Professional Learning Communities at Work PDF Download

Author: Richard DuFour
Publisher: Solution Tree
ISBN: 9781879639607
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
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.

Author: Jim Knight
Publisher: ASCD
ISBN: 1416630678
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
Even under ideal conditions, teaching is tough work. Facing unrelenting pressure from administrators and parents and caught in a race against time to improve student outcomes, educators can easily become discouraged (or worse, burn out completely) without a robust coaching system in place to support them. For more than 20 years, perfecting such a system has been the paramount objective of best-selling author and coaching guru Jim Knight and his team of researchers at the Instructional Coaching Group (ICG). In The Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching, Knight offers a blueprint for establishing, administering, and assessing an instructional coaching program laser-focused on every educator's ultimate goal: the academic success of students. Organized around ICG's seven "Success Factors" for great instructional coaching, this book offers * An in-depth guide to the Impact Cycle, ICG's research-based and field-tested model for coaching teachers through issues that matter most to them; * Detailed guidance on how to create a "playbook" of instructional strategies to share with collaborating teachers—and how to model those strategies under different conditions; * Practical advice on preparing for and engaging in substantive, reflective, and teacher-centered coaching conversations; * Best practices for gathering, analyzing, and responding to data for improved teaching and learning; and * Real-life anecdotes and testimonies from educators and coaches who have reaped the benefits of the Impact Cycle in a diverse array of schools. In addition, each chapter of the book contains a learning map to help orient you and a list of valuable additional resources to complement the text. Whether you're new to coaching or well versed in the practice, The Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching will no doubt prove a cornerstone of your coaching library for years to come.

Author: Robert J. Marzano
Publisher: ASCD
ISBN: 1416606580
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
Presents a model for ensuring quality teaching that balances the necessity of research-based data with the equally vital need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of individual students.

Author: Robert J. Marzano
Publisher: ASCD
ISBN: 0871207176
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
Schools can and do affect student achievement, and this book recommends specific-and attainable-action steps to implement successful strategies culled from the wealth of research data.

Author: Terrence E. Deal
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119210194
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
The most trusted guide to school culture, updated with current challenges and new solutions Shaping School Culture is the classic guide to exceptional school leadership, featuring concrete guidance on influencing the subtle symbolic features of schools that provide meaning, belief, and faith. Written by renowned experts in the area of school culture, this book tackles the increasing challenges facing public schools and provides clear, candid suggestions for more effective symbolic leadership. This new third edition has been revised to reflect the reality of schools today, including the increased emphasis on high-stakes testing, federal reforms such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), state sponsored improvement programs, and other major issues that impact organizational culture and the role of school leaders. Each chapter features new examples and cases that illustrate persistent problems, spelling out key cultural implications and offering concrete examples of overcoming the challenges while maintaining a meaningful learning environment. The chapter on toxic schools continues to provide the field's most trusted advice on navigating this rocky terrain, and the discussion's focus on how to manage negativity remains especially integral to besieged school administrators across the U.S. Recent years have jolted the nation's school system with a number of new developments that spell problems for the cultural tapestry of schools. This book provides expert perspective and sage, doable advice for administrators tending to external pressures while sustainingor evolvinga more positive school culture. Navigate new challenges including Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and waning confidence and faith Turn around a toxic school culture with confidence and success Foster a culture of passion, purpose, and meaning Adopt a more active form of symbolic leadership to support students, faculty, staff, parents, and community Test scores as the primary metric, relentless reforms, waning public support, and timid initiatives wrapped in bureaucratic packaging: while among the most prominent issues administrators face are only the tip of the iceberg. Shaping School Culture charts a route through competing pressures to help educational leaders hew a positive learning environment for schools.

