The NEW School Rules


Book Description

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




Change and Effectiveness in Schools


Book Description

The quest for more effective schools has perhaps never been more challenging than it is today. Here, the authors consider and investigate that challenge from the cultural perspective.




School Improvement for Real


Book Description

As societies continue to set educational goals that are, on current performance, beyond the capacity of the system to deliver, strategies for enhancing student learning through school and classroom intervention have become increasingly important. Yet, as David Hopkins argues in his book, many of the educational initiatives recently developed under the umbrella of school improvement are inadequate or unhelpful. Simply blaming teachers and delegating financial responsibility, he maintains, has little positive impact on classroom practice. This is the bleak context within which school improvement has to operate today. School Improvement for Real offers a genuine alternative: a strategy for educational change that focuses on student achievement by modifying classroom practice and adapting the management arrangements within the school to support teaching and learning. It outlines an approach to school improvement that has a medium term, systemic orientation, providing both principles and suggestions for better practice. The author's experience in the field of school improvement ensures that the text is informed by a practical wisdom that is so often lacking from the more typical managerial texts on improvement and effectiveness.




Key Characteristics of Effective Schools


Book Description

This book explores the key characteristics that make a school effective.




The Six Secrets of Change


Book Description

From bestselling author Michael Fullan, wisdom for thriving in today's complex environment Successful organizations adjust quickly and intelligently to shifts in consumer tastes, political climate, and economic opportunity. How do they do it? The Six Secrets of Change explores essential lessons for business and public sector leaders for thriving in today's complex environment. Fullan draws on his acclaimed work in bringing about large-scale and substantial change in education reform in both public school systems and universities, as well as engaging in major change initiatives internationally. This book is filled with lessons that are insightful, actionable, and concisely communicable. "Fullan has an uncanny ability to produce what is needed at the time it is needed. The six secrets are based in theory, grounded in practice, powerful in their relationship to each other, and described in ways that enable deep understanding. It is a refreshing change from the surface lists of leadership and change ideas that all too often permeate education and business literature." —Vicki Phillips, director of education, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Includes so-called leadership "secrets" that are decoded to be accessible and useful Offers illustrative examples from a variety of businesses, health organizations, and public education systems Lays out the six factors to organizational success: collegiality, long-range plans allow for the unknown, nurture employees, learning, leadership at all levels, and positive pressure must be inescapable Michael Fullan is the author of the acclaimed best-seller Leading in a Culture of Change Fullan convinces us that a leader who attends to all six key factors will have an organization that is constantly learning, growing, and thriving.




Transforming School Culture


Book Description

Busy administrators will appreciate this quick read packed with immediate, accessible strategies. This book provides the framework for understanding dynamic relationships within a school culture and ensuring a positive environment that supports the changes necessary to improve learning for all students. The author explores many aspects of human behavior, social conditions, and history to reveal best practices for building healthy school cultures.




Schools Can Change


Book Description

Build a dynamic system for change! From NCLB to Common Core standards, we are inundated with directives for improving our schools. How can we really create lasting change? By applying the Change Creation system! Learning community pioneers Dale Lick, Karl Clauset, and Carlene Murphy lead teachers, principals, and schools in this dynamic approach to school improvement. With a free, comprehensive online collection of practical resources, this book shows you how to: Develop the right vision, relationships, and culture to create and sustain change Model learning-inquiry cycles for action teams for success Build loyalty, trust, and responsibility within your teams and across the school




Change Forces


Book Description

Knowledge of the processes of educational change is said to be the missing ingredient in attempts to bring about educational innovation and reform. Whether these efforts involve grass roots innovation or large-scale societal reform, failure to understand and act on existing knowledge of the change process has accounted for the widespread lack of success in making educational improvements. This volume analyzes what is known about successful or productive change processes, and identifies corresponding action strategies at the individual, school, local and state levels. Included in this book is a major treatment of the topic of the 'ethics of planned change', a neglected topic in recent literature, especially since strategies for intervening in the change process are receiving more attention. This book is intended to be used by teachers in training and in service, teacher trainers, educational researchers, education historians and administrators.




Organizing Schools for Improvement


Book Description

In 1988, the Chicago public school system decentralized, granting parents and communities significant resources and authority to reform their schools in dramatic ways. To track the effects of this bold experiment, the authors of Organizing Schools for Improvement collected a wealth of data on elementary schools in Chicago. Over a seven-year period they identified one hundred elementary schools that had substantially improved—and one hundred that had not. What did the successful schools do to accelerate student learning? The authors of this illuminating book identify a comprehensive set of practices and conditions that were key factors for improvement, including school leadership, the professional capacity of the faculty and staff, and a student-centered learning climate. In addition, they analyze the impact of social dynamics, including crime, critically examining the inextricable link between schools and their communities. Putting their data onto a more human scale, they also chronicle the stories of two neighboring schools with very different trajectories. The lessons gleaned from this groundbreaking study will be invaluable for anyone involved with urban education.




Education at a Glance


Book Description

The OECD education indicators enable countries to see themselves in light of other countries performance. They reflect on both the human and financial resources invested in education and on the returns of these investments.