Description
Book SynopsisThis is a book about educational leadership. It tells the stories of 7 educational leaders who made the difficult decision to change their school to public charter school status. Several of the stories are told by those leaders themselves. Their journeys span over 25 years in many cases. The authors also conducted follow-up interviews, dialogues, and investigations to investigate the keys to their sustained success over time. These leaders all possessed an unwavering commitment to their school communities and maintained unusual dedication to their stakeholders.
Trade ReviewChanging to Charter delivers much more than an examination of the demands, risks, and rewards of converting K-12 schools to charter status. Through the biographies of charter conversion pioneers and their conversion schools, the authors convincingly portray two seemingly contradictory findings: (1) the backgrounds of conversion pioneers are as varied as the circumstances surrounding each conversion; (2) successful school conversions, like the pioneers that led them, share a common core of leadership, indeed human, characteristics critical for successful school conversion and operation.
-- Guilbert C. Hentschke, Dean Emeritus, Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California
Shore, Leahy, and Medley have written the book that every person interested in better schools for our children must read. It is hard to make a school great, but it can be done with excellent leadership and dedication. -- Bill Siart, Founder & Chairman of ExED
Table of ContentsPART I
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1 - Charter Schools Defined
Chapter 2 - Why Change to Charter?
PART II
Chapter 3 - New Kids on the Block
Chapter 4 - New Leaders on the Block
Chapter 5 - Clawing Your Way
Chapter 6 - Success is a Journey, not a Destination
Chapter 7- A District School
Chapter 8 - Strengthening Unlikely Partnerships
Chapter 9 - Shared Pain: The Story of Orange Grove Elementary
Chapter 10 - A 100 Year Love Story
Chapter 11 - What If? A History of The Learning Center! Charter School
Chapter 12 - An Island Story
Chapter 13 - Legacy of Leadership: The Key of Conversion
About the Authors
