Search results for ""ASCD""

It's much faster and easier to implement Charlotte Danielson's renowned framework for teaching from Enhancing Professional Practice when you have this collection of tools, examples, and assessments. Teachers can use the tools, either on their own or with their students, to: Analyze and assess teaching practice. Integrate elements of successful teaching into the classroom. Plan a course of action for teacher improvement. Undertake and use new teaching practices and record the results. Determine the results of new practices and next steps to take. Whether you use the framework in teacher preparation courses, recruitment, mentoring, professional development, or professional learning communities, the nearly 100 tools and activities in this guide will help make the components of successful teaching the standard for practice in your school, district, or personal career. PDF versions of the tools are available for download.

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Comprehensive School Health Education provides everything needed to teach health in grades K-12. The authors offer a dynamic and empowering approach to teaching health skills. This book includes lesson plans, online and app-based tools for assessment, and Totally Awesome Teaching Strategies masters, a curriculum tool aligned with the National Health Education Standards and CDC guidelines for health education. This edition also introduces the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model from the CDC and ASCD.

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A clear and comprehensive guide to evaluating and supporting instructional coaches and coaching programs, including how to recruit, hire, and retain effective coaches.With sound practices in place to evaluate coaching programs, instructional coaches will become better partners, teachers will become better mentors, and students will become better learners.Few evaluation systems are specifically geared toward coaching roles. Ensuring that school districts have accurate information about both coaches and coaching programs is crucial to guide improvement in supporting classrooms, as well as in ensuring accountability. With sound evaluation processes in place, districts can effectively evaluate instructional coaches and coaching programs and use data to set goals.A joint publication of ASCD and One Fine Bird Press.

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In his 2011 ASCD best-seller Focus: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning, author Mike Schmoker described a fresh approach to K-12 teaching built on three core elements: a focused and coherent curriculum; clear, prioritized lessons; and purposeful reading and writing, or authentic literacy. Now, in Leading with Focus, he shows administrators, principals, and other education leaders how to apply his model to the work of running schools and districts. In this companion to his previous book, Schmoker offers: An overview of the case for simple, focused school and district leadership—demonstrating its power for vastly improving the work of teachers and leaders. Examples of real schools and districts that have embraced focused leadership—and the incredible results for student learning. A practical, flexible, and easy-to-follow implementation guide for ensuring focused leadership in schools and districts. All students deserve to learn in schools where educators eschew distractions and superfluous activities to concentrate on what's most important. To that end, this book is an essential resource for leaders ready to streamline their practice and focus their efforts on radically improving student learning.

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Students can succeed in school—but they must be in school to do so.Addressing absenteeism is as important as addressing problematic behavior and academic difficulties in the classroom. To address the pervasive issue of chronic absenteeism—that is, missing 10 percent of school days for any reason—educators must begin to move away from a model of reliance on reactive and punitive approaches and toward one that is preventive and positive, and that uses proven principles of behavioral change.Teacher's Guide to Tackling Attendance Challenges, by nationally known educators Jessica Sprick and Tricia Berg, provides teachers with the information and resources they need to build a strong classroom-based initiative to improve the attendance of all students, creating a classroom culture of attendance with easy-to-implement strategies.Sprick and Berg provide concrete and practical strategies for teachers to implement in their own classrooms to address chronic absence and improve the attendance of all students, including: A framework for implementation. Sample lesson plans. Examples and reproducibles for reinforcement systems. Talking points for use with students and families. Real-world examples of successful classroom-based approaches. Handouts for parents on establishing routines, dealing with technology and more. When teachers apply the easy-to-implement and minimally invasive presented, they will see significant improvements in student attendance.This book is a copublication of ASCD and Ancora Publishing.

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With Doing Poorly on Purpose, veteran educator James R. Delisle dispels the negative associations and stereotypes connected to underachievement. By focusing on smart kids who get poor grades not because they're unable to do better in school but because they don't want to Delisle presents a snapshot of underachievement that may look far different from what you envision it to be.There is no such thing as a ""classic underachiever."" Students (and their reasons for underachieving) are influenced by a wide range of factors, including self-image, self-concept, social-emotional relationships, and the amount of dignity teachers afford their students.Helping ""smart"" students achieve when they don't want to is not an easy task, but you can reengage and inspire students using Delisle's insights and practical advice on these topics: Autonomy. Access. Advocacy. Alternatives. Aspirations. Approachable Educators. Smart, underachieving students need the reassurance that they are capable, valuable, and worth listening to despite their low academic performance. If these students who are otherwise academically capable don't feel they are getting respect from those in charge of their learning, then the desire to conform and achieve is minimized.In a word, they want dignity. Don't we all?This book is a joint publication of ASCD and Free Spirit Publishing.

