Value-added is the most robust, statistically significant method for connecting teachers to students. In other words, value-added analysis links teachers to students and, for the very first time, allows educators to see the amount of growth they are facilitating with students. Built around the value-added analysis professional development work of Battelle for Kids, this book for district and school leaders prepares educators to understand and implement value-added analysis in order to ensure that all students are achieving and progressing. By providing a user-friendly, five-step implementation process along with success stories of schools, teachers, and students as well as strategies, samples, and tools, this book will equip educators to use value-added analysis to help accelerate student progress. It is written to inform readers about what value-added analysis is and to help them utilize value-added information in a classroom and/or school setting.

Value-added analysis is the most robust, statistically significant method available for helping educators quantify student progress over time. This powerful tool also reveals tangible strategies for improving instruction. Built around the work of Battelle for Kids, this book provides a field-tested continuous improvement model for using value-added information to increase student learning. The five-step process shows how to: (1) Create the conditions for success; (2) Examine district, school, and classroom reports to assess strengths and challenges; (3) Use these reports to create an improvement plan; (4) Implement instructional changes; and (5) Evaluate and adjust the changes as the new school year starts. Each chapter includes case studies, real-life examples, action steps, and reflective questions in addition to numerous tools, samples, and protocols for implementing the model. By focusing on specific professional practices associated with gains in student performance, conversations shift from blame to analysis, from defensiveness to professional learning, and from micromanagement to inquiry--a fresh perspective that results in student success! The following chapters are contained in this book: (1) Step I: What Is Value-Added Analysis? (2) Step I: Jump into Value-Added Analysis; (3) Step I: The Framework for Systemic Improvement; (4) Step ii: Assess District-Level Value-Added Reports to Determine Strengths and Challenges; (5) Step ii: Assess Building-Level Value-Added Reports to Determine Strengths and Challenges; (6) Step ii: Assess Teacher-Level Value-Added Reports to Determine Strengths and Challenges; (7) Steps iii and iv: Identify Root Causes and Produce an Improvement Plan; (8) Step v: Take Action, Monitor, and Adjust. Also contained are references and an index. [Foreword by Douglas B. Reeves.].

"Gathering data and using it to inform instruction is a requirement for many schools, yet educators are not necessarily formally trained in how to do it. This book helps bridge the gap between classroom practice and the principles of educational psychology. Teachers will find cutting-edge advances in research and theory on human learning and teaching in an easily understood and transferable format. The text's integrated model shows teachers, school leaders, and district administrators how to establish a data culture and transform quantitative and qualitative data into actionable knowledge based on: assessment; statistics; instructional and differentiated psychology; classroom management."--Publisher's description.

Effective and practical coaching strategies for new educators plus valuable online coaching tools Many teachers are only observed one or two times per year on average—and, even among those who are observed, scarcely any are given feedback as to how they could improve. The bottom line is clear: teachers do not need to be evaluated so much as they need to be developed and coached. In Get Better Faster: A 90-Day Plan for Coaching New Teachers, Paul Bambrick-Santoyo shares instructive tools of how school leaders can effectively guide new teachers to success. Over the course of the book, he breaks down the most critical actions leaders and teachers must take to achieve exemplary results. Designed for coaches as well as beginning teachers, Get Better Faster is an integral coaching tool for any school leader eager to help their teachers succeed. Get Better Faster focuses on what's practical and actionable which makes the book's approach to coaching so effective. By practicing the concrete actions and micro-skills listed in Get Better Faster, teachers will markedly improve their ability to lead a class, producing a steady chain reaction of future teaching success. Though focused heavily on the first 90 days of teacher development, it's possible to implement this work at any time. Junior and experienced teachers alike can benefit from the guidance of Get Better Faster while at the same time closing existing instructional gaps. Featuring valuable and practical online training tools available at http://www.wiley.com/go/getbetterfaster, Get Better Faster provides agendas, presentation slides, a coach's guide, handouts, planning templates, and 35 video clips of real teachers at work to help other educators apply the lessons learned in their own classrooms. Get Better Faster will teach you: The core principles of coaching: Go Granular; Plan, Practice, Follow Up, Repeat; Make Feedback More Frequent Top action steps to launch a teacher’s development in an easy-to-read scope and sequence guide It also walks you through the four phases of skill building: Phase 1 (Pre-Teaching): Dress Rehearsal Phase 2: Instant Immersion Phase 3: Getting into Gear Phase 4: The Power of Discourse Perfect for new educators and those who supervise them, Get Better Faster will also earn a place in the libraries of veteran teachers and school administrators seeking a one-stop coaching resource.

Over the past 20 years, alternative certification for teachers has emerged as a major avenue of teacher preparation. The proliferation of new pathways has spurred heated debate over how best to recruit, prepare, and support qualified teachers. Alternative Routes to Teaching provides a thorough and dispassionate review of the research evidence on alternative certification. It takes readers beyond the simple dichotomies that have characterized the debate over alternative certification, encourages them to look carefully at the trade-offs implicit in any route into teaching, and suggests ways to “marry” the proven strengths of both traditional and alternative approaches.

"A Joint Publication With Ontario Principals' Council."

The authors provide ten easy-to-use data analysis tools that facilitate problem-solving at school and district levels. Included are instructions, sample scenarios, and case studies.