Educational administration and organization Books

Book SynopsisEducation is a contested terrain. The symmetry of education reform among the seven countries examined in this volume is remarkable. There is much commonality in the issues they raise, in the competing groups battling over education policy, their policy choices, and the implementation of such policies. Also, all seven countries address the same issues: equity, global competition, the performance of their students.There are at least six important traits characterizing these battles: the context, the combatants, the issues, the process, and the policies. To begin with, history, culture, and governance regime set the context for education policy and reform. Second, there is the process of how these battles are waged--is compromise an outcome or is it a zero sum contest? Third, there appear to be four groups of combatants each with its own ideology representing a particular social class in society and their views about education and its uses: Conservatives, Socialists, Neo-Liberals, and Elites. Education is an important and valued resource that each status group tries to control and shape to its own views. Fourth, there are key issues that drive education reform: how education can best flatten a social system, how education train students for work, and how education socializes students to be functioning citizens. In recent years, fifth issue has emerged: student performance on international standardized tests. Not only is a society’s international reputation based on their students’ performance, but nations see such performance as an indicator of the quality of their educational system and if it is good enough to secure its economic future. Finally, there are the policies themselves--do they reduce or increase inequality, who benefits and how?The chapters in this volume clearly point out that education reform is not a homogeneous process as some scholars have conjectured. Rather, education reform involves heated battles over the control of the educational system because education is seen as a key factor in maintaining a society’s vision and social structure.

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Book SynopsisEducation is a contested terrain. The symmetry of education reform among the seven countries examined in this volume is remarkable. There is much commonality in the issues they raise, in the competing groups battling over education policy, their policy choices, and the implementation of such policies. Also, all seven countries address the same issues: equity, global competition, the performance of their students.There are at least six important traits characterizing these battles: the context, the combatants, the issues, the process, and the policies. To begin with, history, culture, and governance regime set the context for education policy and reform. Second, there is the process of how these battles are waged--is compromise an outcome or is it a zero sum contest? Third, there appear to be four groups of combatants each with its own ideology representing a particular social class in society and their views about education and its uses: Conservatives, Socialists, Neo-Liberals, and Elites. Education is an important and valued resource that each status group tries to control and shape to its own views. Fourth, there are key issues that drive education reform: how education can best flatten a social system, how education train students for work, and how education socializes students to be functioning citizens. In recent years, fifth issue has emerged: student performance on international standardized tests. Not only is a society’s international reputation based on their students’ performance, but nations see such performance as an indicator of the quality of their educational system and if it is good enough to secure its economic future. Finally, there are the policies themselves--do they reduce or increase inequality, who benefits and how?The chapters in this volume clearly point out that education reform is not a homogeneous process as some scholars have conjectured. Rather, education reform involves heated battles over the control of the educational system because education is seen as a key factor in maintaining a society’s vision and social structure.

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Book SynopsisThe idea for this book was born from discussions at several recent academic events including the Women Leading Education (WLE) International Conference in Volos, Greece (2012) and the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (2011) as well as from informal dialogue amongst ourselves and various colleagues, both new and veteran to the field of educational leadership and, in particular, dedicated to the study of women in leadership. At both the WLE Conference and the UCEA Conference, we heard frustration from veteran women in the field that the study of women in leadership is stagnant and has not moved forward in several years; with scholars new to the field continuing to write and publish work about barriers to aspiring and practicing women leaders (the same types of reports that began the ""formal"" inquiry into women's lives as leaders back in the 1980s) without being able to push forward with ""new"" information or ideas for change. In essence, the concerns and questions that were posed from some veteran women were: Why are we continuing to report the same things that we reported 30 years ago?; Why are we still talking about barriers to women in leadership?; and Why haven't we moved past gender binaries in regard to leadership ideas and practice? Considering these questions, some women new to the field countered with their own set of responses and questions that included: Is it not significant to report that some women are still experiencing the same types of barriers in leadership that were highlighted 30 years ago?; Is it accurate to report that all women's voices have now been heard/represented?; and How can we report something different if it hasn't happened?The discussions that have ensued between veteran women and those new to the field inspired us to develop a book that situates women in leadership exactly where we are today (and reports the status of girls who are positioned to continue the ""good fight"" that began many years ago) and that both highlights the changes that have occurred and reports any stagnancy that continues to threaten women's positionality in educational leadership literature, practice, and policy. It forefronts the voices of women educational scholars who have (and are) interrupting, disrupting, and revolutionizing educational policy and practice. Our book reports women's leadership activities and knowledge in both the k-12 and university settings and concludes with chapters ripe with ideas for pushing for change through policy, advocacy, and activism. The final chapter presents themes that emerged from the individual chapters and sets forth an agenda to move forward with the study of women in leadership.

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Book SynopsisThe idea for this book was born from discussions at several recent academic events including the Women Leading Education (WLE) International Conference in Volos, Greece (2012) and the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (2011) as well as from informal dialogue amongst ourselves and various colleagues, both new and veteran to the field of educational leadership and, in particular, dedicated to the study of women in leadership. At both the WLE Conference and the UCEA Conference, we heard frustration from veteran women in the field that the study of women in leadership is stagnant and has not moved forward in several years; with scholars new to the field continuing to write and publish work about barriers to aspiring and practicing women leaders (the same types of reports that began the ""formal"" inquiry into women's lives as leaders back in the 1980s) without being able to push forward with ""new"" information or ideas for change. In essence, the concerns and questions that were posed from some veteran women were: Why are we continuing to report the same things that we reported 30 years ago?; Why are we still talking about barriers to women in leadership?; and Why haven't we moved past gender binaries in regard to leadership ideas and practice? Considering these questions, some women new to the field countered with their own set of responses and questions that included: Is it not significant to report that some women are still experiencing the same types of barriers in leadership that were highlighted 30 years ago?; Is it accurate to report that all women's voices have now been heard/represented?; and How can we report something different if it hasn't happened?The discussions that have ensued between veteran women and those new to the field inspired us to develop a book that situates women in leadership exactly where we are today (and reports the status of girls who are positioned to continue the ""good fight"" that began many years ago) and that both highlights the changes that have occurred and reports any stagnancy that continues to threaten women's positionality in educational leadership literature, practice, and policy. It forefronts the voices of women educational scholars who have (and are) interrupting, disrupting, and revolutionizing educational policy and practice. Our book reports women's leadership activities and knowledge in both the k-12 and university settings and concludes with chapters ripe with ideas for pushing for change through policy, advocacy, and activism. The final chapter presents themes that emerged from the individual chapters and sets forth an agenda to move forward with the study of women in leadership.

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Book SynopsisThis book analyzes education reform through the eyes of those entrenched in the process - policy makers, administrators, middle managers, principals, and teachers - in the context of care. A senior administrator, who participated in the implementation of an unprecedented series of reforms that flattened the education system in a Canadian province and rebuilt it with a new mandate, examines learning from the shortcomings of the past and provides a critical enquiry that can help determine the success or failure of future reform efforts by shedding light on the obstacles to avoid, problems to correct, and methods to embrace in order to overcome hurt and disappointment in a turbulent environment and foster more caring and effective educational organizations.Few attempts have been made to write a book about women’s work from the perspective of those in senior leadership roles in education; others have written about it but not experienced it firsthand. This book illuminates the controversial debate between women and gender in education and challenges assumptions about equity and the caring and democratic nature of education. It contributes to a broader understanding and knowledge of the complexities of leadership work within education, which in turn can lead to improvement in professional relationships as well as organizational effectiveness. The book contains enlightening and compelling stories about the unique and shared experiences of people navigating turbulence within an organization.Author Mary Green draws on her career spent teaching and learning to provide a unique Canadian perspective and context. She offers a rigorous self, social, historical, and political reflection of educators, who despite experiencing particular challenges, draw purpose from faith in the possibilities and potential of more caring practice in education. The content will prove useful to those committed to infusing more humanity into work in education with reference to individuals, institutions, and the social and political challenges in the field. Specifically, this book is relevant to graduate students in faculties of education, policy makers, principals, other administrators, and organizational leaders. Universal issues of power and politics reveal interconnections between the personal and the global workplace, underscoring the importance of care in the workplace.Series Editors: Jeffrey S. Brooks, University of Idaho, USA; Denise E. Armstrong, Brock University, Canada; Ira Bogotch, Florida Atlantic University, USA; Sandra Harris, Lamar University, USA;Whitney H. Sherman, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA; George Theoharis, Syracuse University, USA.

