Education is your foundation. If you want to sing, you must educate yourself on how to sing well. If you want to rap, it takes more than a pen and a pad, and a few rounds of freestyle in back of the school. If you want to really be a successful athlete, you must learn the science of the sport, know it as though you breathe it. Whatever it is you want to do, you must educate yourself on how to do it. You must learn, and you must plan. If you do not plan, you will fail.

This readable introduction to American public education law is designed to assist practicing educators, college and graduate students, parents, and the public in acting on everyday legal issues such as student expression, church/state separation, student and teacher discipline, curriculum, legislating and lobbying, parent associations, discrimination, special education, No Child Left Behind, student privacy, and more. Unique features include practical situations, the «Facts and Find» research method, and the «Cascade» approach to understanding the American legal system.

Produced by Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL), one of the nation’s foremost educational research and training organizations, An Education Research Primer gives educators a basic understanding of educational research, its guiding criteria, and its relevance to school-based decision-making. In clear and concise language the book summarizes the various types of educational research, explaining their diverse purposes and methods. For example, the difference between experimental research (studies involving control group trials) and descriptive research (based on descriptive information and relationships) is explained, including how each is designed to address different types of research questions, and why each might have different applications. The book also describes what’s involved in setting up a comparison control group and how some studies have randomized control groups while others do not. In addition, the book describes the different types of data collection methods used in research and how this can bear on the research findings.

Improvement Science in Education: A Primer provides a comprehensive overview of improvement science as a framework to guide continuous improvement and reconceptualizes improvement by centering equity and justice as the purpose of improvement. This Primer is designed to introduce improvement science, a methodology with origins in manufacturing, engineering and healthcare, to educational audiences. The book first explores the philosophical and methodological foundations of improvement science, juxtaposing it with traditional forms of research so that clear distinctions can be drawn. Chapters in the latter half of the book introduce the principles of improvement, give guidance and tools for operationalizing the principles in practice, and conclude with questions to ensure you are improving with equity in mind. Constantly reminding readers to think about who is involved and impacted, the Primer makes improvement science accessible to novices and adds critical dimensions for experienced practitioners to consider. Perfect for courses such as: Educational Research, School Improvement, and Program Evaluation

Self-Study of Teaching Practices is an excellent introduction to the field of self-study research and practice. This student- and teacher-friendly primer provides a comprehensive review and synthesis of the self-study literature, complete with guidelines and examples of cutting-edge self-study methods. It addresses four central areas of self-study of teaching practices: purposes, foundations, nature, and guidelines for practice. School-based and university-based teachers interested in rethinking and reframing their instructional methods will benefit from reading this book and assigning it in the classroom. This primer, which includes glossaries and references, is an invaluable resource for undergraduate and graduate education students searching for guidelines to develop and improve their teaching practice.

What Is Critical Success? Success, we all want it. We all need it. We dont take the time to quantify it, or truly figure out what it is. All we know is, we see other people living champagne wishes and caviar dreams. Were bombarded by images of fast cars, gorgeous men and women, mansions, and vacations in exotic locales. We see this, and we want it too. Better yet, we feel were entitled to it. We know what we see. We know what we feel. We know what we think we want, success. I must stress the word think, because most people dont really know what success is, let alone what success is in terms of who they are as people, as individuals. What is Critical Success? CRITICAL SUCCESS is the planned achievement of something urgent and essential, utilizing skillful planning and judgment for the express purpose of attaining personal prosperity.

Why do some students make the most of college, while others struggle and look back on years of missed deadlines and missed opportunities? What choices can students make, and what can teachers and university leaders do, to improve more students’ experiences and help them achieve the most from their time and money? Most important, how is the increasing diversity on campus—cultural, racial, and religious—affecting education? What can students and faculty do to benefit from differences, and even learn from the inevitable moments of misunderstanding and awkwardness? From his ten years of interviews with Harvard seniors, Richard Light distills encouraging—and surprisingly practical—answers to fundamental questions. How can you choose classes wisely? What’s the best way to study? Why do some professors inspire and others leave you cold? How can you connect what you discover in class to all you’re learning in the rest of life? Light suggests, for instance: studying in pairs or groups can be more productive than studying alone; the first and most important skill to learn is time management; supervised independent research projects and working internships offer the most learning and the greatest challenges; and encounters with students of different religions can be simultaneously the most taxing and most illuminating of all the experiences with a diverse student body. Filled with practical advice, illuminated with stories of real students’ self-doubts, failures, discoveries, and hopes, Making the Most of College is a handbook for academic and personal success.