Evaluating Programs to Increase Student Achievement, Second Edition, provides school leaders with practical guidelines and tools to evaluate the effectiveness of school programs. Using reader-friendly terms, the author thoroughly discusses the steps of the evaluation process so that practitioners of all experience levels and backgrounds will gain a solid conceptual foundation, and can plan and carry out program evaluations. The revised edition includes: -Additional examples to illustrate the program evaluation process -An expanded discussion of the principal's role in the project -A facilitator's guide for team leaders
Achieve lasting educational benefits through masterfully administered school program evaluations! The annual process of evaluating school programs raises a legitimate question: how to implement quality program evaluations that will not drain a school's resources, but instead help create a school culture that promotes inspired teaching and high academic achievement-and meets NCLB guidelines? In this updated edition of the bestselling text, authors James R. Sanders and Carolyn D. Sullins demonstrate how an effective program evaluation process can conserve resources while yielding substantial benefits for teachers, parents, students, and schools. This user-friendly resource provides concise yet comprehensive coverage of school program evaluation through a highly regarded five-step program. Illustrated by examples and case studies, this approach is designed to help educators develop competence and confidence in program evaluation. Both practicing and aspiring educators can learn to: Successfully manage logistical and scheduling problems Strategically approach school politics, ethical considerations, and interpersonal relations Comprehensively organize and analyze information regarding school programs Effectively respond to the No Child Left Behind Act Discover how to skillfully administer school evaluations that produce lasting educational results!
Achieve lasting educational benefits through masterfully administered school program evaluations! The annual process of evaluating school programs raises a legitimate question: how to implement quality program evaluations that will not drain a school's resources, but instead help create a school culture that promotes inspired teaching and high academic achievement-and meets NCLB guidelines? In this updated edition of the bestselling text, authors James R. Sanders and Carolyn D. Sullins demonstrate how an effective program evaluation process can conserve resources while yielding substantial benefits for teachers, parents, students, and schools. This user-friendly resource provides concise yet comprehensive coverage of school program evaluation through a highly regarded five-step program. Illustrated by examples and case studies, this approach is designed to help educators develop competence and confidence in program evaluation. Both practicing and aspiring educators can learn to: Successfully manage logistical and scheduling problems Strategically approach school politics, ethical considerations, and interpersonal relations Comprehensively organize and analyze information regarding school programs Effectively respond to the No Child Left Behind Act Discover how to skillfully administer school evaluations that produce lasting educational results!
This book takes a new approach to teacher evaluation by building on and encouraging new best practices in education - constructivist teaching, emotional intelligence and brain research, improved professional development practices, reflective practice, collaborative teacher-administrator relationships. It develops a new evaluation model established by the author - the Growth-Focused Evaluation system - and provides the requisite forms and reproducibles necessary to adopt or adapt the system. Chapters one through six examine the nature of evaluation as a vehicle not only to provide accountability but also to improve success of schools and students; they examine the complexity of the teacher's job and the role of the principal as motivator and leader; and they look at the many factors that contribute to the need for alternative evaluations, and examine various approaches such as reflective practice, self-assessment, portfolios, peer coaching and evaluation. The book then moves into the Growth-Focused Evaluation system, which promotes teacher reflection and examination of practice. Included are processes for working with experienced, beginning, transferring, and marginal teachers. Samples of how to report teacher growth and evaluation are included, as well as ways for teachers to record their own professional growth and activity. An appendix of forms at the end of the book provides masters that can be reproduced as principals develop their own plan, or implement the plan described.
Foster the development of highly qualified teachers and improve your school's teaching and learning with solid teacher evaluations! The connection between teacher evaluation fostering school improvement and the development of highly qualified teachers is receiving more attention than ever before. Just as there is a rational connection between school improvement and teacher performance, there is a necessary and rational connection between supporting and cultivating highly qualified teachers through effective evaluations and improving relationships in the school. In this updated edition, top-selling author James H. Stronge and his colleagues synthesize current teacher evaluation research and blend it with practice, highlighting how to: Design a sound teacher evaluation system Assess teacher performance thoroughly and accurately Implement a successful teacher evaluation system Incorporate student performance data, teaching portfolios, and classroom observation into the evaluation process By aligning teaching performance and improvement goals with your school's mission, this text demonstrates how you can effectively encourage teachers to achieve a high standard of instruction at all levels.