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Book SynopsisThis book analyzes education reform through the eyes of those entrenched in the process - policy makers, administrators, middle managers, principals, and teachers - in the context of care. A senior administrator, who participated in the implementation of an unprecedented series of reforms that flattened the education system in a Canadian province and rebuilt it with a new mandate, examines learning from the shortcomings of the past and provides a critical enquiry that can help determine the success or failure of future reform efforts by shedding light on the obstacles to avoid, problems to correct, and methods to embrace in order to overcome hurt and disappointment in a turbulent environment and foster more caring and effective educational organizations.Few attempts have been made to write a book about women’s work from the perspective of those in senior leadership roles in education; others have written about it but not experienced it firsthand. This book illuminates the controversial debate between women and gender in education and challenges assumptions about equity and the caring and democratic nature of education. It contributes to a broader understanding and knowledge of the complexities of leadership work within education, which in turn can lead to improvement in professional relationships as well as organizational effectiveness. The book contains enlightening and compelling stories about the unique and shared experiences of people navigating turbulence within an organization.Author Mary Green draws on her career spent teaching and learning to provide a unique Canadian perspective and context. She offers a rigorous self, social, historical, and political reflection of educators, who despite experiencing particular challenges, draw purpose from faith in the possibilities and potential of more caring practice in education. The content will prove useful to those committed to infusing more humanity into work in education with reference to individuals, institutions, and the social and political challenges in the field. Specifically, this book is relevant to graduate students in faculties of education, policy makers, principals, other administrators, and organizational leaders. Universal issues of power and politics reveal interconnections between the personal and the global workplace, underscoring the importance of care in the workplace.Series Editors: Jeffrey S. Brooks, University of Idaho, USA; Denise E. Armstrong, Brock University, USA; Ira Bogotch, Florida Atlantic University, USA; Sandra Harris, Lamar University, USA;Whitney H. Sherman, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA; George Theoharis, Syracuse University, USA.

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Book SynopsisIn keeping with the tradition set forth in volumes 1-4, this fifth volume, Creating Visions for University - School Partnerships, a volume in Professional Development School Research, continues to exemplify current thinking of practitioners and researchers in the field. The range of authors from the Prek-16 arena illustrates the ways in which professional development schools generate possible solutions to the complex problems facing educators. The diversity of their work represents perspectives of classroom teachers, preservice teachers, school leaders, and university faculty who grapple with identifying “ways of knowing” and “ways of doing” that enhance educational outcomes for Prek-12 students while also serving to transform the profession. The volume’s contents of 19 chapters divided into four areas: (1) Clinically Rich Practices (2) PDS Stakeholders’ Perspectives (3) Enriching Content Area Instruction (4) Family Engagement, gives us a more vivid picture of the work that partnerships are doing to fulfill the PDS promise for improving teaching and learning at every level.

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Book SynopsisIn keeping with the tradition set forth in volumes 1-4, this fifth volume, Creating Visions for University - School Partnerships, a volume in Professional Development School Research, continues to exemplify current thinking of practitioners and researchers in the field. The range of authors from the Prek-16 arena illustrates the ways in which professional development schools generate possible solutions to the complex problems facing educators. The diversity of their work represents perspectives of classroom teachers, preservice teachers, school leaders, and university faculty who grapple with identifying “ways of knowing” and “ways of doing” that enhance educational outcomes for Prek-12 students while also serving to transform the profession. The volume’s contents of 19 chapters divided into four areas: (1) Clinically Rich Practices (2) PDS Stakeholders’ Perspectives (3) Enriching Content Area Instruction (4) Family Engagement, gives us a more vivid picture of the work that partnerships are doing to fulfill the PDS promise for improving teaching and learning at every level.

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Book SynopsisModelling student growth has been a federal policy requirement under No Child Left Behind (NCLB). In addition to tracking student growth, the latest Race To The Top (RTTP) federal education policy stipulates the evaluation of teacher effectiveness from the perspective of added value that teachers contribute to student learning and growth. Student growth modelling and teacher value-added modelling are complex. The complexity stems, in part, from issues due to non-random assignment of students into classes and schools, measurement error in students’ achievement scores that are utilized to evaluate the added value of teachers, multidimensionality of the measured construct across multiple grades, and the inclusion of covariates.National experts at the Twelfth Annual Maryland Assessment Research Center’s Conference on “Value Added Modeling and Growth Modeling with Particular Application to Teacher and School Effectiveness” present the latest developments and methods to tackle these issues. This book includes chapters based on these conference presentations. Further, the book provides some answers to questions such as what makes a good growth model? What criteria should be used in evaluating growth models? How should outputs from growth models be utilized? How auxiliary teacher information could be utilized to improve value added? How multiple sources of student information could be accumulated to estimate teacher effectiveness? Whether student-level and school-level covariates should be included? And what are the impacts of the potential heterogeneity of teacher effects across students of different aptitudes or other differing characteristics on growth modelling and teacher evaluation?Overall, this book addresses reliability and validity issues in growth modelling and value added modelling and presents the latest development in this area. In addition, some persistent issues have been approached from a new perspective. This edited volume provides a very good source of information related to the current explorations in student growth and teacher effectiveness evaluation.

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Book SynopsisModelling student growth has been a federal policy requirement under No Child Left Behind (NCLB). In addition to tracking student growth, the latest Race To The Top (RTTP) federal education policy stipulates the evaluation of teacher effectiveness from the perspective of added value that teachers contribute to student learning and growth. Student growth modelling and teacher value-added modelling are complex. The complexity stems, in part, from issues due to non-random assignment of students into classes and schools, measurement error in students’ achievement scores that are utilized to evaluate the added value of teachers, multidimensionality of the measured construct across multiple grades, and the inclusion of covariates.National experts at the Twelfth Annual Maryland Assessment Research Center’s Conference on “Value Added Modeling and Growth Modeling with Particular Application to Teacher and School Effectiveness” present the latest developments and methods to tackle these issues. This book includes chapters based on these conference presentations. Further, the book provides some answers to questions such as what makes a good growth model? What criteria should be used in evaluating growth models? How should outputs from growth models be utilized? How auxiliary teacher information could be utilized to improve value added? How multiple sources of student information could be accumulated to estimate teacher effectiveness? Whether student-level and school-level covariates should be included? And what are the impacts of the potential heterogeneity of teacher effects across students of different aptitudes or other differing characteristics on growth modelling and teacher evaluation?Overall, this book addresses reliability and validity issues in growth modelling and value added modelling and presents the latest development in this area. In addition, some persistent issues have been approached from a new perspective. This edited volume provides a very good source of information related to the current explorations in student growth and teacher effectiveness evaluation.

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Book SynopsisThe School Leadership Program (SLP) is a federal grant sponsored by the United States Department of Education. A hallmark of the grant is the connectivity between various agencies to provide quality leadership preparation and development programs for aspiring and current school leaders. These collaborative efforts involve community and educational stakeholders including districts, universities, city agencies, not-for-profit entities, foundations, private academic organizations, and others involved in the development of school leaders. Since its inception in 2002, over one hundred grants have been funded.This edited book’s purpose is to share innovative, research-based practices from the federally funded grants that are sustainable after the life of the grant and are able to be used throughout the field for preparing and developing aspiring and current school leaders. This book features the work of current and past grantees around their innovative practices and lessons learned about school leadership preparation and development, especially around the issue of sustainability of these practices upon completion of the grant. SLP Grantees share practical, usable lessons learned from their experiences with the grants, based on their research, project data, and practical experience.

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Book SynopsisThe School Leadership Program (SLP) is a federal grant sponsored by the United States Department of Education. A hallmark of the grant is the connectivity between various agencies to provide quality leadership preparation and development programs for aspiring and current school leaders. These collaborative efforts involve community and educational stakeholders including districts, universities, city agencies, not-for-profit entities, foundations, private academic organizations, and others involved in the development of school leaders. Since its inception in 2002, over one hundred grants have been funded.This edited book’s purpose is to share innovative, research-based practices from the federally funded grants that are sustainable after the life of the grant and are able to be used throughout the field for preparing and developing aspiring and current school leaders. This book features the work of current and past grantees around their innovative practices and lessons learned about school leadership preparation and development, especially around the issue of sustainability of these practices upon completion of the grant. SLP Grantees share practical, usable lessons learned from their experiences with the grants, based on their research, project data, and practical experience.

