The Job-Embedded Nature of Coaching


Book Description

The Job-Embedded Nature of Coaching: Lessons for School Leaders is a book for sitting principals, aspiring principals, and teacher leaders. This edited volume includes studies that describe and detail findings from dissertation research conducted by scholar-practitioners in preK-12 schools. This book makes unique contributions to the field of practice and understanding of coaching (instructional and peer coaching) as forms of job-embedded learning, most especially for teachers in the beginning years in the profession. Each chapter examines very specific aspects of coaching that school leaders need to have understanding about to be able to create systems that support teachers in the work they do to teach students, interact with colleagues, etc. Conclusions and recommendations are offered for school leaders to support an environment and culture that embraces coaching and job-embedded learning as an integral part of the school’s foundation for building capacity. The messages across the chapters point to the primacy of coaching to promote teacher engagement and its value as job-embedded learning.




Professional Development


Book Description

This comprehensive and authoritative book serves as the road map to your school’s professional development journey. Written for principals, professional development directors, other district leaders, and teacher leaders, Professional Development: What Works shows you how to plan and implement programs that promote teacher growth. Full of helpful case studies, useful resources, and templates, this book guides you in creating an effective, job-embedded professional development program that moves ideas to action. Special Features in this Revised Edition: Revised discussion on supporting and providing learning opportunities for adults New "Cases from the Field" and "Notes from the Field" amplify best practices and serve to narrow the gap between research and practice Updated and expanded coverage of professional job-embedded learning help leaders keep pace with advancements Suggested readings support digging deeper into topical areas found within the chapters




The Principalship


Book Description

Today’s emphasis on student learning outcomes, coupled with federal legislation to that end, has placed more demands on the role of the principal than ever before in our nation’s history. To address the heightened demands for greater accountability for student learning, The Principalship uses a learning-centered approach, one that emphasizes the role of the principal as the steward of the school’s vision: learning for all. The critical aspects of the teaching–learning process are addressed here, including student motivation; individual differences; classroom management; assessing student learning; and developing, maintaining, and changing school culture. In addition, several topics not found in other principalship texts are addressed, including school safety, special education, gifted education, bilingual education, nontraditional organizational structures, gender-inclusive theories, diversity, ethics, political and policy context, human resource management, legal issues, and collective bargaining. The book is documented extensively throughout and grounded in the latest research and theory with suggestions for applying theory to practice, reflecting cutting-edge research and topical issues facing principals in schools today.




Job-Embedded Professional Development


Book Description

In today’s schools, teachers are frequently called on to adapt new curricula and instructional practices in their classrooms. Making sense of the complexities of teaching occurs primarily during the work day, and instead of relying on before or after school one-size-fits-all professional development activities, schools must support teachers in learning on the job. The latest book from renowned author Sally J. Zepeda is written for teachers, teacher leaders, and school and district leaders who want to support job-embedded learning, a powerful form of professional development characterized by active learning and reflection grounded in the context of a teachers’ work environment. Job-Embedded Professional Development provides a framework for helping teachers stop, take a deep breath, and learn along the way as they engage in their daily work. Through the engaging job-embedded learning activities, processes, and cases from the field explored in this book, teachers will immediately be able to: Implement what they are learning in the context of their own classrooms; Work with supportive peers who can coach them along the way; Get feedback on what’s working and what needs to be tweaked; Learn as adult learners fully capable of making sound professional judgments; Engage in conversations that allow teachers to dig deeper into their practices; Focus intently on content knowledge and the linkages to instruction and assessment; Capitalize on learning in digital learning environments before, during, and after school; Gain confidence in themselves and others through learning together.




Leading School Culture through Teacher Voice and Agency


Book Description

Leading School Culture through Teacher Voice and Agency helps school leaders uncover, understand, and build the skill set to engage teachers in the work of school culture as they navigate the changes needed to improve the achievement for all students. This book presents a Framework for School Culture that explores how school culture, when acted upon through teacher voice and agency, is an untapped resource that can move schools forward. By supporting teacher voice and agency, the school and its teachers and leaders move toward taking collective responsibility for sustaining a culture of improvement that is stronger and more responsive. This research-grounded book is rich in practical tools to help leaders work with teachers, ensuring all the educators in a school are taking ownership over their own learning and developing the skills to reshape school culture to ensure students, teachers, and community members thrive.




Creating a Culture of Excellence


Book Description

School leaders are busy, overwhelmed, and may not always be cognizant of the latest cutting-edge theories and practices in the field of instructional improvement. Drawing from research, Creating a Culture of Excellence is a resource that serves as a guide to the best practices in teaching, curriculum, professional development, supervision, and evaluation. Attending to these five processes, utilizing best practices in the field of research and practice, will ensure high-quality instruction in any school. This book is replete with engaging learning activities and vignettes to reinforce ideas and concepts.




Crisis and Pandemic Leadership


Book Description

Crisis and Pandemic Leadership: Implications for Meeting the Needs of Students, Teachers, and Parents provides the theoretical and practical strategies necessary for a school leader to confront many crises that inevitably occur. A major theme is that an effective school leader must possess several characteristics and skills including, among others, intestinal fortitude, foresight and insight, a positive long-term outlook, and organizational and interpersonal competencies.




Systems Thinking for Sustainable Schooling


Book Description

This book presents arguments for adopting a Systems way of Thinking about developing schools to become in sync with the times, both locally and globally. Systems Thinking and Quality Management both are natural approaches for educators to adapt schooling to the rapid changes of life today in a global context. The chapters include strong rationales for adopting a more natural way of thinking about schooling, one that prepares students for life as it is now evolving around the world. Stories of success are abundant, which offer evidence of the power of a systems approach to leading school development in the complex context of schooling today. Research studies report up-to-date evidence of the power of Systems Thinking to continuously adapt schooling to changing conditions.




Bridging Leadership and School Improvement


Book Description

Principals wear many hats, but the most significant role they have is improving teaching and learning so all students are successful. Bridging Leadership and School Improvement: Advice from the Field features narratives of successful principals across multiple states in the US, who have not only improved their schools but have created supportive and inclusive learning communities for both teachers and students. Each practitioner-author discusses an improvement practice that they successfully implemented in their school and key theories that support their practice. This book highlights how successful school leaders bridge theory and practice to improve school cultures, teaching, and learning.




New Explorations for Instructional Leaders


Book Description

The existing literature on instructional leadership mainly examines the components, procedures, and mechanisms of instructional leadership and its influence on school performance and student academic results. The application of instructional leadership is insufficiently discussed. Moreover, despite longstanding efforts to campaign for instructional leadership’s prioritization, several studies have shown that the time devoted by principals to instructional leadership activities is inadequate. These disappointing statistics make the research on instructional leadership application most necessary. Why do principals find it difficult to put instructional leadership into action? What can help them overcome the challenges involved in applying instructional leadership? What functions of instructional leadership do school leaders tend to sidestep? New Explorations for Instructional Leaders: How Principals Can Promote Teaching and Learning Effectively answers these questions and addresses the need for additional research-informed literature on instructional leadership application. The findings of Haim Shaked’s studies, conducted over the past five years among principals working in the Israeli school system, are presented in this book in a way that can be used by researchers, policymakers, school leaders, and educators in different countries.