Creating An Opportunity For All Children To Learn

Explore why some schools are making more progress than others, so you can focus on what works and build the capacity of high-performance, high-poverty schools.

In her new book, prominent professional developer Yvette Jackson focuses on students' strengths, rather than their weaknesses, To reinvigorate educators to inspire learning and high intellectual performance. Through the lens of educational psychology and historical reforms, Jackson responds To The faltering motivation and confidence of educators in terms of its effects on closing the achievement gap. The author seeks to "rekindle the belief in the vast capacity of underachieving urban students," and offers strategies to help educators inspire intellectual performance. Jackson proposes that a paradigm shift towards a focus on strengths will reinvigorate educators' passion for teaching and belief in their ability to raise the intellectual achievement of their students. Jackson addresses how educators can systematically support the development of motivation, reflective and cognitive skills, and high performance when standards and assessments are predisposed to non-conceptual methods. Furthermore, she examines challenges and offers strategies for dealing with cultural disconnects, The influence of new technologies, and language preferences of students.

There is no question that the demand on education and educational leaders has changed. We are no longer preparing students for high school education and discreet specific skills, but for career and college. As a result, there is no greater urgency than to understand the ways that principals understand their contributions to equitably educating ALL students and closing the opportunity gap. With this change, it is imperative that we understand more than ever the work of principals, who are second only to teachers, to affect student learning indirectly. Scholars have concluded that educational leadership research lacks focus and has lacked in connecting principals, equity and student learning. The purpose of this study is to take a step toward filling the gap in educational leadership research regarding principals and their process of leading for equity and learning for all students. Using qualitative methods, this study investigated how principals in their context, enact, ‘make sense’ of, and promote equity in their schools. Overall, the findings of this study indicate that principals have a limited conception of ‘equity’. This limited view provided for actions in schools through the use of only achievement data and resource distribution to enact equity. In addition, Principals did not feel comfortable leading conversations about equity. They perceived that the concept of equity had highly charged meanings or that their community could not develop a shared meaning for this concept. Therefore, principals will need support in learning highly skilled levels of facilitation to lead their community into new ways of thinking about equity for all students.

“When students know how to learn, they are able to become their own teachers.” —Nancy Frey, Douglas Fisher, and John Hattie Imagine students who describe their learning in these terms: “I know where I’m going, I have the tools I need for the journey, and I monitor my own progress.” Now imagine the extraordinary difference this type of ownership makes in their progress over the course of a school year. This illuminating book shows how to make this scenario an everyday reality. With its foundation in principles introduced in the authors’ bestselling Visible Learning for Literacy, this resource delves more deeply into the critical component of self-assessment, revealing the most effective types of assessment and how each can motivate students to higher levels of achievement.

Come roll with the pumpkins and their friends as they get into some spirited fun!

This new edition incorporates many insights and strategies the authors have learned while working extensively with teachers to implement the project approach. Since the popular first edition was published in 1989, the authors have continued to help teachers around the world understand the benefits of this approach. Katz and Chard discuss in great detail the philosophical, theoretical, and research bases of project work. The typical phases are presented and detailed suggestions for implementing each one are described. Using specific examples, this book clarifies and articulates the process and benefits of the project approach. These specific examples outline how children's intellectual development is enhanced. Years of working with teachers and young children from preschool to primary age provide the authors with first hand experience for employing the project approach. Helpful guidelines will aid teachers in working with this approach comfortably in order to gain the interset of children and in order for those to grow and florish mentally.

In Creating the Opportunity to Learn, Wade Boykin and Pedro Noguera help navigate the waters of evidence-based methodologies and chart a course toward closing (and eliminating) the academic achievement gap. The authors maintain that it is possible to close the gap by abandoning failed strategies, learning from successful schools, and simply doing more of what the research shows is most effective. --From publisher's description.

Across the country, an educational revolution is taking root. Kids are learning more. Teachers are free to teach beyond the test. And parents aren’t worried about what their kids are up to after school. What accounts for this change? The simple answer is, “More time to learn.” The current school day—6 hours and 180 days per year—is obsolete. It fails to provide students with the academic foundations and well-rounded education they need to succeed and thrive in the twenty-first century. The old school day is also out of step with the reality of working families without a stay-at-home parent to manage their children’s after-school time. Using an additional one to two hours, the new school day reworks the schedule so that children can master core academic subjects, receive individualized instruction and tutoring, and be exposed to a broad array of topics such as the arts, music, drama, and sports.

In this compelling new book on music education, veteran music educator Judith Jellison illustrates what it takes to imagine, create, and realize possibilities for all children in ways that inspire parents, teachers, and the children themselves to take part in collaborative music making.

Outcomes of a series of meetings held in 1990 by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) Roundtable on Public School Choice are summarized in this document's six chapters. Chapter 1 discusses the components (including motivations, vision formation, leadership, the design process, and the types of choice available) involved in creating distinctive schools. Chapter 2 presents strategies for information gathering and outreach efforts. Student assignment policies and procedures are described in the third chapter, with attention to equity concerns. Chapter 4 offers ideas for developing a safe, efficient, and fair transportation system. Strategies for financing choice programs which include keeping plans within funding limits, maintaining equity, and designing funding as an incentive are highlighted in the fifth chapter. Chapter 6 describes specific benefits and new roles associated with school choice. Recommendations are offered in the final section, which concludes that choice offers an opportunity for systemic change. Appendices include information about the OERI Roundtable on Public School Choice, the Roundtable choice programs, OERI publications on choice, selected recent publications on choice, selected sources of information, acknowledgments, and a choice program implementation checklist for communities. (LMI)