What does it mean to be a "lead learner" in a school? What does it mean to be a "learning organization"? This book takes up those questions by advancing a concept of the school as a learning organization in which prescribed expectations and experiential professional judgment don't have to be (and in fact shouldn't be) oppositional and incompatible. The authors refer to this particular type of learning organization as an "intelligent, responsive" school.
Leveraging Collective Efficacy to Make "What Works" Actually Work
Harnessing the power of collective efficacy, the strategies and lessons within this book will help teams achieve quality implementation of evidence-based practices for innovative and lasting change.
More versatile than mere number crunching and statistics, data can be an effective tool-even a powerful catalyst-for change within a school. By replacing cynicism with conviction, learning to harness data's power, and becoming good users of data to positively impact student achievement, school leaders can develop three crucial capacities: an inquiry habit of mind, data literacy, and a culture of inquiry. Lorna M. Earl and Steven Katz show educators how to become comfortable with data and provide valuable tools for school improvement teams to use in their work, including: o Vignettes to support group discussion o Activities for practicing the ideas and concepts in the book o Task sheets o Short case studies with actual school data that show how the full process works in a school To improve schools, data can and should be a vital force in the change process. Using this essential resource, school leaders, school teams, study groups, and students of education can all make sense of data to plan and reform for maximum benefit.
Breaking Down Learning Barriers to Transform Professional Practice
Break down the barriers that keep professional learning from sticking!Real professional learning takes place when there is a permanent change in practice. This book outlines what it means to intentionally interrupt the status quo in order to overcome barriers to learning that impede permanent change. The authors explain the psychological processes involved in learning and which biases get in the way of making professional learning stick. Staff developers will find tools and strategies for:Moving professional learning beyond activities to deepen conceptual changeEnabling new learning by building three key capacities: a learning focus, collaborative inquiry, and instructional leadershipEmbedding and sustaining a true learning culture in schools
Train educators on using the power of data to positively impact student achievement! Based on the best-selling book Leading Schools in a Data-Rich World, this guide gives staff developers and workshop leaders the tools to facilitate book study groups, seminars, and professional development events to help school leaders integrate data as a catalyst for school change and enhanced student performance. This easy-to-use guidebook offers step-by-step instructions to support training sessions that can help educators gain: An understanding of data analysis and data interpretation An inquiry "habit of mind" to view the use of data as an integral part of the school improvement process Leadership capacity that supports an inquiry process Each chapter features: Facilitator's notes Discussion questions Timed activities The Facilitator's Guide to Leading Schools in a Data-Rich World is ideal for staff developers or anyone leading professional training for groups of any size-pairs, small workshops, or large seminars.
"Taking your school from great to greater-this compelling book gives you tools to use with staff for reflecting on and refining professional practices. You and your team will find tools for taking learners to the next level of improvement!" -Lynn A. Kaszynski, Principal Harrison Street Elementary School, Sunbury, OH Networked learning communities: A powerful school improvement strategy for school leaders! Ideal for school leaders and superintendents leading change efforts, this book describes how separate professional learning communities can be linked across schools by common instructional and learning issues to create dynamic networked learning communities (NLCs). Drawing on their work with schools throughout North America and England, Steven Katz, Lorna M. Earl, and Sonia Ben Jaafar show how participants in NLCs can share professional knowledge that ultimately improves performance at the school and district level. Through a sample school narrative, the book illustrates how NLCs can significantly enhance instruction, increase student performance, and empower local professional learning communities. This resource examines: Collaborative inquiry as a process that challenges teachers' thinking, generates new learning, and fosters trusting relationships The development of formal and informal leadership roles in NLCs How NLCs support systematic data analysis and accountability Demonstrating how NLCs-small or large, local or statewide-can promote critical reforms while strengthening the work of individual professional learning communities, this invaluable resource reveals how educators can join forces across school and district boundaries to generate deep, meaningful, and sustainable change.
Ideal for school leaders, teacher leaders, and superintendents leading district-level change, this book describes how separate professional learning communities can be purposefully linked across schools to create effective Networked Learning Communities (NLCs). Steven Katz, Lorna M. Earl, and Sonia Ben Jaafar demonstrate how NLCs can effectively engage schools in creating and sharing professional knowledge and develop the kind of deep and sustained changes that enhance student learning, engagement, and success.Based on the authorsAE research and work with districts and schools in North America and England, the book defines NLCs, explains how they work, and leads readers in examining:The importance of having a clear, evidence-based focusCollaborative inquiry as a process that challenges thinking and practice and generates new learning for teachersThe role of formal and informal leaders in both professional learning communities and networked learning communitiesBuilding and Connecting Learning Communities demonstrates how to work together to create the conditions for focused professional learning for teachers and tackles the challenge of how to sustain the work of NLCs.