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It's no secret that in today's complex world, students face unparalleled demands as they prepare for college, careers, and active citizenship. However, those demands won't be met without a fundamental shift from traditional, teacher-centered instruction toward innovative, student-centered teaching and learning. For schools ready to make such a shift, project-based learning (PBL) offers a proven framework to help students be better equipped to tackle future challenges.Project Based Teachers encourage active questioning, curiosity, and peer learning; create learning environments in which every student has a voice; and have a mastery of content but are also comfortable responding to students' questions by saying, ""I don't know. Let's find out together.""In this book, Suzie Boss and John Larmer build on the framework for Gold Standard PBL originally presented in Setting the Standard for Project Based Learning and explore the seven practices integral to Project Based Teaching: Build the Culture. Design and Plan. Align to Standards. Manage Activities. Assess Student Learning. Scaffold Student Learning. Engage and Coach. For each practice, the authors present a wide range of practical strategies and include teachers' reflections about and suggestions from their classroom experiences.This book and a related series of free videos provide a detailed look at what's happening in PBL classrooms from the perspective of the Project Based Teacher. Let's find out together.A copublication of ASCD and Buck Institute for Education (BIE).

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In this fully revised and expanded third edition of the bestselling Reciprocal Teaching at Work, Lori D. Oczkus provides both tried-and-true and fresh solutions for teaching reading comprehension.Reciprocal teaching is a scaffolded discussion technique that builds on the Fab Four strategies that good readers use to understand text: predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing.With a focus on these four evidence-based and classroom-tested strategies, Oczkus presents new ways to use reciprocal teaching to improve students' comprehension while actively engaging them in learning and encouraging independence. Appealing to students and teachers alike, reciprocal teaching encompasses social aspects of teaching and learning with modeling, think-alouds, and discussion.This helpful guide is packed with fresh material, including: More than 40 new and updated step-by-step lessons and minilessons that reflect current thinking and best practice. Dozens of rich suggestions for diving into informational texts. Updated research and relevant results that show the effectiveness of reciprocal teaching. Creative and targeted tips that capitalize on the specific benefits of whole-class settings, guided reading groups, and literature circles. Ideas for differentiating instruction for struggling readers and English language learners. New and newly designed support materials, including reproducibles, posters, bookmarks, and a lesson planning menu. With a wealth of ideas to get you started and keep you going this is the all-inclusive resource you need to help students become active, engaged, and independent readers who truly comprehend what they read.Copublished by ASCD and the International Literacy Association (ILA).

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An ASCD Bestseller!In this stirring follow-up to the award-winning Fostering Resilient Learners, Kristin Van Marter Souers and Pete Hall take you to the next level of trauma-invested practice. To get there, they explain, educators need to build a ""nest""—a positive learning environment shaped by three new Rs of education: relationship, responsibility, and regulation.Drawing from their extensive experience working with schools, students, and families throughout the country, the authors: Explain how to create a culture of safety in which everyone feels valued, important, and capable of learning. Describe the four areas of need—emotional, relational, physical, and control—that drive student behaviors and show how to meet these needs with interventions framed around the new three Rs. Illustrate trauma-invested practices in action through real scenarios that identify students' unmet needs, examine the situation from five stakeholder perspectives, and suggest interventions to support students and their families. Offer opportunities to challenge your beliefs and develop deeper and different ways of thinking about your role in your students' lives. Educators have a unique opportunity to influence students' learning, attitudes, and futures. This book will invigorate your practice and equip you to empower those you serve—whatever their personal histories.

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Why do we assess reading? What do we assess when we assess reading? How, where, and when do we assess reading? Reading instruction and assessment expert Peter Afflerbach addresses these questions and much more in the 3rd edition of Understanding and Using Reading Assessment, K-12.Using the CURRV model to evaluate reading assessment methods—including reading inventories, teacher questioning, performance assessment, and high-stakes reading tests—Afflerbach considers the consequences and usefulness of each method, the roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders, and the reliability and validity of the assessments. In addition, he examines four important but often overlooked aspects of reading assessment: Assessment accommodation for English-language learners and students with special needs. Assessment of noncognitive aspects of reading, such as motivation, engagement, self-concept, and self-efficacy. The use of formative and summative assessment. The importance of self-assessment in building reading independence. The book provides detailed case studies from all grade levels to illustrate reading assessment done well. It also includes 15 reproducible forms and checklists that teachers and administrators can use to optimize their reading assessment efforts.Students are expected to read increasingly complex texts and to complete increasingly complex reading-related tasks to demonstrate their growth as readers. This book offers teachers and administrators alike a clear path to helping students meet those expectations.This book is a co-publication of ASCD and ILA.New to the 3rd edition:: New chapter “Formative and Summative Assessment”. Three significantly revised chapters—Performance Assessment; Assessment Accommodation for English Learners and Students With Special Needs (“Accommodation and Reading Assessment” in 2nd edition); Assessing “the Other”: Important Noncognitive Aspects of Reading. Fifteen reproducible and downloadable forms and checklists.

