Research-Based Practical Strategies for Every Teacher What Works in Secondary Education compiles the advice of experts who not only know the theory behind certain educational practices, but also have experience in the secondary classroom. In each user-friendly chapter, key information on a topic vital to secondary educators is boiled down and presented in a straightforward way. Whether you’re a new educator, or just seeking to build new skills, you’ll benefit from Insight into a handful of innovative topics in instruction; including using technology, UDL, co-teaching, and assessment Novel approaches for classroom management and strategies to engage students Useful reproducibles and resources for every topic area

Research-Based Practical Strategies for Every Teacher In an age of information overload, do you ever wish you could find one resource that would allow you to quickly gain insight into a variety of cutting-edge practices in elementary education? You’re holding it at your fingertips. What Really Works in Elementary Education compiles the advice of experts who not only understand the research behind certain educational practices, but also have experience working in elementary classrooms. Each user-friendly chapter, focused on a topic vital to elementary educators, presents information in a straightforward way to help you learn what works – and what does not work – with students today. Whether you’re a new educator, or just seeking to build new skills, you’ll benefit from Insight into a handful of innovative topics in instruction; including using technology, UDL, co-teaching, and assessment Novel approaches to classroom management and strategies to engage students Chapters focused on effective methods for teaching within content areas Practical tips for reaching all learners; including ELLs, students with autism, and gifted students Useful reproducibles and resources for every topic area Never before has so much valuable information been presented so simply and effectively in one resource. Are you ready to focus on what works best?

Your desk reference for success with exceptional students Today’s teachers, especially the many who work with students with special needs, are pressed to know a little something about everything. Expertise is needed in different content and pedagogical areas, but knowledge of different types of disabilities is required as well. Wendy Murawski and Kathy Lynn Scott have assembled another reader-friendly What Really Works resource full of experiences and evidence-based practices to empower any educator. Each chapter is presented in an easy-access and practical format suited for busy professionals. The editors and authors examine how special educational needs affect Content areas like reading and math Specialization areas like autism and learning disabilities Pedagogical areas like culturally responsive practices and accommodations Other critical areas like legal issues, behavior challenges, and home-school collaboration As education trends promote the inclusion of students with exceptionalities, this book is the perfect resource for teachers and administrators who need to know what works...and what doesn’t.

Learn how to REALLY improve outcomes for all students How do we remove learning barriers and provide all students with the opportunity to succeed? Written for both general and special educators from grades Pre-K through 12, What Really Works with Universal Design for Learning is the how-to guide for implementing aspects of Universal Design Learning (UDL) to help every student be successful. UDL is the design and delivery of curriculum and instruction to meet the needs of all learners by providing them with choices for what and why they are learning and how they will share what they have learned. Calling on a wide-range of expertise, this resource features An unprecedented breadth of topics, including content areas, pedagogical issues, and other critical topics like executive function, PBIS, and EBD Reproducible research-based, field-tested tools Practical strategies that are low cost, time efficient, and easy to implement Practices for developing shared leadership and for working with families

A bold, brain-based teaching approach to culturally responsive instruction To close the achievement gap, diverse classrooms need a proven framework for optimizing student engagement. Culturally responsive instruction has shown promise, but many teachers have struggled with its implementation—until now. In this book, Zaretta Hammond draws on cutting-edge neuroscience research to offer an innovative approach for designing and implementing brain-compatible culturally responsive instruction. The book includes: Information on how one’s culture programs the brain to process data and affects learning relationships Ten “key moves” to build students’ learner operating systems and prepare them to become independent learners Prompts for action and valuable self-reflection

Most of us assume that public schools in America are unequal—that the quality of the education varies with the location of the school and that as a result, children learn more in the schools that serve mostly rich, white kids than in the schools serving mostly poor, black kids. But it turns out that this common assumption is misplaced. As Douglas B. Downey shows in How Schools Really Matter, achievement gaps have very little to do with what goes on in our schools. Not only do schools not exacerbate inequality in skills, they actually help to level the playing field. The real sources of achievement gaps are elsewhere. A close look at the testing data in seasonal patterns bears this out. It turns out that achievement gaps in reading skills between high- and low-income children are nearly entirely formed prior to kindergarten, and schools do more to reduce them than increase them. And when gaps do increase, they tend to do so during summers, not during school periods. So why do both liberal and conservative politicians strongly advocate for school reform, arguing that the poor quality of schools serving disadvantaged children is an important contributor to inequality? It’s because discussing the broader social and economic reforms necessary for really reducing inequality has become too challenging and polarizing—it’s just easier to talk about fixing schools. Of course, there are differences that schools can make, and Downey outlines the kinds of reforms that make sense given what we know about inequality outside of schools, including more school exposure, increased standardization, and better and fairer school and teacher measurements. ? How Schools Really Matter offers a firm rebuke to those who find nothing but fault in our schools, which are doing a much better than job than we give them credit for. It should also be a call to arms for educators and policymakers: the bottom line is that if we are serious about reducing inequality, we are going to have to fight some battles that are bigger than school reform—battles against the social inequality that is reflected within, rather than generated by—our public school system.

Few writers ask us to question our fundamental assumptions about education as provocatively as Alfie Kohn. Time magazine has called him'perhaps the country's most outspoken critic of education's fixation on grades [and] test scores.' And the Washington Post says he is 'the most energetic and charismatic figure standing in the way of a major federal effort to make standardized curriculums and tests a fact of life in every U.S. school.' In this new collection of essays, Kohn takes on some of the most important and controversial topics in education of the last few years. His central focus is on the real goals of education-a topic, he argues, that we systematically ignore while lavishing attention on misguided models of learning and counterproductive techniques of motivation. The shift to talking about goals yields radical conclusions and wonderfully pungent essays that only Alfie Kohn could have written. From the title essay's challenge to conventional, conservative definitions of a good education to essays on standards and testing and grades that tally the severe educational costs of overemphasizing a narrow conception of achievement, Kohn boldly builds on his earlier work and writes for a wide audience. Kohn's new book will be greeted with enthusiasm by his many readers and by any teacher or parent looking for a refreshing perspective on today's debates about schools.