0
    Handbook of School Improvement: How High-Performing Principals Create High-Performing Schools

    Handbook of School Improvement: How High-Performing Principals Create High-Performing Schools

    by Rebajo R. Blase, Joseph Blase, Dana Yon Phillips


    eBook

    $34.99
    $34.99
     $40.95 | Save 15%

    Customer Reviews

      ISBN-13: 9781452271507
    • Publisher: SAGE Publications
    • Publication date: 03/30/2010
    • Sold by: Barnes & Noble
    • Format: eBook
    • Pages: 240
    • File size: 4 MB

    Jo Blase is a professor of educational administration at the University of Georgia, and a former public school teacher, high school and middle school principal, and director of staff development. She received a Ph.D. in educational administration, curriculum, and supervision in 1983 from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and her research has focused on instructional and transformational leadership, school reform, staff development, and principal-teacher relationships. Through work with the Beginning Principal Study National Research Team, the Georgia League of Professional Schools, and public and private school educators with whom she consults throughout the United States and abroad, she has pursued her interest in preparation for and entry to educational and instructional leadership as it relates to supervisory discourse.

    Winner of the W. G. Walker 2000 Award for Excellence for her coauthored article published in the Journal of Educational Administration, the University of Georgia College of Education Teacher Educator Award, the University of Colorado School of Education Researcher/Teacher of the Year, and the American Association of School Administrators Outstanding Research Award, Blase has published in international handbooks and journals such as The Journal of Staff Development, The Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, Educational Administration Quarterly, and The Alberta Journal of Educational Research; her eight book editions include Empowering Teachers (1994, 2000), Democratic Principals in Action (1995), The Fire Is Back (1997), Handbook of Instructional Leadership (1998, 2004), Breaking the Silence (2003), and Teachers Bringing Out the Best in Teachers (2006).

    Blase has authored chapters on becoming a principal, school renewal, supervision, and organizational development; her recent research examines the problem of teacher mistreatment. She has published over 90 academic articles, chapters, and books, and she also conducts research on supervisory discourse among physicians as medical educators and consults with physicians in US hospitals and medical centers.


    Joseph Blase is a professor of educational administration at the University of Georgia. Since receiving his Ph.D. in 1980 from Syracuse University, his research has focused on school reform, transformational leadership, the micropolitics of education, principal-teacher relationships, and the work lives of teachers. His work concentrating on school-level micropolitics received the 1988 Davis Memorial Award given by the University Council for Educational Administration, and his coauthored article published in the Journal of Educational Administration won the W. G. Walker 2000 Award for Excellence. In 1999 he was recognized as an elite scholar, one of the 50 Most Productive and Influential Scholars of Educational Administration in the world. Blase’s books include The Politics of Life in Schools: Power, Conflict, and Cooperation (winner of the 1994 Critic’s Choice Award sponsored by the American Education Studies Association), Bringing Out the Best in Teachers (1994, 2000, 2008); The Micropolitics of Educational Leadership (1995), Empowering Teachers (1994, 2000), Democratic Principals in Action (1995), The Fire Is Back (1997), Handbook of Instructional Leadership (1998, 2004), Breaking the Silence (2003), and Teachers Bringing Out the Best in Teachers (2006). His recent research (coauthored with Jo Blase and Du Fengning, 2008), a national study of principal mistreatment of teachers, appeared in The Journal of Educational Administration. Professor Blase has published over 120 academic articles, chapters, and books.

    Dana Yon Phillips, Ed.D. is a middle school administrator and former elementary school administrator in Georgia, part-time Assistant Professor at the University of Georgia, and part-time Instructor for Piedmont College. She completed her Ed.D. in Educational Leadership at the University of Georgia in 2004, where she focused on shared governance, instructional leadership, and teacher leadership. She now teaches organizational leadership, change for school improvement, and ethics at the University of Georgia.

    During 1999 and 2000, Phillips produced and was host of School Talk, a weekly cable television program exploring educational trends and issues with school leaders. In 2003 she delivered a paper on the topic of “parental involvement” at the National School Reform Conference. Prior to her return to the field of education in 2000, Dr. Phillips owned and operated a nursing home management company for 26 years. Recognized as a service-oriented organizational leader, Dr. Phillips also provided management consulting services and conducted numerous seminars and workshops on topics such as staff development and training, operational policies and procedures, and federal and state long-term health care requirements for trade associations and nursing home and assisted living facilities. She is author of Policies and Procedures for Long-term Health Care Facilities (1993) and Manual of Staff Orientation and Training for Long-Term Health Care Facilities (1994).

