintendency in September 2006, the Boston Public Schools received the Broad Prize for Urban Education for being the most improved urban school district in the country. With chapters that explore questions pertaining to governance, human resources, instruction, data collection, disabilities, community engagement, and other topics, the book offers a detailed, comprehensive portrait of a school system managing the complex and daunting tasks of system-wide reform. The result is a timely, in-depth contribution to the small group of indispensable writings on urban school reform.
Download or read book The Urban School System of the Future written by Andy Smarick and published by R&L Education. This book was released on 2012-10-12 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For more than two generations, the traditional urban school system—the district—has utterly failed to do its job: prepare its students for a lifetime of success. Millions and millions of boys and girls have suffered the grievous consequences. The district is irreparably broken. For the sake of today’s and tomorrow’s inner-city kids, it must be replaced. The Urban School System of the Future argues that vastly better results can be realized through the creation of a new type of organization that properly manages a city’s portfolio of schools using the revolutionary principles of chartering. It will ensure that new schools are regularly created, that great schools are expanded and replicated, that persistently failing schools are closed, and that families have access to an array of high-quality options. This new entity will focus exclusively on school performance, meaning, among other things, our cities can thoughtfully integrate their traditional public, charter public, and private schools into a single, high-functioning k-12 system. For decades, the district has produced the most heartbreaking results for already at-risk kids. The Urban School System of the Future explains how we can finally turn the tide and create dynamic, responsive, high-performing, self-improving urban school systems that fulfill the promise of public education.
Download or read book Revolution at the Margins written by Frederick M. Hess and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2004-05-13 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For more than a decade, school choice has been a flashpoint in debates about our nation's schooling. Perhaps the most commonly advanced argument for school choice is the notion that markets will force public schools to improve, particularly in those urban areas where improvement has proved so elusive. However, the question of how public schools respond to market conditions has received surprisingly little attention. Revolution at the Margins examines the impact of school vouchers and charter schooling on three urban school districts, explores the causes of the behavior observed, and explains how the structure of competition is likely to shape the way it affects the future of public education. The book draws on research conducted in three school districts at the center of the school choice debate during the 1990s: Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Cleveland, Ohio; and Edgewood, Texas. Case studies examine each of these three districts from the inception of their local school choice program through the conclusion of the 1999 school year. The three school districts studied did not respond to competition by emphasizing productivity or efficiency. Instead, under pressure to provide some evidence of response, administrators tended to expand public relations efforts and to chip holes in the rules, regulations, and procedures that regulate public sector organizations. Inefficient practices were not rooted out, but some rules and procedures that protect employees and vocal constituencies were relaxed. Public school systems are driven by political logic, according to Hess, and their incentives lead them to respond generally through symbolic and metaphorical gestures. Choice-induced changes in public school systems will be shaped by public governance, the market context in which they operate, and their organizational characteristics. Revolution at the Margins encourages scholars and policymakers to think more carefully about the costs and benefits of educational competi
Download or read book Urban School Reform written by Frederick M. Hess and published by Harvard Education Press. This book was released on 2005-01-01 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An indispensable book for administrators, policymakers, scholars, and practitioners, Urban School Reform presents a revealing portrait of reform efforts while identifying the full range of issues that education reformers will need to address in districts across the country in the years ahead. Today's urban school reformers face a bewildering array of challenges. Urgent problems pertaining to governance, management, labor relations, classroom instruction, and numerous other areas face those who wish to reform and improve urban schools. Having undergone one of the nation's most comprehensive school reform efforts in recent years, San Diego has been a site of nationwide interest--one that is uncommonly well suited to learning about the challenges facing all reformers. This timely book addresses the full range of critical issues pertaining to urban school reform by looking closely at the recent reform efforts in San Diego. In essays by an impressive gathering of scholars and practitioners from across the country, the book considers crucial dimensions of reform efforts in the San Diego schools, including performance, governance, the external environment, central leadership and management, district infrastructure, support services, and school-level instructional efforts. The result is a full-scale assessment of San Diego's reform efforts--a record of unmistakable relevance and value to other urban reform movements throughout the United States.
Download or read book Blueprint for School System Transformation written by Frederick Hess, author of Letters to a Young Education Reformer; director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute and published by R&L Education. This book was released on 2013-09-12 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this volume, a team of national experts address the major elements key to system redesign and long-lasting reform, describing in detail the steps needed at the community, school, district and state-level by which to achieve long-lasting reform.
