School Effectiveness and School Improvement

School Effectiveness and School Improvement PDF Author: Louise Stoll
Publisher: Institute of Education
ISBN: 9780854734764
Category : School improvement programs
Languages : en
Pages : 8

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Book Description
The last decade has seen a burgeoning of interest in the twin fields of school effectiveness and school improvement by politicians, policy makers and practitioners. For some, the drive has been to raise standards and increase accountability through inspection and assessment measures, believing that the incentive of accountability and market competition will lead to improvement. Alternatively, reform and restructuring have led many people in schools to create their own agenda and ask, ‘How do we know that what we are doing makes a positive difference to our pupils?’ and, ‘What can we do to provide pupils with the best possible education?’ This paper explores the two paradigms that underpin notions of school effectiveness and school improvement. We start with their definitions and aims. Key factors of effectiveness and improvement are examined and fundamental issues discussed. We conclude with a description of attempts to link the two areas of work.

School Effectiveness and School Improvement

School Effectiveness and School Improvement PDF Author: Louise Stoll
Publisher: Institute of Education
ISBN: 9780854734764
Category : School improvement programs
Languages : en
Pages : 8

Get Book Here

Book Description
The last decade has seen a burgeoning of interest in the twin fields of school effectiveness and school improvement by politicians, policy makers and practitioners. For some, the drive has been to raise standards and increase accountability through inspection and assessment measures, believing that the incentive of accountability and market competition will lead to improvement. Alternatively, reform and restructuring have led many people in schools to create their own agenda and ask, ‘How do we know that what we are doing makes a positive difference to our pupils?’ and, ‘What can we do to provide pupils with the best possible education?’ This paper explores the two paradigms that underpin notions of school effectiveness and school improvement. We start with their definitions and aims. Key factors of effectiveness and improvement are examined and fundamental issues discussed. We conclude with a description of attempts to link the two areas of work.

Understanding by Design

Understanding by Design PDF Author: Grant P. Wiggins
Publisher: ASCD
ISBN: 1416600353
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 383

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Book Description
What is understanding and how does it differ from knowledge? How can we determine the big ideas worth understanding? Why is understanding an important teaching goal, and how do we know when students have attained it? How can we create a rigorous and engaging curriculum that focuses on understanding and leads to improved student performance in today's high-stakes, standards-based environment? Authors Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe answer these and many other questions in this second edition of Understanding by Design. Drawing on feedback from thousands of educators around the world who have used the UbD framework since its introduction in 1998, the authors have greatly revised and expanded their original work to guide educators across the K-16 spectrum in the design of curriculum, assessment, and instruction. With an improved UbD Template at its core, the book explains the rationale of backward design and explores in greater depth the meaning of such key ideas as essential questions and transfer tasks. Readers will learn why the familiar coverage- and activity-based approaches to curriculum design fall short, and how a focus on the six facets of understanding can enrich student learning. With an expanded array of practical strategies, tools, and examples from all subject areas, the book demonstrates how the research-based principles of Understanding by Design apply to district frameworks as well as to individual units of curriculum. Combining provocative ideas, thoughtful analysis, and tested approaches, this new edition of Understanding by Design offers teacher-designers a clear path to the creation of curriculum that ensures better learning and a more stimulating experience for students and teachers alike.

Study Strategies Made Easy

Study Strategies Made Easy PDF Author: Leslie Davis
Publisher: Specialty Press/A.D.D. Warehouse
ISBN: 9781886941038
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 180

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Book Description
Offers students in grades six through twelve practical strategies designed to teach them valuable study skills that will help them acquire the knowledge they need to succeed in life.

Organizing Schools for Improvement

Organizing Schools for Improvement PDF Author: Anthony S. Bryk
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226078019
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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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.

