School Improvement

"A hallmark volume by one of the nation′s most accomplished school improvement scholars. This is the most thoroughly researched, well-crafted, and useful volume on continuous improvement available. Smylie does for ′continuous improvement′ what Fullan did for change." —Joseph Murphy, Professor Vanderbilt University Discover what it takes to create lasting, positive change for your school, your teachers, and your students! Focusing on school change that improves teaching and learning, this guide for principals integrates evolutionary change theory with the research on continuous improvement. Mark A. Smylie begins with a succinct overview of organizational change that provides readers with the foundation they need to embark on a school change initiative. Interviews with educators involved with organizational change provide insightful examples and first-person responses to the challenges inherent in school change. Continuous School Improvement also addresses the major implementation problems that leaders face, such as: Building trust Creating a culture of mutual responsibility Building support Setting goals Responding to teachers′ stress in the face of change

In this cohesive narrative about leadership for school improvement, author Joseph Murphy explains the work that leaders must do to ramp up academic press and foster a supportive school culture. He unpacks the concept of leadership practice, focusing on principles and values that help create truly powerful learning environments.

-This text presents a step-by-step approach to problem diagnosis and school improvement. --

Learn how successful principals make a difference in their school’s performance! Based on a ground-breaking study and numerous firsthand accounts, this illuminating book captures unique perspectives from 20 outstanding principals, representing a wide range of urban and rural schools. This resource includes: The nine personal characteristics that help principals lead high-performing schools Practical strategies for balancing both administrative responsibilities and instructional leadership Guidance on using a systems-development approach to support excellence at every level Discussion of the use of research and data for school improvement Tips and suggestions from effective principals, along with recommended resources for further learning

This book aims to demystify the principles and practice of school improvement by demonstrating how successful classroom and school improvement occurs. It outlines the conditions, strategies and approaches that promote sustainable improvement and provides an overview of the main theoretical perspectives in this area. This accessible text will be useful for practitioners working within schools and with schools, offering clear guidance for those keen to raise standards and improve achievement. The What's In It For Schools? series aims to make educational policy issues relevant to practitioners. Each book in the series focuses on a major educational issue. The author sets the issue in context, looks at how it impacts on the daily lives of schools and teachers, and raises key questions. The books are grounded in sound theory, recent research evidence and best practice, and will make an excellent addition to any staffroom bookshelf.

Following the publication of Building Leadership Capacity in Schools in 1998, Linda Lambert visited educators around the world to see how they had applied the ideas presented in her book to their schools and districts. Though everyone she spoke with agreed on the importance of high leadership capacity, they also had many questions about how best to achieve this goal. Leadership Capacity for Lasting School Improvement is the author's attempt to answer those questions. The book begins by outlining the five major prerequisites for high leadership capacity: * Skillful participation in the work of leadership *Inquiry-based use of data to inform decisions and practice *Broad involvement and collective responsibility for student learning *Reflective practice that leads to innovation *High or steadily improving student achievement In addition to providing a comprehensive overview of steps schools should take to meet these criteria, Lambert quotes at length from her discussions with educators to provide a view of leadership enhancement techniques in practice. She also includes helpful rubrics and surveys that teachers and administrators alike can use to personally assess their leadership skills. Combining the author's own insights with real-life examples and practical exercises, Leadership Capacity for Lasting School Improvement is an indispensable guide to enhancing and sustaining a culture of leadership in any school.

This book explores the principal’s role in meeting high expectations for student achievement. It provides detailed tips and strategies to show you what principals need to do to: assess and promote a culture and climate for school improvement, build teams and support the work their work, create the conditions so that teacher leaders can emerge, and monitor school improvement efforts

Developing and updating school improvement plans is an annual ritual for virtually all school principals and their school improvement committees. Still, large numbers of schools continue to produce disappointing outcomes. The authors believe that part of the problem is the result of plans that focus on the wrong targets and that rely on ineffective strategies for improvement. To help principals and their school improvement committees develop and implement plans with a greater likelihood of success, the authors offer a step-by-step process for school improvement planning. They go on to pinpoint specific school improvement goals, including raising reading and mathematics achievement, building robust school cultures, addressing the needs of English language learners, improving instruction, and reducing absenteeism and dropouts. For each goal, a variety of objectives and proven strategies is presented along with sample school improvement plans. The book addresses the differences in planning to turn around a low-performing school, planning to sustain improvements over time, and planning to move a good school to a great school.

As a field, education has largely failed to learn from experience. Time after time, promising education reforms fall short of their goals and are abandoned as other promising ideas take their place. In Learning to Improve, the authors argue for a new approach. Rather than “implementing fast and learning slow,” they believe educators should adopt a more rigorous approach to improvement that allows the field to “learn fast to implement well.” Using ideas borrowed from improvement science, the authors show how a process of disciplined inquiry can be combined with the use of networks to identify, adapt, and successfully scale up promising interventions in education. Organized around six core principles, the book shows how “networked improvement communities” can bring together researchers and practitioners to accelerate learning in key areas of education. Examples include efforts to address the high rates of failure among students in community college remedial math courses and strategies for improving feedback to novice teachers. Learning to Improve offers a new paradigm for research and development in education that promises to be a powerful driver of improvement for the nation’s schools and colleges.

This book explores an approach to school improvement that merges the traditions of educational effectiveness research and school improvement efforts. It displays how the dynamic model, which is theoretical and empirically validated, can be used in both traditions. Each chapter integrates evidence from international and national studies, showing how the knowledge-base of educational effectiveness research can be used for improvement purposes. In a clear and practicable manner it outlines: Foundations of the improvement approach Research projects investigating the impact of the dynamic approach Guidelines and practical solutions to translating the approach into action Further developments for school improvement Exploring the crucial factors in the establishment of this environment, the authors outline a dynamic framework that helps schools collect data, through self-evaluation mechanisms, taking decisions about priorities for improvement, and developing appropriate policies and action plans. This approach emphasises educational targets and provides means to achieve them that are flexible enough to fit in with the circumstances of the individual school. The book draws upon research across the world, conducted especially in the United States, Europe, and Australasia, expertly showcasing how the dynamic approach can be used in a wide variety of educational settings A key book for all professionals working in education; academics, researchers, policy-makers, school advisors and practitioners will find it invaluable. Not only it is a must for graduate students, university libraries, and individual academics but also for school management teams, school support agencies and officials in educational policy.