Supporting teacher learning is a complicated and challenging task. This much-awaited book offers a practical, research-based framework for thinking about instructional leadership, along with the necessary resources and tools for improving practice. The authors identify specific structures, formats, and strategies that an instructional leader can use to support new and veteran principals and teacher leaders. They then discuss ways to think about which structures are most appropriate for particular settings, offering suggestions on the most effective way to work with these structures. This unique book combines theory with best practices to create a vision of how 21st-century instructional leaders can improve education for all students.

Supporting teacher learning is a complicated and challenging task. This much-awaited book offers a practical, research-based framework for thinking about instructional leadership, along with the necessary resources and tools for improving practice. The authors identify specific structures, formats, and strategies that an instructional leader can use to support new and veteran principals and teacher leaders. They then discuss ways to think about which structures are most appropriate for particular settings, offering suggestions on the most effective way to work with these structures. This unique book combines theory with best practices to create a vision of how 21st-century instructional leaders can improve education for all students. This practical book: Describes a unique, adult learning framework.Includes a variety of tools and protocols that leaders can use to support teacher learning in schools, districts, departments, and teams.Offers instructional leaders both theory and practice-the what to do and also the why and how.Addresses a broad spectrum of instructional leaders at the district, school, and university level. “Students everywhere deserve teachers and administrators who have read this book, and who enact the ideas in it. It is a must read for principals, district level administrators, teacher leaders, instructional coaches and mentors - anyone charged with leading the learning of adults in their schools.” —Gene Thompson-Grove, Educational Consultant and Board Member, SchoolReform Initiative “Leading for Powerful Learning is the book every school leader needs. It provides the essential tools for carrying out what is arguably the school leader's most difficult task: supporting the learning of the teachers with whom they work. The authors’ insights and practical wisdom, drawn from their decades of experience in schools, will be useful not only to formal school leaders but to those serving as leaders in more informal ways.” —Tina Blythe, Harvard Graduate School of Education

In Powerful Learning, Linda Darling-Hammond and an impressive list of co-authors offer a clear, comprehensive, and engaging exploration of the most effective classroom practices. They review, in practical terms, teaching strategies that generate meaningful K–2 student understanding, and occur both within the classroom walls and beyond. The book includes rich stories, as well as online videos of innovative classrooms and schools, that show how students who are taught well are able to think critically, employ flexible problem-solving, and apply learned skills and knowledge to new situations.

Effective facilitation is complex What is central to leading powerful and effective facilitation in professional learning? You. Gone are the one-size-fits-all answers—instead, you’ll draw from your own knowledge and expertise to lead your PLC in actively solving complex problems that are unique to your context. For professional learning to have an improvement impact for both teachers and students, it needs to be more than a single event. Truly successful professional learning is sustained, collaborative, evidence-informed, and student-focused—generating multifaceted solutions to real-life, real-time issues rather than focusing on one piece of the practice puzzle at a time. This book, based on the results of a five-year research study, provides: • An innovative approach to the design and delivery of professional learning grounded in principles of adaptive expertise • Easy-to-use one-page summaries of "Deliberate Acts of Facilitation" • Guidance that’s fully congruent with Learning Forward Standards for Professional Learning The current educational landscape demands a new kind of leadership. This book gives you the tools you need to apply the principles of adaptive expertise to your leadership and facilitation—enabling you to draw on your own deep knowledge to address the complex challenges you and your teachers face every day.

What makes a great school leader? Contrary to what many believe, the answer is not tied to a certain kind of personality but to specific behaviors and actions that have positive effects on student achievement—behaviors and actions that any school leader can learn and put into practice. Over the last decade, thousands of school principals have done that, by implementing “balanced leadership,” an approach that recognizes the need to both maintain and challenge the status quo in order to move schools forward. Building on the analysis that was first reported in School Leadership That Works, the authors of Balanced Leadership identify the 21 responsibilities associated with effective leadership and show how they relate to three overarching responsibilities: * Establishing a clear focus—keeping the work and the conversations targeted on the issues that matter most; * Managing change—understanding how to skillfully steer through the challenges associated with making improvements, both large and small; and * Developing a purposeful community—creating a sense among all teachers and staff that they are invested in student outcomes and that they can make a difference. For each of these areas, key points and specific practices are described in detail and illustrated with stories from school principals who have successfully learned how to become great leaders. Step-by-step tools provide clear guidance for readers who are ready to make the same kind of journey—one with the potential to transform them and the schools they serve.

"Provides readers with a compelling rationale for the process, offers experience-tested tools, and suggests ways to address commonly-occurring challenges. This book will assist teachers, and those who support them, in understanding and implementing all phases of lesson study, from initial planning through sharing with others what was learned." —Dennis Sparks, Executive Director National Staff Development Council "A powerful teacher professional development process that focuses collaborative teams directly on the classroom, and the perfect tool for teachers, professional developers, and team leaders. Gives you everything you need to use lesson study to support teachers in thinking deeply about practice." —Roberta Jaffe, Science Education Coordinator, New Teacher Center, University of California, Santa Cruz Use this team-centered approach to directly enhance teaching and learning in your school! First introduced in Japan, lesson study has gained enthusiastic advocates in US educational circles as a powerful, collaborative approach that brings teachers together as researchers into the science and craft of teaching and learning in their classrooms. Teachers work as teams to develop a lesson plan, teach and observe the lesson to collect data on student learning, and use their observations to refine their lesson. Participants build their sense of professional authority while discovering effective practices that result in improved learning outcomes for their students. This "how-to" guide provides teachers, administrators, and team leaders with practical strategies, models, and tools. The book leads a beginning team through the phases of the lesson study cycle and provides an experienced team with new perspectives. Using examples from U.S. classrooms, this handbook: Encourages educators to generate and share knowledge Inspires a teacher-researcher stance Illustrates both the process and substance of lesson study Encourages collaboration Provides guidelines for avoiding common pitfalls Leading Lesson Study is an excellent resource for both experienced and novice lesson study teams, administrators who want to start a lesson study program, and lesson study team facilitators such as instructional coaches and professional development providers.

For maximum impact, let intention drive your actions. Leading a team means more than running meetings. It’s leading collaborative learning for continuous improvement. Like effective teachers in the classroom, skillful team leaders decide what they are aiming to achieve and make small, intentional moves to produce powerful learning outcomes for teachers and students. In this long-awaited follow-up to her best-selling book, The Skillful Team Leader, acclaimed educator Elisa MacDonald presents nearly 150 effective moves, organized by intention, for any educator who leads a team. In this book, you′ll find strategies to lead with purpose and direction, including how to: foster an inclusive environment and strengthen team trust interrupt bias and cultivate diverse perspectives navigate resistance and manage conflict facilitate data analysis lead peer observation assess your team’s collaboration and so much more! Written in a practitioner-friendly format with a light tone and relatable stories, this is a must-have book for all team leaders and those who support them in your school.