Distinguishing Language Acquisition From Learning Disabilities
Make the right instructional and eligibility decisions to help your English Learners! Do your students' reading difficulties reflect language acquisition issues or a learning disability? Now in an updated second edition, this essential guide helps educators make informed, accurate choices about strategies and services to support English Learners. Developed for general and special education teachers and service providers, this trusted resource offers a variety of research-based best practices, and includes Nine common misconceptions that can lead to wrongful placement of students in special education Theories of second language acquisition Select evidence-based methods for teaching reading to students learning English Issues to consider and techniques to use when assessing students for special education and making data-based decisions Role of cultural influences in reading instruction Expanded coverage of multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) Readers will find helpful vignettes, checklists, and suggestions that support outstanding teaching practices and appropriate, effective use of assessment and referrals. "This book provides a wealth of information on ELs within the RTI process. The authors provide a number of practical checklists that can be used by any school district. Very few books address the topic as well as this one does." Jennifer Urbach, Associate Professor University of Northern Colorado
Designing High-Quality Professional Development for Standards-Based Schools
This thoroughly revised and updated edition of Why Can't We Get It Right? includes more tools, a stronger focus on implementation strategies, key points and open-ended scenarios for reflection. Speck and Knipe explain how school leaders can plan collaborative professional development that is standards based. This book will deepen teachers' collective understanding about how to create professional development opportunities and practices. Well-designed professional development programs foster a learner-centered environment, and research has shown that improving teachers' knowledge and skills is a prerequisite to raising student performance. Speck and Knipe provide professional development designs and practices that make a difference for teachers and students, resulting in dramatically improved schools. In order for our schools to leave no child behind, teachers need access to the most current information, strategies, research, and professional learning opportunities. This unique and indispensable guide links professional development tightly to academic standards to raise student achievement. Each chapter contains: brief scenario to ground readers essential questions to provoke deeper thought about each topic tables, figures, and other visuals to illustrate key concepts, surveys, teacher professional development plans, planning worksheets, standards-based adaptable frameworks, evaluation guides, and other tools to help readers try out ideas.
Designing High-Quality Professional Development for Standards-Based Schools
This thoroughly revised and updated edition of Why Can't We Get It Right? includes more tools, a stronger focus on implementation strategies, key points and open-ended scenarios for reflection. Speck and Knipe explain how school leaders can plan collaborative professional development that is standards based. This book will deepen teachers' collective understanding about how to create professional development opportunities and practices. Well-designed professional development programs foster a learner-centered environment, and research has shown that improving teachers' knowledge and skills is a prerequisite to raising student performance. Speck and Knipe provide professional development designs and practices that make a difference for teachers and students, resulting in dramatically improved schools. In order for our schools to leave no child behind, teachers need access to the most current information, strategies, research, and professional learning opportunities. This unique and indispensable guide links professional development tightly to academic standards to raise student achievement. Each chapter contains: brief scenario to ground readers essential questions to provoke deeper thought about each topic tables, figures, and other visuals to illustrate key concepts, surveys, teacher professional development plans, planning worksheets, standards-based adaptable frameworks, evaluation guides, and other tools to help readers try out ideas.
Using examples from real classrooms, the book shows teachers how to connect inquiry to required content while still moving students toward more control of their own learning. Teachers can learn to help all students, including those with special needs, to reform their initial playful, tangential, or shallow questions to deeper questions about content that will help them develop the thinking skills that they will continue to use throughout school and into adulthood.
Foster Confidence and Ownership in Every Math Student When it comes to math, does it feel like some students embrace problem-solving with agency and ownership while others are confused-or simply along for the ride? How do educators bridge that divide to develop competence, confidence, and ownership in every student? The answers lie in establishing clear and effective measures for success. Steeped in the principles of success criteria, Whose Math Is It? provides educators with everything they need to create a classroom environment where students feel empowered to step up and take the lead. Divided into two parts, this must-read guide first defines what success looks like for math students, then provides the research-based best practices teachers can use to help students take control of their learning. Learn how to: Define and establish effective success criteria in a mathematics classroom Implement a variety of strategies to support student ownership and success Develop class-wide social norms specific to math Promote metacognition through self-regulated learning, self-assessment, and feedback Reinforce student ownership through structured peer interactions and collaboration Whose Math Is It? is an essential resource for K-12 math teachers who want to empower their students to actively own their mathematics learning. By emphasizing the importance of success criteria, promoting self-regulated learning, and developing math-specific social norms, this book provides practical strategies for creating an environment where when asked, "Whose math is it?" every student can emphatically respond: My math!