School, Family, and Community Partnerships

School, Family, and Community Partnerships PDF Author: Joyce L. Epstein
Publisher: Corwin Press
ISBN: 1483320014
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 508

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Book Description
Strengthen programs of family and community engagement to promote equity and increase student success! When schools, families, and communities collaborate and share responsibility for students′ education, more students succeed in school. Based on 30 years of research and fieldwork, the fourth edition of the bestseller School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action, presents tools and guidelines to help develop more effective and more equitable programs of family and community engagement. Written by a team of well-known experts, it provides a theory and framework of six types of involvement for action; up-to-date research on school, family, and community collaboration; and new materials for professional development and on-going technical assistance. Readers also will find: Examples of best practices on the six types of involvement from preschools, and elementary, middle, and high schools Checklists, templates, and evaluations to plan goal-linked partnership programs and assess progress CD-ROM with slides and notes for two presentations: A new awareness session to orient colleagues on the major components of a research-based partnership program, and a full One-Day Team Training Workshop to prepare school teams to develop their partnership programs. As a foundational text, this handbook demonstrates a proven approach to implement and sustain inclusive, goal-linked programs of partnership. It shows how a good partnership program is an essential component of good school organization and school improvement for student success. This book will help every district and all schools strengthen and continually improve their programs of family and community engagement.

Driven by Data

Driven by Data PDF Author: Paul Bambrick-Santoyo
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470548746
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
Offers a practical guide for improving schools dramatically that will enable all students from all backgrounds to achieve at high levels. Includes assessment forms, an index, and a DVD.

Creating the Effective Primary School

Creating the Effective Primary School PDF Author: Roger Smith
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135727244
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 246

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Book Description
A key role for primary school leaders is to develop strategies for promoting and ensuring high quality learning. This practical and accessible handbook has been written by an experienced primary leader, and will offer anyone seeking guidance on creating or maintaining a more effective primary school with a valuable and friendly resource. Extensive coverage in this book includes: * using organisation and leadership to create a positive ethos * developing good relationships and creating teams * managing the curriculum and raising pupil achievement * the role of targets and planning in raising achievement * fostering successful teaching and good classroom management and relationships * working with the inspection process * performance management * dealing effectively with stress and time management. Launching the new Kogan Page Primary Essentials series, this book will be welcomed by any primary leader who is seeking to develop their pupil's and their school's strengths and expectations.

Teach Smarter

Teach Smarter PDF Author: Vanessa J. Levin
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119698898
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 198

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Book Description
Discover new, practical methods for teaching literacy skills in your early childhood classroom. Has teaching early literacy skills become a stumbling block to getting your preschool students kindergarten ready? Break out of the tired “letter of the week” routine and learn how to transform your lessons with fun and effective techniques. Teach Smarter: Literacy Strategies for Early Childhood Teachers will equip teachers to infuse every aspect of their teaching with exciting hands-on literacy teaching methods that engage students and help them build authentic connections with books, so that 100% of their students will have a strong literacy foundation and will be fully prepared for success in kindergarten and beyond. Respected author Vanessa Levin, veteran early childhood educator and author of the “Pre-K Pages” blog, breaks down the research and translates it into realistic, actionable steps you can take to improve your teaching. Features specific examples of teaching techniques and activities that engage students in hands-on, experiential learning during circle time, centers, and small groups. Offers a simple, four-step system for teaching literacy skills, based on the foundational principles of early literacy teaching Demonstrates how to build your confidence in your ability to get 100% of your students ready for kindergarten, long before the end of the school year Understand the problems with traditional literacy teaching and identify gaps in your current teaching practice with this valuable resource.

Creating the Conditions for School Improvement

Creating the Conditions for School Improvement PDF Author: Mel Ainscow
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134116780
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 163

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Book Description
First Published in 2001. This is the second edition of this school’s improvement handbook of staff development activities by the IQEA (Improving Education for All) project. This book is not about what changes should be introduced into a school but rather about creating the conditions for supporting those changes which schools or individuals believe should be introduced. To be effective at managing change schools and teachers need to modify the internal conditions of the school at the same time as introducing changes in teaching or curriculum. The book therefore provides ideas and materials to help colleagues in school to create such conditions and suggests a strategic approach.

Leaders of Learning

Leaders of Learning PDF Author: Richard DuFour
Publisher: Solution Tree Press
ISBN: 1935542680
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 179

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Book Description
For many years, the authors have been fellow travelers on the journey to help educators improve their schools. Their first coauthored book focuses on district leadership, principal leadership, and team leadership and addresses how individual teachers can be most effective in leading students—by learning with colleagues how to implement the most promising pedagogy in their classrooms