Continuous school improvement only happens when teachers and administrators collectively center their powers on ensuring student success within a professional learning community. With this practical guide, K-12 educators will discover how to target their school's specific needs with an immediate course of action to improve and measure student achievement. Each chapter includes space for teams to determine actions steps and a list of questions to help bring greater focus to your school improvement process. A how-to guide for implementing Professional Learning Community at Work(TM) practices: Learn how to drive increased academic achievement for all students. Consider anecdotes from the authors' experiences working with schools that illustrate best practices in action. Contemplate your school's reality, and determine what actions you can take to improve student achievement. Prepare a school improvement plan for the structural changes needed to create a positive school culture. Use helpful protocols, rubrics, and action and assessment plans found throughout the book to design your continuous improvement plan. Contents: Introduction Chapter 1: Charting a Course Focused on Learning Chapter 2: Transforming Culture and Structures Chapter 3: Focusing on 21st Century Learners Chapter 4: Establishing a Common Curriculum Chapter 5: Creating and Using Common Assessments Chapter 6: Planning Meaningful and Effective Instruction Chapter 7: Embracing Accountability Epilogue References and Resources

"A hallmark volume by one of the nation′s most accomplished school improvement scholars. This is the most thoroughly researched, well-crafted, and useful volume on continuous improvement available. Smylie does for ′continuous improvement′ what Fullan did for change." —Joseph Murphy, Professor Vanderbilt University Discover what it takes to create lasting, positive change for your school, your teachers, and your students! Focusing on school change that improves teaching and learning, this guide for principals integrates evolutionary change theory with the research on continuous improvement. Mark A. Smylie begins with a succinct overview of organizational change that provides readers with the foundation they need to embark on a school change initiative. Interviews with educators involved with organizational change provide insightful examples and first-person responses to the challenges inherent in school change. Continuous School Improvement also addresses the major implementation problems that leaders face, such as: Building trust Creating a culture of mutual responsibility Building support Setting goals Responding to teachers′ stress in the face of change

5 PERCEPTIONS; Changing Perceptions; Assessing Perceptions; Questionnaires; Designing Questionnaires: Begin With the End in Mind; Data Collection Considerations; Our Example Schools; Study Questions for Perceptions; Summary; 6 STUDENT LEARNING; Ways to Measure Student Learning; Grades; Analyzing the Results, Descriptively; Analyzing the Results, Inferentially; Measurement Error; Looking Across Student Learning Measures; Other Common Testing Terms; Our Example Schools; Study Questions for Student Learning; Summary; 7 SCHOOL PROCESSES; School Level Processes; Classroom Level Processes.

Technology Leadership for School Improvement is a practical textbook that prepares primary and secondary educational leaders with the skills and knowledge to manage and administer technology in their school settings. The text focuses on helping educational leaders learn what they need to know about technology standards, data-driven decision making, and creative leadership in this digital environment. To effectively cover the many facets of technology each chapter is written by a specialist following a similar structure and pedagogy for ease of use by the learner.

Learn how successful principals make a difference in their school’s performance! Based on a ground-breaking study and numerous firsthand accounts, this illuminating book captures unique perspectives from 20 outstanding principals, representing a wide range of urban and rural schools. This resource includes: The nine personal characteristics that help principals lead high-performing schools Practical strategies for balancing both administrative responsibilities and instructional leadership Guidance on using a systems-development approach to support excellence at every level Discussion of the use of research and data for school improvement Tips and suggestions from effective principals, along with recommended resources for further learning

Following the publication of Building Leadership Capacity in Schools in 1998, Linda Lambert visited educators around the world to see how they had applied the ideas presented in her book to their schools and districts. Though everyone she spoke with agreed on the importance of high leadership capacity, they also had many questions about how best to achieve this goal. Leadership Capacity for Lasting School Improvement is the author's attempt to answer those questions. The book begins by outlining the five major prerequisites for high leadership capacity: * Skillful participation in the work of leadership *Inquiry-based use of data to inform decisions and practice *Broad involvement and collective responsibility for student learning *Reflective practice that leads to innovation *High or steadily improving student achievement In addition to providing a comprehensive overview of steps schools should take to meet these criteria, Lambert quotes at length from her discussions with educators to provide a view of leadership enhancement techniques in practice. She also includes helpful rubrics and surveys that teachers and administrators alike can use to personally assess their leadership skills. Combining the author's own insights with real-life examples and practical exercises, Leadership Capacity for Lasting School Improvement is an indispensable guide to enhancing and sustaining a culture of leadership in any school.

Provides specific information on how to transform schools into results-oriented professional learning communities, describing the best practices that have been used by schools nationwide.