School Peer Review for Educational Improvement and Accountability


Book Description

This book explores how peer reviews are used in school improvement, accountability and education system reform. Importantly, these issues are studied through numerous international cases and new empirical evidence. This volume also identifies and describes barriers and facilitators to the development, use, sustainability and expansion of school peer review. School peer reviews are a form of internal evaluation driven by schools themselves rather than externally imposed, such as with school inspections. Schools collaborate with other schools in networks, collect data through self-evaluation and in school review visits. They provide feedback, challenge and support to each other. Despite the increased use of school peer review in system reform and school improvement, very little research has been conducted on this model and there is a dearth of literature that looks at the phenomenon internationally. This book fills this gap and will be an invaluable source for academics in school leadership and educational evaluation and accountability, as well as those working at the level of executive leadership in school networks, NGOs and in government policy-making.




Grading Education


Book Description

Yes, we should hold public schools accountable for effectively spending the vast funds with which they have been entrusted. But accountability policies like No Child Left Behind, based exclusively on math and reading test scores, have narrowed the curriculum, misidentified both failing and successful schools, and established irresponsible expectations for what schools can accomplish. Instead of just grading progress in one or two narrow subjects, we should hold schools accountable for the broad outcomes we expect from public education —basic knowledge and skills, critical thinking, an appreciation of the arts, physical and emotional health, and preparation for skilled employment —and then develop the means to measure and ensure schools’ success in achieving them. Grading Education describes a new kind of accountability plan for public education, one that relies on higher-quality testing, focuses on professional evaluation, and builds on capacities we already possess. This important resource: Describes the design of an alternative accountability system that would not corrupt education as does NCLB and its state testing systems Explains the original design of NAEP in the 1960s, and shows why it should be revived. Defines the broad goals of education, beyond math and reading test scores, and reports on surveys to confirm public and governmental support for such goals. Relates these broad goals of education to the desire for accountability in education.




School Leadership and Education System Reform


Book Description

How can school leaders shape organisations that offer consistently high quality, rounded and equitable education in the context of rapid change? How can wider education systems support and encourage all schools to succeed in this way? What are the challenges and opportunities involved? What can we learn from existing evidence and research? School Leadership and Education System Reform considers the ways in which school leadership and its practice has changed and developed in response to a rapidly changing educational context over the last decade. This new edition is substantially revised and updated, with ten completely new chapters. It includes contributions from a range of leading thinkers and researchers in the field of educational leadership and management. Theoretically and conceptually informed, the contributors draw on recent empirical research studies into leadership, learning and system reform in England and more widely to explore the key issues for contemporary school leadership and management in high-autonomy-high-accountability systems. New chapters look at: · System governance and lateral accountability in 'self-improving' school systems · Leading curriculum development and accelerating progress for disadvantaged children in schools · Effective deployment of teaching assistants/leadership for inclusion · School collaboration, partnerships and 'system leadership' · Securing improvement at scale, across multiple schools and across localities · New conceptions of leadership, including ethical and invitational leadership School Leadership and Education System Reform provides accessible but research and theory-informed chapters, each of which includes summaries and suggestions for further reading.




School Accountability


Book Description

Scholars from history, economics, political science, and psychology describe the present state of school accountability, how it evolved, how it succeeded and failed, and how it can be improved. They review the history behind the ongoing conflict between educators and policymakers over accountability and testing, describe various accountability schemes, and analyze the costs of accountability. Case studies of three states with strong school systems compare how accountability works in practice. Evers is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).




Nuance


Book Description

Break the cycle of surface-level change and failure How do leaders become clearer as complexity increases? We live in a world where decisions require judgment, getting people on board, drawing on local knowledge, ingenuity, and commitment. As leaders, how do you get beneath surface-level change to tackle complex challenges with depth and clarity. Nuance is the answer. Michael Fullan returns with an eminently readable, compelling and practical guide on the three habits of nuance: joint determination, adaptability, and culture-based accountability. Learn how you can: · Combine the power of networks and humanity to get to desired destinations. · Embrace complexity and understand context to develop better judgment · Change the culture of your organization to harness the forces of nuance. · Develop quality change that sticks With tons of examples and case studies of this book makes explicit the hidden habits and mind frames of leaders who deliver lasting change.




Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecologies


Book Description

In Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecologies, Asao B. Inoue theorizes classroom writing assessment as a complex system that is “more than” its interconnected elements. To explain how and why antiracist work in the writing classroom is vital to literacy learning, Inoue incorporates ideas about the white racial habitus that informs dominant discourses in the academy and other contexts.




Equity and Inclusion in Education Finding Strength through Diversity


Book Description

Governments and education policy makers are increasingly concerned with equity and inclusion in education due to several major global trends such as demographic shifts, migration and refugee crises, rising inequalities, and climate change. These developments have contributed to increasing diversity within national populations and flagged some concerns around the ability of education systems to be equitable and inclusive of all students.




OECD Reviews of Evaluation and Assessment in Education Synergies for Better Learning An International Perspective on Evaluation and Assessment


Book Description

This report provides an international comparative analysis and policy advice to countries on how evaluation and assessment arrangements can be embedded within a consistent framework to improve the quality, equity and efficiency of school education.




Handbook of the Economics of Education


Book Description

The Handbooks in Economics series continues to provide the various branches of economics with handbooks which are definitive reference sources, suitable for use by professional researchers, advanced graduate students, or by those seeking a teaching supplement. With contributions from leading researchers, each Handbook presents an accurate, self-contained survey of the current state of the topic under examination. These surveys summarize the most recent discussions in journals, and elucidate new developments. Although original material is also included, the main aim of this series is the provision of comprehensive and accessible surveys. *Every volume contains contributions from leading researchers *Each Handbook presents an accurate, self-contained survey of a particular topic *The series provides comprehensive and accessible surveys




Reviews of National Policies for Education OECD Review of Resourcing Schools to Address Educational Disadvantage in Ireland


Book Description

The “OECD Review of Resourcing Schools to Address Educational Disadvantage in Ireland” provides an independent analysis meant to support Irish authorities in identifying ways to strengthen the resources and supports provided to students at risk of educational disadvantage in both DEIS and non-DEIS schools. The report serves three purposes: i) to provide insights and advice to Irish education authorities; ii) to help other countries understand the Irish approach to equitable education; and iii) to provide input for comparative analyses of the OECD Education for Inclusive Societies project. The scope for the analysis in this report covers primary and post-primary education. The focus areas of the review in Ireland are: i) governance, ii) resourcing; iii) capacity building; iv) school-level interventions and v) monitoring and evaluation. This report will be of interest in Ireland and other countries looking to improve the equity of students at risk of educational disadvantage in their education systems.