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Book SynopsisOur fifth book in the International Research on School Leadership series focuses on the use of data in schools and districts as useful information for leadership and decision making. Schools are awash in data and information, from test scores, to grades, to discipline reports, and attendance as just a short list of student information sources, while additional streams of data feed into schools and districts from teachers and parents as well as local, regional and national policy levels. To deal with the data, schools have implemented a variety of data practices, from data rooms, to data days, data walks, and data protocols. However, despite the flood of data, successful school leaders are leveraging an analysis of their school’s data as a means to bring about continuous improvement in an effort to improve instruction for all students.Nevertheless, some drown, some swim, while others find success. Our goal in this book volume is to bring together a set of chapters by authors who examine successful data use as it relates to leadership and school improvement. In particular, the chapters in this volume consider important issues in this domain, including: How educational leaders use data to inform their practice. What types of data and data analysis are most useful to successful school leaders. To what extent are data driven and data informed practices helping school leaders positively change instructional practice? In what ways does good data collection and analysis feed into successful continuous improvement and holistic systems thinking? How have school leadership practices changed as more data and data analysis techniques have become available? What are the major obstacles facing school leaders when using data for decision making and how do they overcome them?

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Book SynopsisAttrition among doctoral students has become a perennial issue in higher education (Gardner, 2009; Golde, 2000) as 40 to 60 percent of doctoral students do not complete their program of study (Bair &Haworth, 2005). Such outcomes are inconsistent with the rigorous evaluation that occurs prior to being accepted into a doctoral program (Bair & Haworth, 2005). Despite deemed levels of student excellence, promise and efforts made by programs to counter student departure (Offerman, 2011), attrition rates remain alarmingly high (Bair & Haworth, 2005; Gardner, 2009).The purpose of this book is to provide a view into doctoral student work-lives and their efforts to find a balance between often seemingly conflicting responsibilities. In addition to contributing to the ongoing dialogue on work-life balance in doctoral studies (Brus, 2006; Golde, 1998; Moyer, Salovey, & Casey-Cannon, 1999), the intention of this book is to provide other doctoral students with potential coping mechanisms, guidance, and assurance that they are not alone in this process.Lastly, we anticipate that these doctoral student narratives will help illuminate potential strategies that doctoral programs, departments, and institutions can incorporate in their efforts to help students successfully complete their program of study. As such the intended audience is doctoral students, higher education professionals, faculty members, and educational leaders.

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Book SynopsisAttrition among doctoral students has become a perennial issue in higher education (Gardner, 2009; Golde, 2000) as 40 to 60 percent of doctoral students do not complete their program of study (Bair &Haworth, 2005). Such outcomes are inconsistent with the rigorous evaluation that occurs prior to being accepted into a doctoral program (Bair & Haworth, 2005). Despite deemed levels of student excellence, promise and efforts made by programs to counter student departure (Offerman, 2011), attrition rates remain alarmingly high (Bair & Haworth, 2005; Gardner, 2009).The purpose of this book is to provide a view into doctoral student work-lives and their efforts to find a balance between often seemingly conflicting responsibilities. In addition to contributing to the ongoing dialogue on work-life balance in doctoral studies (Brus, 2006; Golde, 1998; Moyer, Salovey, & Casey-Cannon, 1999), the intention of this book is to provide other doctoral students with potential coping mechanisms, guidance, and assurance that they are not alone in this process.Lastly, we anticipate that these doctoral student narratives will help illuminate potential strategies that doctoral programs, departments, and institutions can incorporate in their efforts to help students successfully complete their program of study. As such the intended audience is doctoral students, higher education professionals, faculty members, and educational leaders.

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Book SynopsisArising from the street corners and underground clubs, Rebel Music: Resistance through Hip Hop and Punk, challenges standardized schooling and argues for equity, peace, and justice. Rebel Music is an important, one-of-a-kind book that takes readers through fun, radical, educational chapters examining Hip Hop and Punk songs, with each section addressing a particular social issue. Rebel Music values the experiences found in both movements as cultural capital that is de-valued in the current oppressive, standard, test-driven, rule-bound, and corporate schooling experience, making youth “just another brick in the wall.” This collection is a “rebel yell” to administrators, teachers, parents, police, politicians, and counsellors who demonize Hip Hop and Punk to listen up and respect youth culture. Finally, Rebel Music is a celebration of radical voices and an organizing tool for those who use music to challenge oppression.

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Book SynopsisArising from the street corners and underground clubs, Rebel Music: Resistance through Hip Hop and Punk, challenges standardized schooling and argues for equity, peace, and justice. Rebel Music is an important, one-of-a-kind book that takes readers through fun, radical, educational chapters examining Hip Hop and Punk songs, with each section addressing a particular social issue. Rebel Music values the experiences found in both movements as cultural capital that is de-valued in the current oppressive, standard, test-driven, rule-bound, and corporate schooling experience, making youth “just another brick in the wall.” This collection is a “rebel yell” to administrators, teachers, parents, police, politicians, and counsellors who demonize Hip Hop and Punk to listen up and respect youth culture. Finally, Rebel Music is a celebration of radical voices and an organizing tool for those who use music to challenge oppression.

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Book SynopsisThis is a critical examination of the people who teach and produce research and scholarship in our institutions of higher education. The insights revealed through probing interviews with individual professors who have made careers in the halls of academia help readers understand the politics, power struggles and perils, both large and small, which shape the modern university.Given the important role these institutions play in our society, such an examination is not only helpful, but essential. This book is a helpful primer for faculty looking to build a career and those interested in understanding how professors are tasked in their profession.

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Book SynopsisThe purpose of the work/life balance series is to highlight particular challenges that higher education faculty face as they participate in the demands of the academy and try to prevent those demands from invading their personal lives. On The High Wire looks at a specific subset of university faculty, education faculty with school-aged children, and the specific professional/ personal balance these faculty need to find. The title On the High Wire suggests the precarious nature of the “walk” for education faculty who are parents of school-aged children. We know that our identities are central to how we experience the world and how the world reacts to us. This reality is clearly visible in this book. These multiple identities and roles come into conflict at multiple points and in different ways. This book explores these identities and roles through auto ethnographic accounts written by varied education faculty in order to make these tensions visible for the field to address.

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Book SynopsisThe purpose of the work/life balance series is to highlight particular challenges that higher education faculty face as they participate in the demands of the academy and try to prevent those demands from invading their personal lives. On The High Wire looks at a specific subset of university faculty, education faculty with school-aged children, and the specific professional/ personal balance these faculty need to find. The title On the High Wire suggests the precarious nature of the “walk” for education faculty who are parents of school-aged children. We know that our identities are central to how we experience the world and how the world reacts to us. This reality is clearly visible in this book. These multiple identities and roles come into conflict at multiple points and in different ways. This book explores these identities and roles through auto ethnographic accounts written by varied education faculty in order to make these tensions visible for the field to address.

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Book SynopsisThis book is intended for educators, parents and community activists interested in reclaiming our public schools and reclaiming the public narrative around education policy. The book infuses research about the recent history of education policy reform, the strategies United Opt Out uses for fighting back against these policies, and proposes solutions that work to create sustainable, equitable, anti-racist, democratic and meaningful public education. This book is for anyone interested in an “insider’s look” behind the scene of forming an organization, or leading a resistance. Simultaneously the book provides scholarly-based research about the broader issues, policies and data around education reform, and the opt out movement.Education policy has been heating up ever since NCLB but especially since the roll out of Race to The Top and the Common Core State Standards. Nationally publicized debates and discord over these policies are garnering public attention of teachers, parents, and whole communities. We hope this book will add to the library of other recent books such as Mercedes Schneider’s A Chronicle of Echoes (2014), Diane Ravitch’s Reign of Error (2013) and Bowers & Thomas (eds) Detesting and Degrading Schools (2012), that have exposed the complex corporate interest in shaping education policies and the destructive influence such policies will have on our children and on our democracy. This book uses first person narratives infused with research and scholarship, to create personalized accounts into the life of education activism. Each chapter includes an Activists Handbook section to provide support for our activist/ readers in their own efforts. We hope that our experiences will inspire others to take this charge upon themselves as well.