    Read More

    Table of Contents

    Acknowledgements
    About the Authors
    Preface
    The Book in Brief
    Foreword by William Greenfield
    Foreword by Joseph Hunter
    Foreword by Susan Usry
    List of Figures
    Part I. Administrative Leadership for School Improvement: Action Foci of High-Performing Principals
    Introduction to Part One of the Handbook
    What Is a High-Performing School?
    What Is a High-Performing Principal?
    The New Challenge of Leadership for School Improvement
    1. Learning: Principals of High-Performing Schools Are Models of Learning
    How Did They Learn?
    What Did They Learn? High-Performing Principals Learned
    Summary
    Tips and Suggestions
    2. Modeling: Principals of High-Performing Schools Are Exemplars of the Field’s Standards of Leadership
    Activities for Becoming an Exemplar of Leadership Standards
    Summary
    Tips and Suggestions
    3. Focusing: Principals of High-Performing Schools Focus on School and Teacher Practices Associated With Increased Student Achievement
    Jigsaw Activity for School- and Teacher-Level Practices Influencing Student Achievement
    Summary
    Tips and Suggestions
    4. Leading for Achievement: Principals of High-Performing Schools Lead in Ways That Have Maximum Impact on Student Achievement
    Summary
    Tips and Suggestions
    5. Improving Instruction: Principals of High-Performing Schools Work With Teachers on the School Mission: They Engage in On-Going, Collaborative Study of School-Wide Instructional Improvement Efforts
    Summary
    Tips and Suggestions
    6. Developing Systems: Principals of High-Performing Schools Use a “Systems development” Approach to Dispatch With Managerial Responsibilities and to Support Instructional Aspects of Work
    Use a Systems Development Approach to Create Self-Sustaining Structures
    Use Time Wisely
    Plan Well
    Manage the Budget Efficiently and Effectively
    Manage the Physical Plant Efficiently and Effectively
    Prevent Problems from Begetting Problems
    Summary
    Tips and Suggestions
    7. Empowering: Principals of High-Performing Schools Take an Empowering (Team) Approach to Almost Everything and Create “Learning Communities” in Their School
    The Leadership Team
    Summary
    Tips and Suggestions
    8. Hiring: Principals of High-Performing Schools Hire Strong People for Administrative, Faculty, and Staff Positions
    Know Who You Need
    Involve Everyone in Hiring
    Establish Hiring Protocols
    Correct Hiring Mistakes
    Summary
    Tips and Suggestions
    9. Using Data: Principals of High-Performing Schools Insist on Using Data to Inform Instructional Decisions
    Questions About Data Use in Your School
    Additional Helpful Materials About Data Use
    Summary
    Tips and Suggestions
    Suggested Reading for Further Learning: Administrative Leadership
    Part II. Instructional Leadership for School Improvement: Goals of High-Performing Principals
    Introduction to Part Two
    10. Teaching and Learning: To Maintain a Focus on Teaching and Learning
    Summary
    Tips and Suggestions
    Culture: To Develop a School-wide Culture That Supports and Sustains Instruction
    Summary
    Tips and Suggestions
    12. Dialogue: To Establish a Context for Dialogue About Instruction
    Faculty Meetings: A Sea Change
    Encouraging Frequent Teacher Dialogue about Collaboration
    A Note About the Need for Common Planning Time Among Teachers
    Summary
    Tips and Suggestions
    13. Research: To Reference Research-Based Instructional Elements When Observing Instruction and When Talking With Teachers
    Element #1: Factors Influencing Achievement
    Element #2: Planning for Instruction
    Element #3: Standards-Based Instructional Units
    Element #4: Components of Instruction
    Element #5: Student Abilities That Teaching Strategies Should Enhance
    Element #6: Effective Teaching Practices Across Content Areas
    Element #7: Ordering and Pacing of Content and Instructional Strategies
    Element #8: Addressing Diverse Students’ Needs
    Element #9: Use of Technology in Instruction
    Element #10: Models of Teaching
    Element #11: Classroom Management (Discipline)
    Considering the Value of Walk-Throughs
    Considering Formal Evaluations
    Summary
    Tips and Suggestions
    14. Development: To Provide Effective, On-Going Professional Learning, a.k.a., Staff Development
    A Professional Learning Community
    The Right Approach
    Going Further
    A Multitude of Learning Opportunities
    A Good Use of Money
    The National Staff Development Council Standards
    The Special Case of Empowering and Developing Special Education Teachers
    Professional Learning for Administrative Teams
    Summary
    Tips and Suggestions
    Suggested Reading for Further Learning: Instructional Leadership
    Part III. Conclusion: Systems Thinking and the Systems Development Approach in Educational Leadership
    Introduction to Part Three
    15. The Importance of Systems Thinking and the “Systems Development” Approach for School Improvement
    Using the 4C’s Model as a Diagnostic and Prescriptive Tool
    Summary
    16. Afterword: A Summary and A Note About Preparation for Educational Leadership
    References
    Research Method and Procedures
    Index

    Available on NOOK devices and apps

    • NOOK eReaders
    • NOOK GlowLight 4 Plus
    • NOOK GlowLight 4e
    • NOOK GlowLight 4
    • NOOK GlowLight Plus 7.8"
    • NOOK GlowLight 3
    • NOOK GlowLight Plus 6"
    • NOOK Tablets
    • NOOK 9" Lenovo Tablet (Arctic Grey and Frost Blue)
    • NOOK 10" HD Lenovo Tablet
    • NOOK Tablet 7" & 10.1"
    • NOOK by Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 [Tab A and Tab 4]
    • NOOK by Samsung [Tab 4 10.1, S2 & E]
    • Free NOOK Reading Apps
    • NOOK for iOS
    • NOOK for Android

    Want a NOOK? Explore Now

    Learn how successful principals make a difference in their school’s performance!

    Based on a ground-breaking study and numerous firsthand accounts, this illuminating book captures unique perspectives from 20 outstanding principals, representing a wide range of urban and rural schools. This resource includes:

    • The nine personal characteristics that help principals lead high-performing schools 
    • Practical strategies for balancing both administrative responsibilities and instructional leadership
    • Guidance on using a systems-development approach to support excellence at every level 
    • Discussion of the use of research and data for school improvement
    • Tips and suggestions from effective principals, along with recommended resources for further learning

    Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

    Recently Viewed 

    Sign In Create an Account
    Search Engine Error - Endeca File Not Found