A 2023 SPE Outstanding Book Honorable Mention Improvement Science as a Tool for School Enhancement: Solutions for Better Educational Outcomes is a collection of equity-focused improvement science-in-action, school-based case studies led by practitioners. Chapter authors tell us how and why improvement science principles make system-wide improvements in classroom practice, how they learned from the problems encountered and, further, how they were then able to make changes within a school or district. A core principle of improvement science is variability in context (what works for whom and under what conditions)--a critical concept for improvement in each of the case studies. Each team analyzed their problem of practice from the perspective of the unique conditions in their context, considering what might work, and what might not work, and when the changes could be expanded for implementation school- or district-wide. Early chapters describe the actions of school personnel to embed social and emotional learning as well as how to serve historically underserved students during disasters. Trauma-informed and restorative practices embraced by all staff enhanced student outcomes and reduced educational disparities in classrooms and throughout the school. The content then explores how improvement science change processes improve chronic absenteeism and discipline issues through whole-school practices related to school climate. Centering student and family perception, developing representative systems, and facilitating collaborative improvement projects were found to measurably improve the experience of students, increase equity, reinforce democratic principles, and empower school stakeholders, especially those whose voices have historically been ignored, to create meaningful system-wide school improvement. Finally, the material in the book provides concrete examples of improvement science as it applies in real-setting to address high school advisories, graduation rates, services for multi-lingual learners, students with disabilities, and reading clubs. Each chapter has an equity focus. The editors and contributors provide examples of how to use the processes and tools of improvement science to increase equity system-wide. How to use improvement science to address educational disparities system-wide with urgency, commitment, and a belief in the success of every child, of every race, every ethnicity, gender, ability, and cultural identity, is the essence of this book. Perfect for courses such as: Educating For Equity And Social Justice │ Cultivating Culturally Responsive Classrooms │ Integrating Methods And Curriculum Design │ Inquiry, Assessment, And Instructional Design │ Foundations Of Culturally And Linguistically Responsive Practice │ Math Literacy │ Physical Education │ Professional Collaboration In Education │ Language And Literacy Development Of Diverse Learners │ Equal Opportunity: Racism; Diversity And Equity In Schools │ Cultural Proficiency In Schools │ Language And Power In Education │ Teaching For Equity In Literacy │ Supportive Classroom Communities │ Cultural Diversity In Literature │ Engaging Students In Writing │ Introduction To School Leadership │ Introduction To School Improvement │ Teacher Leadership And School Improvement To learn more about Improvement Science and see our full list of books in this area, please click through to the Myers Education Press Improvement Science website.

As a field, education has largely failed to learn from experience. Time after time, promising education reforms fall short of their goals and are abandoned as other promising ideas take their place. In Learning to Improve, the authors argue for a new approach. Rather than “implementing fast and learning slow,” they believe educators should adopt a more rigorous approach to improvement that allows the field to “learn fast to implement well.” Using ideas borrowed from improvement science, the authors show how a process of disciplined inquiry can be combined with the use of networks to identify, adapt, and successfully scale up promising interventions in education. Organized around six core principles, the book shows how “networked improvement communities” can bring together researchers and practitioners to accelerate learning in key areas of education. Examples include efforts to address the high rates of failure among students in community college remedial math courses and strategies for improving feedback to novice teachers. Learning to Improve offers a new paradigm for research and development in education that promises to be a powerful driver of improvement for the nation’s schools and colleges.

