Sustainable School Improvement

Patricia Wright

doi:10.5771/9781475862881

Summary

The book addresses two key barriers to school improvement that are currently impacting educators and school leaders. The first is the churn of constant change in the form of multiple initiatives and compliance overload experienced by today’s educators. It is not uncommon to hear a teacher say, “I can’t focus on the kids; there are just too many things to do. I’m overwhelmed.” Has change itself become a distraction? Has it forced educators to move not toward but away from their primary focus – student learning? The second barrier is a dependency on outdated assumptions, or roadblock thinking, that cause schools to act in ways contrary to sound educational practice. This book challenges educators to embrace forward thinking. Instead of depending on the next newest innovation or program or falling back to “the way we have always done it,” the CAR provides a framework that allows educators and school leaders to equitably and coherently address student learning by engaging in the deep conversations that are vital to effective practice. The book offers a universal blueprint that coherently and strategically connects curriculum standards, student learning, professional learning, and school culture to achieve meaningful and sustainable change that directly impacts student outcomes.

Keywords

Search publication

Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2022
ISBN-Print: 978-1-4758-6286-7
ISBN-Online: 978-1-4758-6288-1
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 130
Product type: Book Titles

1. Dedication No access
2. Contents No access
3. Foreword No access
4. Preface No access
5. Acknowledgments No access
1. 1. The Destination No access
  2. The Vehicle No access
  3. 1. Standards and Aligned Student Learning Objectives No access
    2. Effective Instruction No access
    3. Formative and Summative Assessments No access
  4. 1. Shared Leadership No access
  5. The Drivers: Principal and Teacher Effectiveness No access
2. Closing No access
3. References No access
1. Connecting Conversations to the Master Common Learning Plan No access
2. 1. Conversation 1: Unpack Content Standards into Clear, Specific, Student-Friendly Learning Objectives No access
  2. Conversation 2: Cluster the Standards and Student-Friendly Learning Objectives into Instructional Units No access
  3. Conversation 3: Create Essential Questions No access
  4. Conversation 4: Create Common Summative Assessments Including Rubrics, Exemplars and Non-exemplars No access
  5. Conversation 5: Design Pre-assessment and Use Data to Inform Instructional Decisions No access
  6. Conversation 6: Design Learning Experiences Including Instructional Activities, Student Strategies and Formative Assessments No access
  7. Conversation 7: Create Common Formative Benchmark Assessment Tools for Key Points Within the Unit of Study No access
  8. Conversation 8: Analyze Formative Assessment Data throughout the Unit to Drive Instructional Planning, Differentiated Activities and Timely Interventions No access
  9. Conversation 9: Analyze Summative Assessment Data to Evaluate Student Progress, Revise Unit Learning Experiences, Revise Unit Assessments and Seek Targeted Professional Learning No access
  10. Conversation 10: Discuss Grading Philosophy, Policies, and Procedures No access
3. The CAR Conversations—Fueling the Transformation of Professional Practice No access
4. Closing No access
5. References No access
1. Authentic Collaboration and Professional Discourse No access
2. Professional Expectations No access
3. Meeting Norms No access
4. Aligned Expectations for Staff and Students No access
5. A Shared Mission No access
6. Mission Statement No access
7. Shared Leadership No access
8. Coherence No access
9. Trust No access
10. Closing No access
11. References No access
1. The School Climate Team No access
2. 1. Conversation 1: Create a Common Language. What Is School Climate? No access
  2. Conversation 2: Examine the Climate for Adults No access
  3. Conversation 3: Assess the Current Reality No access
  4. 1. Considerations for Building Effective Schoolwide SEL Instruction No access
  5. Conversation 5: Identify Sources of School Climate Assessment Data No access
  6. Conversation 6: Analyze School Climate Data No access
  7. Conversation 7: Develop the School Climate Improvement Plan No access
  8. Conversation 8: Focus on Communication and Community Engagement No access
  9. Conversation 9: Implement the Plan and Use Formative Data/Benchmarks to Make Adjustments No access
  10. Conversation 10: Analyze Summative Data and Reflect and Revise School Climate Plan No access
3. Don’t Forget to Celebrate No access
4. Closing No access
5. References No access
1. Preparing for the Journey No access
2. Are We Ready? No access
3. 1. Supporting Tool: The CAR Implementation Planning Guide No access
  2. Supporting Tool: The CAR Rubric No access
  3. Supporting Tool: The PLC Conversations No access
  4. Supporting Tool: Standards for Professional Learning and CAR No access
  5. Supporting Tool: The Leadership Roles within CAR No access
4. Fostering the CAR Culture No access
5. 1. Shared Leadership No access
  2. Distributed Leadership No access
  3. Collaborative Leadership No access
6. 1. The Partnership for Collaborative Learning No access
7. References No access
Appendix A: Summary of Roadblock and Forward Thinking No access Pages 67 - 68
1. Developing, Delivering, Reflecting, and Revising a Common Master Learning Plan No access
2. Cross-grade level and cross-content conversations No access
Appendix C: Unpacking a Standard Worksheet No access Pages 73 - 74
Appendix D: CAR Instructional Unit Template No access Pages 75 - 76
1. Common Formative Assessment(s) No access
1. Conversation 4: Questions after a pre-assessment No access
2. Conversation 6: Types of formative assessment built into learning experiences No access
3. Conversation 7: Questions after a common formative assessment No access
4. Conversation 8: Questions after a common summative assessment No access
Appendix G No access Pages 83 - 84
1. How are we doing? No access
Appendix I No access Pages 87 - 88
1. Revised No access
1. Table Appendix K.1 No access
1. Key Ideas to Consider No access
1. By the National School Climate Center at Ramapo for Children No access
Appendix N No access Pages 99 - 100
1. Supporting a Cycle of Continuous School Improvement No access
Appendix P No access Pages 115 - 120
1. SUPERINTENDENT No access
2. DIRECTOR OF CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION No access
3. SUPERVISOR No access
4. PRINCIPAL No access
5. TEACHER LEADER No access
1. Connected Action Roadmap: A Systems Approach to Strengthening Teaching, Leading, and Learning No access
About the Contributors No access Pages 127 - 128
About the Author No access Pages 129 - 130