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Book SynopsisThis book is intended for educators, parents and community activists interested in reclaiming our public schools and reclaiming the public narrative around education policy. The book infuses research about the recent history of education policy reform, the strategies United Opt Out uses for fighting back against these policies, and proposes solutions that work to create sustainable, equitable, anti-racist, democratic and meaningful public education. This book is for anyone interested in an “insider’s look” behind the scene of forming an organization, or leading a resistance. Simultaneously the book provides scholarly-based research about the broader issues, policies and data around education reform, and the opt out movement.Education policy has been heating up ever since NCLB but especially since the roll out of Race to The Top and the Common Core State Standards. Nationally publicized debates and discord over these policies are garnering public attention of teachers, parents, and whole communities. We hope this book will add to the library of other recent books such as Mercedes Schneider’s A Chronicle of Echoes (2014), Diane Ravitch’s Reign of Error (2013) and Bowers & Thomas (eds) Detesting and Degrading Schools (2012), that have exposed the complex corporate interest in shaping education policies and the destructive influence such policies will have on our children and on our democracy. This book uses first person narratives infused with research and scholarship, to create personalized accounts into the life of education activism. Each chapter includes an Activists Handbook section to provide support for our activist/ readers in their own efforts. We hope that our experiences will inspire others to take this charge upon themselves as well.

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Book SynopsisAs a social justice endeavour, one of the goals of inclusive education is to bolster the education of all students by promoting equal opportunities for all, and investing sufficient support, curriculum and pedagogy that cultivates high self-concepts, emphasizes students’ strengths rather than weaknesses, and assists students to reach their optimal potential to make a contribution to society. Dedicated to the identification of international strategies to achieve this goal, Inclusive Education for Students with Intellectual Disabilities presents examples of theory, research, policy, and practice that will advance our understanding of how best to educate and more generally structure educational environments to promote social justice and equity. Importantly, this discussion transcends research methodology, context, and geographical locations and may lead to far-reaching applications. As such, the focus is placed on research-derived educational and psycho-educative practices that seed success for students with intellectual disabilities in inclusive educational settings and the volume showcases new directions in theory, research, and practice that may inform the education and psychosocial development of students with intellectual disabilities globally.The chapter contributors in this volume consist of 31 scholars from ten different countries, and they come from a great variety of research areas (i.e., teacher education, educational psychology, special education and disability policy, special needs and inclusive education, health sciences). This volume, with a series of subsections, offers insights and useful strategies to promote meaningful advances for students with intellectual disabilities globally.

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Book SynopsisAs a social justice endeavour, one of the goals of inclusive education is to bolster the education of all students by promoting equal opportunities for all, and investing sufficient support, curriculum and pedagogy that cultivates high self-concepts, emphasizes students’ strengths rather than weaknesses, and assists students to reach their optimal potential to make a contribution to society. Dedicated to the identification of international strategies to achieve this goal, Inclusive Education for Students with Intellectual Disabilities presents examples of theory, research, policy, and practice that will advance our understanding of how best to educate and more generally structure educational environments to promote social justice and equity. Importantly, this discussion transcends research methodology, context, and geographical locations and may lead to far-reaching applications. As such, the focus is placed on research-derived educational and psycho-educative practices that seed success for students with intellectual disabilities in inclusive educational settings and the volume showcases new directions in theory, research, and practice that may inform the education and psychosocial development of students with intellectual disabilities globally.The chapter contributors in this volume consist of 31 scholars from ten different countries, and they come from a great variety of research areas (i.e., teacher education, educational psychology, special education and disability policy, special needs and inclusive education, health sciences). This volume, with a series of subsections, offers insights and useful strategies to promote meaningful advances for students with intellectual disabilities globally.

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Book SynopsisCompetition to provide education is tense, attributed to the ease to access and process information. Technological development has also landed a terrible blow to the employment situation, which forces higher education institutions to review what and how their students learn. Yet, the desire to retain and grow the number of students and gain commercially can sometimes cloud judgment of educational leaders. They need to know that poorly made decisions hurt the businesses and students.In this book, Sam Choon-Yin explores how technological development has the potential to transform higher education. However, the same technology also has the potential to disrupt the education sector. The author provides a critical outlook on the prevailing practices of the higher education institutions. By drawing our attention to the various challenges, the author shows how teaching and learning can be effectively carried out in the digital age to serve the needs of students and hiring companies, and ultimately the institutions of higher learning.Understanding the issues and challenges means better design of and delivery of the curriculum. At a deeper level, the book raises a complex question of "what makes an education institution different" as they aim to define themselves by fulfilling students' desire. Understanding these issues forms the basis of power for higher education institutions to remain competitive and relevant in the age of digitization.

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Book SynopsisThe chapters in the book present in-depth examination of novice teachers’ experiences in Houston area schools during their first-through-third year of teaching. Their professional challenges and the unique conditions in which they must navigate their developing and sometimes fragile teacher identity are comprehensively explored.Table of Contents Preface. Situating Teacher Induction in the Urban Teaching Context: A Journey Through New Terrain as Novice Teachers’ Share Stories of Finding Their Way, Denise McDonald, Cheryl J. Craig, and Gayle Curtis. Walking With Fish, Swimming With Cats: Novice Teachers and Equity, Michele Kahn. “I Feel Like Edith Piaf”: A Novice Teacher’s Expression of Sorrow and Hope, Denise M. McDonald. Jekyll and Hyde: One Teacher—Two Schools, Jean Kiekel. Career Changers’ Experiences as Neophyte Middle School ESL Teachers, Kent Divoll, Leslie Gauna, and Angelica Ribeiro. Experiences From the Field: Voices of Novice Special Education Teachers During Their Induction Years, Bernardo Pohl. Becoming an Art Teacher: Prismatic Experiences of Three Beginning Visual Art Teachers, Carrie Markello. The Gordian Knot of Teacher Induction: When Context Trumps Teacher Preparation and the Desire to Teach, Cheryl J. Craig, Paige Evans, Jing Li, and Donna Stokes. Supporting New English Language Arts Teachers as Nascent Professionals: What Enables and Impedes Their Instructional Designs and Their Intentions to Help Secondary Students Succeed With the Curriculum and Required Assessments, Laura Turchi and Kristen Nance. Care as an Approach for Supporting Induction Years Secondary Mathematics Teachers, Jacqueline Sack and Judith Quander. Integrating Technology in the Classroom: Is It Happening? Xiao Han. When Qualifications are Not Enough: A Latina Spanish Bilingual Teacher’s Decision to Leave, Christine Beaudry and Leslie Gauna. Book Summary: A Big Picture View of Teacher Induction Experiences Across the Disciplines Helping Policy Makers See the Forest Through the Trees, Denise McDonald, Cheryl Craig and Gayle Curtis.

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Book SynopsisThe chapters in the book present in-depth examination of novice teachers’ experiences in Houston area schools during their first-through-third year of teaching. Their professional challenges and the unique conditions in which they must navigate their developing and sometimes fragile teacher identity are comprehensively explored.Table of Contents Preface. Situating Teacher Induction in the Urban Teaching Context: A Journey Through New Terrain as Novice Teachers’ Share Stories of Finding Their Way, Denise McDonald, Cheryl J. Craig, and Gayle Curtis. Walking With Fish, Swimming With Cats: Novice Teachers and Equity, Michele Kahn. “I Feel Like Edith Piaf”: A Novice Teacher’s Expression of Sorrow and Hope, Denise M. McDonald. Jekyll and Hyde: One Teacher—Two Schools, Jean Kiekel. Career Changers’ Experiences as Neophyte Middle School ESL Teachers, Kent Divoll, Leslie Gauna, and Angelica Ribeiro. Experiences From the Field: Voices of Novice Special Education Teachers During Their Induction Years, Bernardo Pohl. Becoming an Art Teacher: Prismatic Experiences of Three Beginning Visual Art Teachers, Carrie Markello. The Gordian Knot of Teacher Induction: When Context Trumps Teacher Preparation and the Desire to Teach, Cheryl J. Craig, Paige Evans, Jing Li, and Donna Stokes. Supporting New English Language Arts Teachers as Nascent Professionals: What Enables and Impedes Their Instructional Designs and Their Intentions to Help Secondary Students Succeed With the Curriculum and Required Assessments, Laura Turchi and Kristen Nance. Care as an Approach for Supporting Induction Years Secondary Mathematics Teachers, Jacqueline Sack and Judith Quander. Integrating Technology in the Classroom: Is It Happening? Xiao Han. When Qualifications are Not Enough: A Latina Spanish Bilingual Teacher’s Decision to Leave, Christine Beaudry and Leslie Gauna. Book Summary: A Big Picture View of Teacher Induction Experiences Across the Disciplines Helping Policy Makers See the Forest Through the Trees, Denise McDonald, Cheryl Craig and Gayle Curtis.