Foreword by Grant Wiggins Afterword by Michael Fullan "[Parsons' work remind us] that collegial consideration of what works, what doesn't, and why is . . . interesting and enjoyable professional work." From the Foreword by Grant Wiggins "Whether you are planning a limited innovation in a few classrooms or implementing new state standards as a whole-school or districtwide change, this book will help you chart your course." Judith Renyi, Executive Director The NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education "In clear, accessible language, Beverly Parsons demystifies evaluation and provides numerous practical examples of how schools can use the methods she describes to better understand the process of change and achieve their goals-and to create schools in which youngsters and adults thrive." Dennis Sparks, Executive Director National Staff Development Council "Parson's evaluative inquiry framework is a gold mine of ideas and designs. It is at once complex, accessible, and comprehensive." From the Afterword by Michael Fullan, Dean Ontario Institute for Studies in Education University of Toronto Improve learning for all students in all environments! Evaluative Inquiry advances the capacity of teachers and principals to provide more effective learning for all students in every type of academic environment. In this jargon-free book, Parsons delivers a systematic program evaluation process for gathering, analyzing, and identifying what changes are needed in schools today for productive learning. Parsons provides the guidance, step-by-step instructions, and easy-to-use forms to help educators and school leaders understand and implement this hands-on, in-depth program evaluation process. Evaluative Inquiry can help you discover if your programs and initiatives are making a difference and whether they enhance the successes of students and teachers alike. Three types of evaluative inquiry are explored in this book: Quality-Does the initiative promote high-quality learning? Sustainability-Can the initiative be sustained? Cultivation-Can the initiative be expanded and nurtured? This unique book puts the evaluative process into the hands of principals, teachers, administrators, board members, foundations, and community members. It contains a number of real-life case examples to clearly demonstrate how the process actually works and outlines the tangible, successful results you can expect to realize in your own school or district.
Foreword by Grant Wiggins Afterword by Michael Fullan "[Parsons' work remind us] that collegial consideration of what works, what doesn't, and why is . . . interesting and enjoyable professional work." From the Foreword by Grant Wiggins "Whether you are planning a limited innovation in a few classrooms or implementing new state standards as a whole-school or districtwide change, this book will help you chart your course." Judith Renyi, Executive Director The NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education "In clear, accessible language, Beverly Parsons demystifies evaluation and provides numerous practical examples of how schools can use the methods she describes to better understand the process of change and achieve their goals-and to create schools in which youngsters and adults thrive." Dennis Sparks, Executive Director National Staff Development Council "Parson's evaluative inquiry framework is a gold mine of ideas and designs. It is at once complex, accessible, and comprehensive." From the Afterword by Michael Fullan, Dean Ontario Institute for Studies in Education University of Toronto Improve learning for all students in all environments! Evaluative Inquiry advances the capacity of teachers and principals to provide more effective learning for all students in every type of academic environment. In this jargon-free book, Parsons delivers a systematic program evaluation process for gathering, analyzing, and identifying what changes are needed in schools today for productive learning. Parsons provides the guidance, step-by-step instructions, and easy-to-use forms to help educators and school leaders understand and implement this hands-on, in-depth program evaluation process. Evaluative Inquiry can help you discover if your programs and initiatives are making a difference and whether they enhance the successes of students and teachers alike. Three types of evaluative inquiry are explored in this book: Quality-Does the initiative promote high-quality learning? Sustainability-Can the initiative be sustained? Cultivation-Can the initiative be expanded and nurtured? This unique book puts the evaluative process into the hands of principals, teachers, administrators, board members, foundations, and community members. It contains a number of real-life case examples to clearly demonstrate how the process actually works and outlines the tangible, successful results you can expect to realize in your own school or district.
Entry Points, Bridges, and Pathways for Striving Writers
Help striving writers thrive through UDL principles, instructional best practices, classroom-management strategies, low- and high-tech solutions, differentiated instruction, and reproducible tools.
A Doable Approach to Teaching With Learning Differences in Mind
Through immediately actionable tools, tasks, and strategies, this book will help grades 6 through 12 teachers know and understand their students as learners, plan for differentiation at both the macro level and the day-to-day classroom level, assess learning as it occurs and revise teaching strategies responsively, and manage the ins and outs of facilitating the ideal differentiated learning space.