Author: Penelope J. Wald
Publisher: ASCD
ISBN: 1416604537
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 142

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Book Description
How can schools develop a shared vision that embraces the aspiration of all members of the school community? How can members of a learning community work together to build the knowledge and processes needed for student success? This book describes a professional development model that supports educators and families in learning and growing together. It offers a theoretical framework and practical guidance for renewing the capacity of schools to produce positive results for all children. * Part I: Cornerstones discusses concepts, assumptions, and leadership qualities of an effective school-based staff development model. * Part II: Process presents lively case studies and activities that show how to build professional learning communities. It describes strategies to help teams engage in meaningful dialogue and discovery. * Part III: Tools for Learning is filled with practical, field-tested staff development tools that complement the process of building school-based professional learning communities. This book embraces principles of collegiality, inquiry, learning, and community. It is written by practitioners for practitioners in the hope that collegial learning will be a renewing force in schools during these times of change. Note: This product listing is for the Adobe Acrobat (PDF) version of the book.

Author: Richard DuFour
Publisher: Solution Tree Press
ISBN: 193400989X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 592

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Book Description
This 10th-anniversary sequel to the authors’ best-selling book Professional Learning Communities at WorkTM: Best Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement merges research, practice, and passion. The most extensive, practical, and authoritative PLC resource to date, it goes further than ever before into best practices for deep implementation, explores the commitment/consensus issue, and celebrates successes of educators who are making the journey.

Author: Natalie Wexler
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0735213569
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
The untold story of the root cause of America's education crisis--and the seemingly endless cycle of multigenerational poverty. It was only after years within the education reform movement that Natalie Wexler stumbled across a hidden explanation for our country's frustrating lack of progress when it comes to providing every child with a quality education. The problem wasn't one of the usual scapegoats: lazy teachers, shoddy facilities, lack of accountability. It was something no one was talking about: the elementary school curriculum's intense focus on decontextualized reading comprehension "skills" at the expense of actual knowledge. In the tradition of Dale Russakoff's The Prize and Dana Goldstein's The Teacher Wars, Wexler brings together history, research, and compelling characters to pull back the curtain on this fundamental flaw in our education system--one that fellow reformers, journalists, and policymakers have long overlooked, and of which the general public, including many parents, remains unaware. But The Knowledge Gap isn't just a story of what schools have gotten so wrong--it also follows innovative educators who are in the process of shedding their deeply ingrained habits, and describes the rewards that have come along: students who are not only excited to learn but are also acquiring the knowledge and vocabulary that will enable them to succeed. If we truly want to fix our education system and unlock the potential of our neediest children, we have no choice but to pay attention.

Author: Anthony Muhammad
Publisher: Solution Tree Press
ISBN: 1934009997
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 151

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Book Description
Busy administrators will appreciate this quick read packed with immediate, accessible strategies. This book provides the framework for understanding dynamic relationships within a school culture and ensuring a positive environment that supports the changes necessary to improve learning for all students. The author explores many aspects of human behavior, social conditions, and history to reveal best practices for building healthy school cultures.

Author: Milbrey W. McLaughlin
Publisher: Teachers College Press
ISBN: 0807774995
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 162

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Book Description
Building on extensive evidence that school-based teacher learning communities improve student outcomes, this book lays out an agenda to develop and sustain collaborative professional cultures. McLaughlin and Talbert—foremost scholars of school change and teaching contexts—provide an inside look at the processes, resources, and system strategies that are necessary to build vibrant school-based teacher learning communities. Offering a compelling, straightforward blueprint for action, this book: Takes a comprehensive look at the problem of improving the quality of teaching across the United States, based on evidence and examples from the authors’ nearly two decades of research.Demonstrates how and why school-based teacher learning communities are bottom-line requirements for improved instruction. Outlines the resources and supports needed to build and sustain a long-term school-based teacher professional community. Discusses the nature of high-quality professional development to support learning and changes in teaching.Details the roles and responsibilities of policymakers at all levels of the school system. “This book offers vivid examples of how teacher learning communities are formed and sustained. A must-read for educators at all levels who are serious about enacting change.” —Amy M. Hightower, Assistant Director, American Federation of Teachers