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Book SynopsisWe, educators, are often so involved in daily teaching duties that lack time to absorb the broader picture of what is happening beyond our classrooms in a rapidly changing world. That is the norm in our profession. But our responsibility is to constantly improve the wellbeing of all the students enrolled in our classes. Education is the most important and most challenging profession there is. Educators shape future leaders, heroes, and people who can improve the world. Transformational educators have long term effects in the lives of students that projects on nations. On the opposite side, students waste time sitting in a classroom and can hamper future opportunities in life when educators fail to motivate them to assume responsibility for improving their wellbeing and build a better world for all.Education is not just another profession, it is an extraordinary endeavor with surmounting human responsibility to transform lives for the better.To claim the merit of education, educators must project education beyond school border into the context of society and the economy. To miss this context is a pending challenge. We, educators, need to earn the merit we deserve. But we now know that we earn merit with knowledge how to manage for quality and continuous improvement aiming at results leading to sustainability and working systematically to reach high standards.Lepeley, author of numerous publications on the subject, former examiner of the US Baldrige National Quality Award and adviser to NQAs in six countries in Latin America, presented her quality management model for education in the World Bank Global Network in the early 2000’s. Her model has pioneered integration of education with other disciplines and other sectors projecting the importance and impact of education on sustainable development. The author emphasizes that neglecting the surmounting demand for quality will impair education as a fundamental factor of development, harm the worth of educators, undermine the profession and dent the wellbeing of human beings in inclusive nations and a peaceful world.Table of ContentsPrefaceAbout the AuthorPart IChapter 1: Introduction to Quality in EducationChapter 2: Global Claims for Quality in EducationChapter 3: Quality Standards for Education: Leading the TransformationPart IIChapter 4: Human Centered Sustainable Quality Management in EducationChapter 5: Management Area 1: Consumers of Education: Students, Workforce, Parents (190 points)Chapter 6: Management Area 2: Producers of Education: Educators, Ancillary Personnel, Institutions (180 points)Chapter 7: Management Area 3: Constructive Leadership (170 points)Chapter 8: Management Areas 4: Planning for Quality: Structures and Strategies (160 points)Chapter 9: Management Area 5: Technology and Knowledge Management (100 points)Chapter 10: Management Area 6: Quality Education Support Processes (100 points)Chapter 11: Management Area 7: Institutional Integration, Benchmarking, Environment Care (100 points)Chapter 12: Institutional Improvement Report IIR: The Quality GPS References

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Book SynopsisWe, educators, are often so involved in daily teaching duties that lack time to absorb the broader picture of what is happening beyond our classrooms in a rapidly changing world. That is the norm in our profession. But our responsibility is to constantly improve the wellbeing of all the students enrolled in our classes. Education is the most important and most challenging profession there is. Educators shape future leaders, heroes, and people who can improve the world. Transformational educators have long term effects in the lives of students that projects on nations. On the opposite side, students waste time sitting in a classroom and can hamper future opportunities in life when educators fail to motivate them to assume responsibility for improving their wellbeing and build a better world for all.Education is not just another profession, it is an extraordinary endeavor with surmounting human responsibility to transform lives for the better.To claim the merit of education, educators must project education beyond school border into the context of society and the economy. To miss this context is a pending challenge. We, educators, need to earn the merit we deserve. But we now know that we earn merit with knowledge how to manage for quality and continuous improvement aiming at results leading to sustainability and working systematically to reach high standards.Lepeley, author of numerous publications on the subject, former examiner of the US Baldrige National Quality Award and adviser to NQAs in six countries in Latin America, presented her quality management model for education in the World Bank Global Network in the early 2000’s. Her model has pioneered integration of education with other disciplines and other sectors projecting the importance and impact of education on sustainable development. The author emphasizes that neglecting the surmounting demand for quality will impair education as a fundamental factor of development, harm the worth of educators, undermine the profession and dent the wellbeing of human beings in inclusive nations and a peaceful world.Table of ContentsPrefaceAbout the AuthorPart IChapter 1: Introduction to Quality in EducationChapter 2: Global Claims for Quality in EducationChapter 3: Quality Standards for Education: Leading the TransformationPart IIChapter 4: Human Centered Sustainable Quality Management in EducationChapter 5: Management Area 1: Consumers of Education: Students, Workforce, Parents (190 points)Chapter 6: Management Area 2: Producers of Education: Educators, Ancillary Personnel, Institutions (180 points)Chapter 7: Management Area 3: Constructive Leadership (170 points)Chapter 8: Management Areas 4: Planning for Quality: Structures and Strategies (160 points)Chapter 9: Management Area 5: Technology and Knowledge Management (100 points)Chapter 10: Management Area 6: Quality Education Support Processes (100 points)Chapter 11: Management Area 7: Institutional Integration, Benchmarking, Environment Care (100 points)Chapter 12: Institutional Improvement Report IIR: The Quality GPS References

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Book SynopsisInvesting in People is the world priority of the 21st century. The wellbeing of people is at the center of the agendas of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, UN, OECD, ILO and all major development organizations. But the concern for people is not new. The celebrated books of Economics Nobel Awardees Theodore Schultz’s Investing in People. The Economics of Population Quality and Gary Becker’s Human Capital were published decades ago and challenged the same human dilemma. Yet, with few exceptions, most countries are still struggling for effective formulas to put people at the center of development.The core issue is that investing in people means improving the quality of education for all. But the main problem is that countries continue to take education as an expense, not as an investment in people. National budgets consider education as a sunken cost, rather than as an investment expected to produce high returns to secure quality improvement as necessary condition for sustainability. Shortcomings are abundant but one thing is certain: unless the quality of education for all is placed front and center in development agendas, chances for progress in the VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) environment are curtailed, human centered sustainability and wellbeing will be restrained and inequality will persist.The main problem it is not income inequality, it is education inequality.In the Knowledge Economy the human (as) resources formula is no longer working. Segmentation of the economy and education is probing increasingly counterproductive. The EDUCONOMY is a human centered structure for progress to optimize returns and minimize costs of investing in people.Gallup and Brandon Busteed coined the concept Educonomy to enhance the importance of quality in education backed up by extensive surveys and data bases. Lepeley’s EDUCONOMY. Unleashing Wellbeing and Human Centered Sustainable Development takes the discussion into new dimensions and addresses the complexity of the challenges.People are the DNA of Sustainable Development. Says Lepeley challenging old constructs and presenting innovative formulas pioneering human centered economics and economics of wellbeing that frame the Balanced Sustainable Development ESTE (economic, social, technology, environment) Model. ESTE is the product of the Educonomy built on three fundamental pillars: the Talent Economy, the Agility Economy and the Quality Economy convergent with demands of the Knowledge Economy. In the ESTE Model education is no longer a national expense, it is an investment that secures high rates of returns and social and economic inclusiveness anchored in quality standards for all.Table of Contents Introduction PART I: The Wellbeing Pursuit: People are the DNA of Sustainable Development CHAPTER 1: Human Centered Economics CHAPTER 2: Economics of Wellbeing PART II: Balanced Sustainable Development ESTE CHAPTER 3: Human Centered Balanced Sustainable Development ESTE Model: Putting the Pieces Together CHAPTER 4: Global Pledge for Quality in Education: A Critique on Misleading Quality PART III: The Educonomy and It’s 3 Pillars CHAPTER 5: The Educonomy CHAPTER 6: The Talent Economy CHAPTER 7: The Agility Economy CHAPTER 8: The Quality Economy

