"This should be required reading by every school administator, every teacher, every board member and all university faculty involved in the training of teachers. There is no doubt that we need to squeeze all blame, all coerion and all criticism out of any people-related business. Not until we realize that schools are in a people business will we ever be able to make meaningful changes." --Dr. Albert Mamary, former superintendent of schools, Johnson City, New York

When it comes to sizing up America’s public schools, test scores are the go-to metric of state policy makers and anxious parents looking to place their children in the “best” schools. Yet ample research indicates that standardized tests are a poor way to measure a school’s performance. It is time—indeed past time—to rethink this system, Jack Schneider says. Beyond Test Scores reframes current debates over school quality by offering new approaches to educational data that can push us past our unproductive fixation on test scores. Using the highly diverse urban school district of Somerville, Massachusetts, as a case study, Schneider and his research team developed a new framework to more fairly and comprehensively assess educational effectiveness. And by adopting a wide range of measures aligned with that framework, they were able to more accurately capture a broader array of school strengths and weaknesses. Their new data not only provided parents, educators, and administrators with a clearer picture of school performance, but also challenged misconceptions about what makes a good school. With better data, Schneider shows, stakeholders at the federal, state, and local levels can undo the damage of present accountability systems and build greater capacity in our schools. Policy makers, administrators, and school leaders can better identify where assistance is needed. Educators can engage in more evidence-based decision making. And parents can make better-informed choices for their children. Perhaps most importantly, better data can facilitate communication among all these groups, allowing them to take collective action toward shared, concrete goals.

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.

School education across the world has gained special significance at it makes its students acquire adequate knowledge in various disciplines and decide the future course of action in education. Several individual and national and international professional organisations are suggesting various measures to enhance the status of school education in all its dimensions. This book on quality in school education discusses many things to the taken care of, to be worked, out and to be implemented. This work will be of great use to all the people concerned to and personnel involved in school education.

This book establishes the advantages of a quality setting for the ASD student. This book covers how to establish an ABA Classroom, comprehensive training, consultations, evaluations, and one-to-one as well as group instruction. It addresses the importance of the quality of service at ALL levels, from school districts and supervisors, to teachers and bus drivers, to ensure a strong structure to each child's school experience. The book explains how to determine and optimize the best school placement for children with ASD. It explores increasing the receptiveness to ABA in the classroom setting and addresses the need for ongoing training for all staffing. There is a heavy emphasis throughout on keeping accurate data and the authors provide several checklists and a how-to primer for easy implementation. Also emphasized is the importance of the functionality of a behavioral assessment. This is a book that impacts and enhances every classroom for the child diagnosed with autism and is

The theory of crisis counselling put forward in this book is applied to the following situations: drug and alcohol abuse; depression and suicide; physical and sexual abuse; social and discipline problems; lateness; encopresis and enuresis; fear, teariness, inactivity, fury and impulsiveness; violence and conflicts; children of divorced and foster families; loss and grief; war and disasters; parents in crisis; homelessness, crack kids and AIDS children; and defiance, inter-racial tensions and cross-cultural conflicts.