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How do some high schools produce graduates that consistently achieve at high levels? Would you believe there's a set of proven strategies that could help you deliver similar impressive results and better prepare students for the world after high school?High schools in the United States face a startling reality: many graduates are unprepared for success in postsecondary studies or for high-demand, well-paying jobs in a rapidly changing economy. Although this situation is alarming, the high schools that have embraced new ways of learning show us what is possible.Drawing from his experience with the High Schools That Work initiative, Gene Bottoms offers educators a path forward by urging them to pursue bold goals and outlining bold actions for achieving those goals. His vision is clear: replace the traditional model of secondary education with one that engages students in a rigorous curriculum that combines a solid academic core with intellectually demanding career pathway courses.The notion that nearly all students can achieve at high levels is borne out by numerous examples of high schools—including those with traditionally underperforming student populations—that have used key strategies to help all students realize their potential.Bottoms explains the root causes of the current shortcomings in high school education and then specifies critical components of successful transformation:Shared leadership;Powerful assignments—especially in math, literacy, and career/technical education—planned and executed by academic and career pathway teachers working together;Strengthened connections between middle school and high school;A redesigned senior year; andComprehensive counseling and advisory programs.Provocative and persuasive in its sense of urgency, Tomorrow's High School offers proven and practical solutions to finally make high schools a rich and rewarding experience for all students, whatever their future college and career goals may be.This book is a copublication of ASCD and SREB. It includes access to nine downloadable appendixes.

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Did you know that close to half of today's jobs in the U.S. could be done by robots and that proportion is rapidly increasing? It is quite possible that about half of today's high school graduates will not have the knowledge or skills needed to get a decent job when they graduate. Tomorrow's high school graduates will be able to thrive in this environment, but only if school superintendents, central office executives, and principals use the strategies employed by the world's top-performing education systems to build the high-performance education systems today's students will need to succeed tomorrow.In Leading High-Performance School Systems: Lessons from the World's Best, Marc Tucker, a leading expert on top-performing school systems with more than 30 years of experience studying the global economy and education systems worldwide, details how top-performing school systems have met head-on the challenges facing school leaders today. You'll learn why our current system is obsolete, explore the knowledge and skills needed to design and build first-rate education systems, and gain a solid understanding of the key elements of high-performance school systems, including the following: A powerful, coherent instructional system with school-leaving certifications that mean much more than today's high school diploma. Partnerships with first-rate universities to ensure a steady supply of highly capable, well-educated, and well-trained teachers. Schools reorganized around highly qualified professional teachers with a career ladder they can climb. High expectations and personalized support to ensure that children arrive at each grade level ready to learn. An equitable system that closes the gaps in student performance. Vocational education for talented youth seeking an applied, academically rigorous education. Leading High-Performance School Systems is an invaluable resource for school leaders preparing today's students for tomorrow's world.This book is a copublication of ASCD and NCEE.

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In far too many classrooms, the emphasis is on instructional strategies that teachers employ rather than on what students should be doing or thinking about as part of their learning. What's more, students' minds are something of a mysterious ""black box"" for most teachers, so when learning breaks down, they're not sure what went wrong or what to do differently to help students learn.It doesn't have to be this way. Learning That Sticks helps you look inside that black box. Bryan Goodwin and his coauthors unpack the cognitive science underlying research-supported learning strategies so you can sequence them into experiences that challenge, inspire, and engage your students. As a result, you'll learn to teach with more intentionality—understanding not just what to do but also when and why to do it.By way of an easy-to-use six-phase model of learning, this book: Analyzes how the brain reacts to, stores, and retrieves new information. Helps you ""zoom out"" to understand the process of learning from beginning to end. Helps you ""zoom in"" to see what's going on in students' minds during each phase. Learning may be complicated, but learning about learning doesn't have to be. And to that end, Learning That Sticks helps shine a light into all the black boxes in your classroom and make your practice the most powerful it can be.This product is a copublication of ASCD and McREL.

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For students to be successful in school, they first have to be in school.""With that simple statement, Jessica Sprick and Randy Sprick launch a compelling case for prioritizing student attendance. This comprehensive guide provides school and district-level administrators and teams with the background information, strategies, and tools needed to implement a multitiered approach to improving attendance and preventing chronic absence. The authors use the results of their work in schools throughout the United States to dispel the myth that educators have little control over student attendance and provide success stories from elementary and secondary schools that have reversed longstanding patterns of absenteeism.Citing extensive research, Sprick and Sprick share details about the shocking prevalence of chronic absence in U.S. schools and its effects on students, teachers, families, and the school community. They explain how to replace punitive approaches to absenteeism with effective methods that begin with universal supports and continue through Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions for students with more persistent problems. Specifically, they explain how to: Build an effective school team to address absenteeism. Create systems to collect accurate data and set priorities. Develop an attendance initiative that generates student enthusiasm as well as staff, parent, and community support. Design and implement strategies that are tailored to specific schoolwide concerns and demographics that reach all students. Equipped with the information and tools presented in this book, educators can ensure wise use of staff and other resources—and create a culture of attendance that is the foundation of successful schools.This book is a copublication of ASCD and Ancora Publishing.

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