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Book SynopsisInvesting in People is the world priority of the 21st century. The wellbeing of people is at the center of the agendas of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, UN, OECD, ILO and all major development organizations. But the concern for people is not new. The celebrated books of Economics Nobel Awardees Theodore Schultz’s Investing in People. The Economics of Population Quality and Gary Becker’s Human Capital were published decades ago and challenged the same human dilemma. Yet, with few exceptions, most countries are still struggling for effective formulas to put people at the center of development.The core issue is that investing in people means improving the quality of education for all. But the main problem is that countries continue to take education as an expense, not as an investment in people. National budgets consider education as a sunken cost, rather than as an investment expected to produce high returns to secure quality improvement as necessary condition for sustainability. Shortcomings are abundant but one thing is certain: unless the quality of education for all is placed front and center in development agendas, chances for progress in the VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) environment are curtailed, human centered sustainability and wellbeing will be restrained and inequality will persist.The main problem it is not income inequality, it is education inequality.In the Knowledge Economy the human (as) resources formula is no longer working. Segmentation of the economy and education is probing increasingly counterproductive. The EDUCONOMY is a human centered structure for progress to optimize returns and minimize costs of investing in people.Gallup and Brandon Busteed coined the concept Educonomy to enhance the importance of quality in education backed up by extensive surveys and data bases. Lepeley’s EDUCONOMY. Unleashing Wellbeing and Human Centered Sustainable Development takes the discussion into new dimensions and addresses the complexity of the challenges.People are the DNA of Sustainable Development. Says Lepeley challenging old constructs and presenting innovative formulas pioneering human centered economics and economics of wellbeing that frame the Balanced Sustainable Development ESTE (economic, social, technology, environment) Model. ESTE is the product of the Educonomy built on three fundamental pillars: the Talent Economy, the Agility Economy and the Quality Economy convergent with demands of the Knowledge Economy. In the ESTE Model education is no longer a national expense, it is an investment that secures high rates of returns and social and economic inclusiveness anchored in quality standards for all.Table of Contents Introduction PART I: The Wellbeing Pursuit: People are the DNA of Sustainable Development CHAPTER 1: Human Centered Economics CHAPTER 2: Economics of Wellbeing PART II: Balanced Sustainable Development ESTE CHAPTER 3: Human Centered Balanced Sustainable Development ESTE Model: Putting the Pieces Together CHAPTER 4: Global Pledge for Quality in Education: A Critique on Misleading Quality PART III: The Educonomy and It’s 3 Pillars CHAPTER 5: The Educonomy CHAPTER 6: The Talent Economy CHAPTER 7: The Agility Economy CHAPTER 8: The Quality Economy

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Book SynopsisConversational in tone and providing highly practical advice for new deans, Reflections of a Rookie Dean: Lessons from the First Year chronicles the experiences of a novice college leader. Providing aspiring and new deans with insight and direction into the job of leading a college, this book is well positioned to help new leaders develop a better understanding of leadership in higher education and the challenges that new deans face. Deans, who function as middle managers in higher education, face a distinctive set of challenges. They are responsible for leading their college, implementing shared strategies, and motivating staff. But, they are also expected to enact the vision of senior leadership and mobilize support for broader institutional goals. To be successful, they must be skilled at managing both up and down the institutional hierarchy. This book provides insight into: Understanding what effective leadership looks like in practice Developing leaders in your college Understanding how to initiate and implement change Considering the ethical aspects of leading Understanding how your leadership and college fits within the larger university Strategically thinking about decision-making Understanding the rhythms of serving as a new dean and leader. This book is a must have for aspiring college leaders, organizers of leadership development programs, and university professors teaching coursework in higher education administration. Whether you are planning to be a college leader, are new to your role, or are looking to build capacity in your college, Reflections of a Rookie Dean can help you along your leadership journey.Table of Contents Prologue: Nine Words to Lead By CHAPTER 1: The Challenge of Leadership CHAPTER 2: Be a Student of Leadership CHAPTER 3: Ask for Help (You’re Going to Need It) CHAPTER 4: Simplify Whenever Possible CHAPTER 5: Be Radical CHAPTER 6: Where You Stand Depends on Where You Sit CHAPTER 7: Take Care of Yourself CHAPTER 8: Trust People CHAPTER 9: Make it Ok for People to Follow You CHAPTER 10: Shared Struggle CHAPTER 11: The Inner Landscape of Leadership Epilogue: If by Rudyard Kipling Acknowledgments: Aboutthe Author

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Book SynopsisConversational in tone and providing highly practical advice for new deans, Reflections of a Rookie Dean: Lessons from the First Year chronicles the experiences of a novice college leader. Providing aspiring and new deans with insight and direction into the job of leading a college, this book is well positioned to help new leaders develop a better understanding of leadership in higher education and the challenges that new deans face. Deans, who function as middle managers in higher education, face a distinctive set of challenges. They are responsible for leading their college, implementing shared strategies, and motivating staff. But, they are also expected to enact the vision of senior leadership and mobilize support for broader institutional goals. To be successful, they must be skilled at managing both up and down the institutional hierarchy. This book provides insight into: Understanding what effective leadership looks like in practice Developing leaders in your college Understanding how to initiate and implement change Considering the ethical aspects of leading Understanding how your leadership and college fits within the larger university Strategically thinking about decision-making Understanding the rhythms of serving as a new dean and leader. This book is a must have for aspiring college leaders, organizers of leadership development programs, and university professors teaching coursework in higher education administration. Whether you are planning to be a college leader, are new to your role, or are looking to build capacity in your college, Reflections of a Rookie Dean can help you along your leadership journey.Table of Contents Prologue: Nine Words to Lead By CHAPTER 1: The Challenge of Leadership CHAPTER 2: Be a Student of Leadership CHAPTER 3: Ask for Help (You’re Going to Need It) CHAPTER 4: Simplify Whenever Possible CHAPTER 5: Be Radical CHAPTER 6: Where You Stand Depends on Where You Sit CHAPTER 7: Take Care of Yourself CHAPTER 8: Trust People CHAPTER 9: Make it Ok for People to Follow You CHAPTER 10: Shared Struggle CHAPTER 11: The Inner Landscape of Leadership Epilogue: If by Rudyard Kipling Acknowledgments: Aboutthe Author

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Book SynopsisThe exploration of the intersection of leadership practices from the school principal and other educators, the school culture, and the school success across different high-need contexts and cultures make this volume unique. Chapters in this volume present original investigations or reanalysis of empirical research enhancing our understanding of the interrelationship between leadership, culture and success through descriptions of practice that can contribute to lessons in leadership for school improvement. When considering a culture of success, leadership that focuses on impacting schools in high-need areas bring about lessons on how to create sustainable environments for student learning in challenging contexts. High-need schools include not only socioeconomic challenges influencing the performance of students. It includes multiple external and internal factors impacting leaders, teachers, students, and their families, affecting the management of structures, processes, and most importantly, learning. In the quest to improve high-need schools, and understand strategies for principals dedicated to a variety of contexts, this volume brings lessons with application for researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners who want to join in the quest to improve the quality of education among worldwide communities.

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Book SynopsisThe exploration of the intersection of leadership practices from the school principal and other educators, the school culture, and the school success across different high-need contexts and cultures make this volume unique. Chapters in this volume present original investigations or reanalysis of empirical research enhancing our understanding of the interrelationship between leadership, culture and success through descriptions of practice that can contribute to lessons in leadership for school improvement. When considering a culture of success, leadership that focuses on impacting schools in high-need areas bring about lessons on how to create sustainable environments for student learning in challenging contexts. High-need schools include not only socioeconomic challenges influencing the performance of students. It includes multiple external and internal factors impacting leaders, teachers, students, and their families, affecting the management of structures, processes, and most importantly, learning. In the quest to improve high-need schools, and understand strategies for principals dedicated to a variety of contexts, this volume brings lessons with application for researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners who want to join in the quest to improve the quality of education among worldwide communities.