A 2022 SPE Outstanding Book Honorable Mention Improvement Science: Promoting Equity in Schools is intended for classroom teachers, school leaders, and district leaders charged with leading improvement efforts in schools. From questions such as “how do I develop a love of reading in my classroom?” to “how can I better manage student behavior during independent learning time?” to “what should we do to make sure kids of all races read at grade level by 3rd grade” to “how could we include families of all backgrounds as partners in learning” or “how do we increase our graduation rate among underserved students," this book shares real-life examples from those who are currently leading equity-focused improvement in our classrooms and schools. If you are curious about how Improvement Science has been used, or how others have succeeded—or failed—at equity-focused improvement efforts in our classrooms and in our schools, or if you’re wondering how to spur discussions in school districts, universities, and communities about leading equity-focused improvement, this book is for you. Teachers, students, family members, community members, principals and superintendents will be inspired to embrace Improvement Science as a method to improve equity in their schools. The book helps people new to Improvement Science to understand the basic steps to implement the process. If you’re a beginner, it provides some basic steps and a resource (https://www.carnegiefoundation.org/our-ideas/six-core-principles-improvement/) to help you understand the process better; for those with some experience, the book will be an excellent refresher and tool with functional suggestions to take your practice further. 1. Form a Team. 2. Examine Data. 3. Ask Why. 4. Read Research. 5. Get Perspective of Those Closest to the Problem. 6. Plan the Change. After you’ve done the above, then it’s time to test one idea, using short Plan Do Study Act cycles. These are short improvement cycles. Students are only in our classrooms generally for one year, so the cycles need to be short, perhaps even as short as one week, to ensure that every instructional move we are making truly does improve the experience of the students. Readers of Improvement Science: Promoting Equity in Schools will be taking an important step toward achieving the goal of producing socially just classrooms and schools. WATCH: Meet the Authors (ZOOM recording from #CPED21 Virtual Convening, 10/20/21). To learn more about Improvement Science and see our full list of books in this area, please click through to the Myers Education Press Improvement Science website. Perfect for courses such as: Culturally Responsive Learning Environments; Educating For Equity And Social Justice; Cultivating Culturally Responsive Classrooms; Integrating Methods And Curriculum Design; Inquiry, Assessment, And Instructional Design; Foundations Of Culturally And Linguistically Responsive Practice; Math Literacy; Physical Education; Professional Collaboration In Education; Language And Literacy Development Of Diverse Learners; Equal Opportunity: Racism; Diversity And Equity In Schools; Cultural Proficiency In Schools; Language And Power In Education; Teaching For Equity In Literacy; Supportive Classroom Communities; Cultural Diversity In Literature; Engaging Students In Writing; Introduction To School Leadership; Introduction To School Improvement; Teacher Leadership And School Improvement

Improvement Science: Methods for Researchers and Program Evaluators moves beyond traditional research methods textbooks by responding to people working in improvement science and program evaluation. This book is tailored to the need for specific improvement research methodologies and frameworks collected and presented in an edited volume written by research faculty associated with or teaching in leadership programs.

Receiving a college education has perhaps never been more important than it is today. While its personal, societal, and overall economic benefits are well documented, too many college students fail to complete their postsecondary education. As colleges and universities are investing substantial resources into efforts to counter these attrition rates and increase retention, they are mostly unaware of the robust literature on student success that is often bounded in disciplinary silos. The purpose of this book is to bring together in a single volume the extensive knowledge on college student success. It includes seven chapters from authors who each synthesize the literature from their own field of study, or perspective. Each describes the theories, models, and concepts they use; summarizes the key findings from their research; and provides implications for practice, policy, and/or research. The disciplinary chapters offer perspectives from higher education, public policy, behavioral economics, social psychology, STEM, sociology, and critical and post-structural theory.

Improvement Science in Education: A Primer provides a comprehensive overview of improvement science as a framework to guide continuous improvement and reconceptualizes improvement by centering equity and justice as the purpose of improvement. This Primer is designed to introduce improvement science, a methodology with origins in manufacturing, engineering and healthcare, to educational audiences. The book first explores the philosophical and methodological foundations of improvement science, juxtaposing it with traditional forms of research so that clear distinctions can be drawn. Chapters in the latter half of the book introduce the principles of improvement, give guidance and tools for operationalizing the principles in practice, and conclude with questions to ensure you are improving with equity in mind. Constantly reminding readers to think about who is involved and impacted, the Primer makes improvement science accessible to novices and adds critical dimensions for experienced practitioners to consider. Perfect for courses such as: Educational Research, School Improvement, and Program Evaluation

The Educational Leader’s Guide to Improvement Science: Data, Design and Cases for Reflection is a collection illustrating applied organizational problem-solving using methods of improvement science in educational leadership. Early chapters introduce improvement science and then the reader is led through a logical sequence of inquiry, presented with cases of educational dilemma matched with principles of improvement science and provided examples of research methodology applied in context. Because improvement science research is so quickly becoming a signature pedagogy and core subject area of inquiry in the field of educational leadership, the literature is still scant in its coverage of improvement science models; it is the purpose of this publication to fill the void by providing concrete examples, through case studies, of instances where improvement research methods and analyses can be embedded to enhance and strengthen efforts at organizational improvement. This text concentrates on the elements faculty, students, and administrators need; specific models where improvement science frameworks enhance the reliability and validity of improvement or quality enhancement efforts. Perfect for courses such as: Introduction to Improvement Science, Seminar/Practicum in Educational Leadership, Introduction to Program Evaluation, Educational Research for Administrators, Action Research for School Practitioners, Educational Research, School Improvement, and Teacher Leadership.