Creating Professional Learning Communities That Target Student Learning
"This third edition from Murphy and Lick is a superb resource and a must read for all educators involved in the improvement of education. It should be in the hands of individuals from the state department of education to the classroom teacher, for it speaks to all layers of the system, and to the role that each person must play to assure successful learning for all students." -From the Foreword by Shirley Hord, Scholar Emerita Southwest Educational Development Laboratory "Planning is an important thing. What Whole-Faculty Study Groups has done for us is to ensure that we never forget that implementation is the only thing." Jack Ernst, Superintendent Springfield Public Schools, Springfield, MO One of the most successful and exciting approaches to staff development, school reform, and systemic change in education today! Used by hundreds of schools and school districts across the country, the Whole-Faculty Study Group (WFSG) System is a student-driven, holistic process for facilitating major staff development and schoolwide change. While providing a step-by-step methodology for the development and implementation of successful WFSGs, this newest edition of Murphy and Lick's groundbreaking bestseller incorporates the most current theoretical concepts on change, the latest refinements to change management procedures, and a wealth of new experiences from more than two thousand individual study groups. Other significant revisions to this edition include: Three additional chapters: the research foundation for WFSGs, how to recognize and understand school culture, and fourteen key findings A reorganization of chapters to make the book even more reader-friendly New material on timely topics such as "learning communities" and "learning teams" An increased focus on assessment of student results Updated sets of resources and illustrations in the appendix WFSGs are a proven way to successfully reform, improve, and transition schools to meet tomorrow's needs. Filled with real-world examples and illustrative cases, this book provides both the practical knowledge and the theoretical foundation necessary to negotiate the societal, organizational, and cultural barriers affecting education. This new edition is essential for administrators, teachers, and staff in K-12 schools, as well as district level administrators, teachers of education, and anyone interested in increasing student learning.
Creating Professional Learning Communities That Target Student Learning
"This third edition from Murphy and Lick is a superb resource and a must read for all educators involved in the improvement of education. It should be in the hands of individuals from the state department of education to the classroom teacher, for it speaks to all layers of the system, and to the role that each person must play to assure successful learning for all students." -From the Foreword by Shirley Hord, Scholar Emerita Southwest Educational Development Laboratory "Planning is an important thing. What Whole-Faculty Study Groups has done for us is to ensure that we never forget that implementation is the only thing." Jack Ernst, Superintendent Springfield Public Schools, Springfield, MO One of the most successful and exciting approaches to staff development, school reform, and systemic change in education today! Used by hundreds of schools and school districts across the country, the Whole-Faculty Study Group (WFSG) System is a student-driven, holistic process for facilitating major staff development and schoolwide change. While providing a step-by-step methodology for the development and implementation of successful WFSGs, this newest edition of Murphy and Lick's groundbreaking bestseller incorporates the most current theoretical concepts on change, the latest refinements to change management procedures, and a wealth of new experiences from more than two thousand individual study groups. Other significant revisions to this edition include: Three additional chapters: the research foundation for WFSGs, how to recognize and understand school culture, and fourteen key findings A reorganization of chapters to make the book even more reader-friendly New material on timely topics such as "learning communities" and "learning teams" An increased focus on assessment of student results Updated sets of resources and illustrations in the appendix WFSGs are a proven way to successfully reform, improve, and transition schools to meet tomorrow's needs. Filled with real-world examples and illustrative cases, this book provides both the practical knowledge and the theoretical foundation necessary to negotiate the societal, organizational, and cultural barriers affecting education. This new edition is essential for administrators, teachers, and staff in K-12 schools, as well as district level administrators, teachers of education, and anyone interested in increasing student learning.
Educators today must navigate a newer and more dynamic terrain than previous generations. This book provides a practical framework for improving the satisfaction of educators, all through the lens of whole-school health.
10 proven practices to help children thrive In a world that seems to grow more unpredictable and challenging by the day, how can we increase learning and joy for children while offering them much-needed support? Uncertainty and disruption have created a youth mental health crisis that requires all hands on deck. This urgently needed guidebook offers comprehensive and scientifically-grounded methods you can use to support young people's well-being, no matter what obstacles they face. Written by an expert with decades of experience in education, youth development, and social work, this timely and timeless resource includes: 10 practices that can prevent and address mental health challenges and enable young people to thrive Strategies for taking care of kids while also taking care of yourself Information on the most pressing issues youth face, from nurturing healthy relationships to building community and belonging Key takeaways and reflection questions for individual use and group discussion as well as "Try Now" sections with tips and tools that can be used immediately Providing essential information, practical advice, stories, and time-tested strategies to help kids live and learn, Whole Child, Whole Life is required reading for anyone who is working with, caring for, or raising young people.