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Book SynopsisLeading in Change: Implications for School Leadership Preparation in England and the United States considers the ways in which school leadership, and its preparation has changed and developed in response to a rapidly changing educational scenario over the past decade. Drawing together leading thinkers, researchers, and practitioners in the field of school leadership and management this text takes an international perspective to consider what we know about school diversification, and school leadership preparation. Theoretically and conceptually informed, the contributors’ draw on recent empirical research studies and practitioner experience into school leadership preparation to examine how neoliberal and neoconservative policies are working in unison to privatize and corporatize public schools. It looks at how these policies have impacted the preparation of school leaders. In addition to information, critique, and analysis, multiple perspectives are provided that readers can draw upon to ensure aspiring school leaders are successfully prepared to lead in a diversified and corporate school context.The book is divided into three sections. In the first section key topics covered include: Relationship between school corporatization and leadership preparation in England and the United States Comparative analysis of US charter schools and UK academy trusts Section two is focused on England. Key topics covered include:System leadership and governance in networked systemsRole of a specialist leaderRole of social capital in the leadership of academy and free schoolsBuilding leadership capacityWomen's leadership preparation in the independent sectorSection three is focused on the United States. Key topics covered include: Overview of current education reform, issues and challenges for school leadership Historical analysis of standards for educational leadership preparation programs Preparing charter school leaders, emerging challenges and opportunities Role of a growth mindset in principal preparation programs School leadership preparation and development in one state Leading in Change: Implications for School Leadership Preparation in England and the United States is essential reading for those who work, study, or research in k-12 school reform. Contributors examine the current research and best practices on present school leadership preparation programs in England and the US adding to the discourse on effective training methods for 21st century school leaders. Given the crucial importance of leadership for effective school performance, a number of strategies are proposed by chapter authors to help future school leaders operate successfully in demanding and changing times.

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Book SynopsisLeading in Change: Implications for School Leadership Preparation in England and the United States considers the ways in which school leadership, and its preparation has changed and developed in response to a rapidly changing educational scenario over the past decade. Drawing together leading thinkers, researchers, and practitioners in the field of school leadership and management this text takes an international perspective to consider what we know about school diversification, and school leadership preparation. Theoretically and conceptually informed, the contributors’ draw on recent empirical research studies and practitioner experience into school leadership preparation to examine how neoliberal and neoconservative policies are working in unison to privatize and corporatize public schools. It looks at how these policies have impacted the preparation of school leaders. In addition to information, critique, and analysis, multiple perspectives are provided that readers can draw upon to ensure aspiring school leaders are successfully prepared to lead in a diversified and corporate school context.The book is divided into three sections. In the first section key topics covered include: Relationship between school corporatization and leadership preparation in England and the United States Comparative analysis of US charter schools and UK academy trusts Section two is focused on England. Key topics covered include:System leadership and governance in networked systemsRole of a specialist leaderRole of social capital in the leadership of academy and free schoolsBuilding leadership capacityWomen's leadership preparation in the independent sectorSection three is focused on the United States. Key topics covered include: Overview of current education reform, issues and challenges for school leadership Historical analysis of standards for educational leadership preparation programs Preparing charter school leaders, emerging challenges and opportunities Role of a growth mindset in principal preparation programs School leadership preparation and development in one state Leading in Change: Implications for School Leadership Preparation in England and the United States is essential reading for those who work, study, or research in k-12 school reform. Contributors examine the current research and best practices on present school leadership preparation programs in England and the US adding to the discourse on effective training methods for 21st century school leaders. Given the crucial importance of leadership for effective school performance, a number of strategies are proposed by chapter authors to help future school leaders operate successfully in demanding and changing times.

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Book SynopsisAs the inaugural issue in the Leadership for School Improvement (LSI) Special Interest Group (SIG) Book Series, this volume serves as a reflection on the foundations of the field of school improvement. Contents include connections between school improvement and the agency of principals, districts, universities, and policy. This volume will be placed in the school improvement literature with examinations of evolution, trends, policies, and future foci in the field of school improvement. This book is rich in research and literature about school improvement, school effectiveness, and school reform policy and implementation and thus holds significance for educational practitioners, scholars, and policy makers at all levels.

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Book SynopsisAs the inaugural issue in the Leadership for School Improvement (LSI) Special Interest Group (SIG) Book Series, this volume serves as a reflection on the foundations of the field of school improvement. Contents include connections between school improvement and the agency of principals, districts, universities, and policy. This volume will be placed in the school improvement literature with examinations of evolution, trends, policies, and future foci in the field of school improvement. This book is rich in research and literature about school improvement, school effectiveness, and school reform policy and implementation and thus holds significance for educational practitioners, scholars, and policy makers at all levels.

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Book SynopsisCritical Perspectives on Education Policy and Schools, Families, and Communities offers scholars, students, and practitioners important new knowledge about how current policies impact families, schools, and community partnerships. The book’s authors share a critical orientation towards policy and policy research and invite readers to think differently about what policy is, who policymakers are, and what policy can achieve. Their chapters discuss findings from research grounded in diverse theories, including institutional ethnography, critical disability theory, and critical race theory. The authors encourage scholars of family, school, and community partnerships to ask who benefits from policies (and who loses) and how proposed reforms maintain or disrupt existing relations of power.The chapters present original research on a broad range of policies at the local, state/provincial, and national levels in Canada and the USA. Some authors look closely at the enactment of specific district policies, including a school district’s language translation policy and a policy to create local advisory bodies as part of decentralization efforts. Other chapters reveal the often unacknowledged yet necessary work parents do to meet their children’s needs and enable schools to operate. A few chapters focus on challenges and paradoxes of including families and community members in policymaking processes, including a case where parents demonstrated a preference for a policy that research demonstrates can be detrimental to their children’s future education opportunities. Another set of chapters emphasizes the centrality of policy texts and how language influences the educational experiences and engagement of students and their families. Each chapter concludes with a discussion of implications of the research for educators, families, and other community partners.

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Book SynopsisCritical Perspectives on Education Policy and Schools, Families, and Communities offers scholars, students, and practitioners important new knowledge about how current policies impact families, schools, and community partnerships. The book’s authors share a critical orientation towards policy and policy research and invite readers to think differently about what policy is, who policymakers are, and what policy can achieve. Their chapters discuss findings from research grounded in diverse theories, including institutional ethnography, critical disability theory, and critical race theory. The authors encourage scholars of family, school, and community partnerships to ask who benefits from policies (and who loses) and how proposed reforms maintain or disrupt existing relations of power.The chapters present original research on a broad range of policies at the local, state/provincial, and national levels in Canada and the USA. Some authors look closely at the enactment of specific district policies, including a school district’s language translation policy and a policy to create local advisory bodies as part of decentralization efforts. Other chapters reveal the often unacknowledged yet necessary work parents do to meet their children’s needs and enable schools to operate. A few chapters focus on challenges and paradoxes of including families and community members in policymaking processes, including a case where parents demonstrated a preference for a policy that research demonstrates can be detrimental to their children’s future education opportunities. Another set of chapters emphasizes the centrality of policy texts and how language influences the educational experiences and engagement of students and their families. Each chapter concludes with a discussion of implications of the research for educators, families, and other community partners.

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Book SynopsisThe rash of bullying incidents within schools, universities, and workplaces has prompted a public outcry and a call to action. To address the growing problem of interpersonal violence, schools have engaged in anti -bullying rallies, businesses have enacted civility policies, states have passed legislation, and efforts have been made to educate individuals on what constitutes good behavior. Increasingly, institutions are realizing from a cost/benefit perspective that a hurtful environment can negatively impact their bottom line. Correspondingly, the rising number of climate surveys to address bullying at work is a testament to the importance of this topic and its potential negative impact.Colleges and universities confirm the need to create a more welcoming culture, as reflected in the current dialogue to promote civility. Publisher offerings in business ethics are inadequate to address this issue, as they focus on the importance of social responsibility and the fallout from moral turpitude. There is a pressing need for materials that will educate students on “civil” concepts and provide them with applied learning. Institutions of higher education would like to inform students about bullying, its ramifications, and how it can be avoided, but a compendium of related exercises is in most cases non-existent.To solidify student learning about positive citizenship, an established author (and anti-bullying activist) has proposed How to Transform Workplace Bullies into Allies. This unique groundbreaking text will provide hands-on, experiential exercises that will engage students with the material, and create a multi-dimensional focus to enable concept retention. Considered a hallmark of applied education, “learning by doing” will be this book’s primary emphasis. Exercises are designed to sharpen critical thinking, immerse students in real world dilemmas, and provide them with tools for conflict resolution. The emotional intelligence promoted by working through in-text scenarios is a soughtafter employee trait—one that is desired by classmates and career centers alike. Unfortunately, people skills at work have long been ignored in traditional college curricula. As a result, schools are creating graduates who possess technical know-how but not the skill set to effectively navigate personal encounters. The “soft skills” of people savvy, which have been deemed crucial to employee success, are in large part absent from college offerings.By navigating carefully constructed scenarios, web quests, learning modules, and “teachable moments,” readers will develop a keen awareness of what it takes to be a respectful person. Moreover, they will gain expertise in what The Society for Human Resource Management has deemed a critical skill set. Exercises to strengthen incivility awareness are designed not only to prevent potential conflict, but to create change agents within the business arena. Completion of this workbook will provide people with a competitive advantage—and their institution and workplace with a more courteous populace.