Download or read book Failing at School written by Camille A. Farrington and published by Teachers College Press. This book was released on 2014 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Roughly half of all incoming ninth graders across urban districts will fail classes and drop out of school without a diploma. Failing at School starts with the premise that urban American high schools generate such widespread student failure not because of some fault of the students who attend them but because high schools were designed to stratify achievement and let only the top performers advance to higher levels of education. This design is particularly detrimental for low-income, racial/ethnic minority students. To get different results, Farrington proposes fundamental changes based on what we now know about how students learn, what motivates them to engage in learning, and what kinds of educational systems and structures would best support their learning. “This is a groundbreaking and eye-opening study because it does what few studies of high school truly do: get inside the hearts and minds of teen-agers and show what their experience of school looks and feels like to them. The analysis of students who fail is revealing and powerful. There are poignant and revealing stories of just how a few student mistakes or teacher insensitivities lead to unfortunate and long-lasting results. More importantly, these case studies, their nuances, and their implications take us beyond the clichés and simplistic theories about schools and reform. Most importantly, we read of tangible and intelligent solutions that can be instituted, based on the facts on the ground. I highly recommend this book to everyone interested in getting beyond the typical talking points of school reform.” —Grant Wiggins, Authentic Education “Camille Farrington details how high schools trap students along developmental trajectories distorted by structural factors—resources, values and practices—beyond their control. Grounded firmly in research, she describes a better way forward. This book is an important contribution to the re-visioning of American high schools.” —Ronald F. Ferguson, faculty director, Achievement Gap Initiative, Harvard University "Why is there such a pattern of failure in urban high schools? This is a vital issue for every city in America. Camille Farrington’s analysis of the roots of this problem and suggestions for structural changes to break this cycle is the best I have seen. This book combines research and practitioner wisdom with common sense and heart, and for those of us engaged in this work, presents concrete directions for positive change.” —Ron Berger, chief academic officer, Expeditionary Learning Book Features: Offers concrete strategies for redesigning high schools based on four dimensions of student achievement—structural, academic, developmental, and motivational. Highlights the voices of students to illustrate fundamental problems with the way we currently “do school.” Addresses the new Common Core State Standards and the potential of this major reform effort to move us toward equity and excellence. Camille A. Farrington is a research associate (assistant professor) at The University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration and the Consortium on Chicago School Research and director of curriculum, instruction, and assessment for the Network for College Success.
Download or read book Politics Language and Culture written by Joseph W. Check and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2002-10-30 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Politics, language, and culture are three of the most powerful forces affecting education today, yet they have been little discussed in relation to systemic school reform, the new status quo of urban schools. This book looks at their effects through the eyes of teachers, administrators, and insider/outsiders who are actually living reform at the school level in four widely different urban school systems: Chicago, San Francisco and Oakland, California, and Boston. The book also creates a statistical and conceptual picture of urban education and school reform as national phenomena with deep historical roots, and offers a composite case study of an urban elementary school undergoing reform. The author argues that urban school reform is failing becasue its basic strategy is misguided and because reform thinking has consciously ignored three essential sources of knowledge about school change. Strategically, efforts for reform have relied heavily on the widespread replication of nationally promoted exemplary programs. This approach assumes that local schools lack the knowledge and will to solve their own problems and require prescriptive intervention from national models. In fact, the exemplary programs approach has yielded very limited success. What is needed instead is the creation and long-term support of unique, local exemplary contexts that combine best-practice approaches with local knowledge, conditions, and resources.
Download or read book Changing Urban Education written by Clarence Nathan Stone and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With critical issues like desegregation and funding facing our schools, dissatisfaction with public education has reached a new high. Teachers decry inadequate resources while critics claim educators are more concerned with job security than effective teaching. Though urban education has reached crisis proportions, contending players have difficulty agreeing on a common program of action. This book tells why. Changing Urban Education confronts the prevailing naivete in school reform by examining the factors that shape, reinforce, or undermine reform efforts. Edited by one of the nation's leading urban scholars, it examines forces for change and resistance in urban education and proposes that the barrier to reform can only be overcome by understanding how schools fit into the broader political contexts of their cities. Much of the problem with our schools lies with the reluctance of educators to recognize the profoundly political character of public education. The contributors show how urban political contexts vary widely with factors like racial composition, the role of the teachers' union, and relations between cities and surrounding metropolitan areas. Presenting case studies of original field research in Baltimore, Chicago, Houston, and six other urban areas, they consider how resistance to desegregation and the concentration of the poor in central urban areas affect education, and they suggest how cities can build support for reform through the involvement of business and other community players. By demonstrating the complex interrelationship between urban education and politics, this book shows schools to be not just places for educating children, but also major employers and large spenders of tax dollars. It also introduces the concept of civic capacity—the ability of educators and non-educators to work together on common goals—and suggests that this key issue must be addressed before education can be improved. Changing Urban Education makes it clear to educators that the outcome of reform efforts depends heavily on their political context as it reminds political scientists that education is a major part of the urban mix. While its prognosis is not entirely optimistic, it sets forth important guidelines that cannot be ignored if our schools are to successfully prepare children for the future.
Download or read book The New American Urban School District written by and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