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Book SynopsisThe rash of bullying incidents within schools, universities, and workplaces has prompted a public outcry and a call to action. To address the growing problem of interpersonal violence, schools have engaged in anti -bullying rallies, businesses have enacted civility policies, states have passed legislation, and efforts have been made to educate individuals on what constitutes good behavior. Increasingly, institutions are realizing from a cost/benefit perspective that a hurtful environment can negatively impact their bottom line. Correspondingly, the rising number of climate surveys to address bullying at work is a testament to the importance of this topic and its potential negative impact.Colleges and universities confirm the need to create a more welcoming culture, as reflected in the current dialogue to promote civility. Publisher offerings in business ethics are inadequate to address this issue, as they focus on the importance of social responsibility and the fallout from moral turpitude. There is a pressing need for materials that will educate students on “civil” concepts and provide them with applied learning. Institutions of higher education would like to inform students about bullying, its ramifications, and how it can be avoided, but a compendium of related exercises is in most cases non-existent.To solidify student learning about positive citizenship, an established author (and anti-bullying activist) has proposed How to Transform Workplace Bullies into Allies. This unique groundbreaking text will provide hands-on, experiential exercises that will engage students with the material, and create a multi-dimensional focus to enable concept retention. Considered a hallmark of applied education, “learning by doing” will be this book’s primary emphasis. Exercises are designed to sharpen critical thinking, immerse students in real world dilemmas, and provide them with tools for conflict resolution. The emotional intelligence promoted by working through in-text scenarios is a soughtafter employee trait—one that is desired by classmates and career centers alike. Unfortunately, people skills at work have long been ignored in traditional college curricula. As a result, schools are creating graduates who possess technical know-how but not the skill set to effectively navigate personal encounters. The “soft skills” of people savvy, which have been deemed crucial to employee success, are in large part absent from college offerings.By navigating carefully constructed scenarios, web quests, learning modules, and “teachable moments,” readers will develop a keen awareness of what it takes to be a respectful person. Moreover, they will gain expertise in what The Society for Human Resource Management has deemed a critical skill set. Exercises to strengthen incivility awareness are designed not only to prevent potential conflict, but to create change agents within the business arena. Completion of this workbook will provide people with a competitive advantage—and their institution and workplace with a more courteous populace.

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Book SynopsisAn exploration of the University of South Carolina's trailblazing approach to the first-year experienceAs an innovative educational experiment, University 101 was designed to support students' transition to and success in college. Now, fifty years after its inception, the program continues to bring national recognition to the University of South Carolina. From Educational Experiment to Standard Bearer celebrates this milestone by exploring the course's origins; its evolution and success at the university; its impact on first-year students, upper-level students serving as peer leaders, faculty and staff instructors, and the university community and culture; and its role in launching the international first-year experience movement.By highlighting the most significant takeaways, lessons learned, and insights to practitioners on other campuses, this book will serve as an inspiration and road map for other institutions to invest in this proven concept and focus on the ingredients that lead to a successful program. John N. Gardner, founding director and architect of University 101, provides a foreword.

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Book SynopsisAn exploration of the University of South Carolina's trailblazing approach to the first-year experienceAs an innovative educational experiment, University 101 was designed to support students' transition to and success in college. Now, fifty years after its inception, the program continues to bring national recognition to the University of South Carolina. From Educational Experiment to Standard Bearer celebrates this milestone by exploring the course's origins; its evolution and success at the university; its impact on first-year students, upper-level students serving as peer leaders, faculty and staff instructors, and the university community and culture; and its role in launching the international first-year experience movement.By highlighting the most significant takeaways, lessons learned, and insights to practitioners on other campuses, this book will serve as an inspiration and road map for other institutions to invest in this proven concept and focus on the ingredients that lead to a successful program. John N. Gardner, founding director and architect of University 101, provides a foreword.

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Book SynopsisThis book reviews the history of the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration from 1961 to 2021. The focus is on the school’s accomplishments over its first sixty years, how they were achieved, and why they are significant. The analysis describes the challenges and opportunities that shaped the school’s development and its emergence as one of the nation’s leading public affairs schools. What began in 1961 as an experimental program supported by a single external grant emerged six decades later as one of the nation’s leading comprehensive schools of public affairs. That transformation unfolded during one of the most dynamic periods in the history of higher education when the public purpose of universities was expanded. The history of the Biden School is a story of institutional innovation, perseverance, adaptation, and resilience.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments 000 Biden School Timeline 000 Introduction 000 PART I CREATING THE DELAWARE MODEL (1961-1996) Chapter One The Division of Urban Affairs 000 Chapter Two The College of Urban Affairs and Public Policy 000 Chapter Three Policy Partnerships and The Delaware Model 000 PART II BECOMING A COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL (1997-2014) Chapter Four The School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy 000 Chapter Five The School of Public Policy and Administration 000 Chapter Six Shaping Public Policy 000 PART III PURSUING A NEW VISION (2015-2021) Chapter Seven Rising Expectations 000 Chapter Eight The Biden School 000 Chapter Nine Legacies and Possibilities 000 Selected Bibliography 000 Index 000

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Book SynopsisNavigating the American Education System: Four Latino Success Stories showcases the educational journey of four Latino/a men and women who navigated the American education system successfully. Their success is significant given the multiple and varied challenges that most Latinos/as encounter throughout the K–20 educational continuum. The purpose of this book is not only to show and tell, but to describe ordinary people attaining extraordinary results, who might also stand as good role models for the youngest- and fastest-growing group—Latinos/as—in this country. Researchers of this topic offer compelling statistics, such as the following projection: Out of 100 Latino/a students, a few more than 50 will finish high school; out of this number, five will enroll in college; and out of the original 100, less than one percent will complete a doctorate. While the causes of low academic attainment for Latinos may vary, including limited financial resources and cultural differences, the lack of Latino role models in K–20 education may be a significant contributing factor.The expression, “You can’t be what you don’t see” is especially applicable to Latino/a students who seldom see people like them in positions of prominence and power in educational environments. Across the country, and in particular in states with high numbers of Latino/a students, as the K–20 student body becomes darker, the teaching and decision-making personnel remain light-skinned. Consequently, the absence of role models for an increasing number of students of color may contribute to low levels of aspiration. Many attempts and existing literature regarding the achievement gap of students of color, especially Latinos/as, seem to have had modest or no impact, even when statistical analysis and sound rationales are provided. On the other hand, the stories included in this book offer an alternative that may have an impact and long-lasting effect in the lives of students of color.Story messages tend to stay longer with us and enable us to make sense of complex situations, such as education, culture, and personality traits—persistence, motivation, resilience. Consequently, the stories in this book become vehicles to learn from real-life examples the abstractions of education, home and school culture, and other factors that contribute to academic success. Furthermore, the stories encourage people to write, tell, and share experiences to address ongoing problems; invite change where change is needed; organize thoughts and seek meaningful solutions; invite us to become cognizant about how our emotions direct our thoughts and “move mountains”; enable us to discover undercurrents that hinder organizational communication; direct us to pay attention to the little things that matter and build trust; awaken the good in people through an invitational approach, as opposed to one that it’s mandated; push us to avoid playing it safe and stick out our emotional necks when dealing with people; seek authentic voices to make room for new thinking; make time for people; and allow our voices to define the values we embrace.

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