Do principals see themselves as others see them? Many new and veteran principals remark that one cannot truly know what it means to be a principal until you are one. However, most people have developed their own perceptions of the role of a principal based on their direct experience. Sharon Pristash describes the various perceptions of the principalship based on interviews with students, teachers, parents, and community members. She also offers some implications these perceptions might have for the profession. Viewpoints of practicing or former principals are included allowing the reader to compare and contrast the public and personal view of the profession. Whether novice or veteran principal, there's something for everyone in this fascinating study.

If you have more questions than answers about online learning for K-12 students, then you need this comprehensive guide that takes you through all of the planning and implementation steps need to go from vision to actual delivery of online courses. Clearly written and incorporating useful aids such as a timeline for planning and creating your online program, this book provides information on evaluating online courses, how-to successfully mentor students online, and some opportunities and services that will enhance the online program. More multi-layered than step-by-step, the process described involves working in many areas simultaneously. Superintendents, board members, administrators, and teachers can successfully pull all of the pieces together with this book as their guide.

A strategic plan is a useful tool for communicating the purpose of the library media center (LMC) to the administrators, teachers, and parents of the school community. An initial benefit is an assessment of the library program's strengths, weaknesses, and impact on the teaching and learning process. The library media specialist should use the planning process to garner greater support, identify priorities for future direction, provide the basis for effective budget development, and articulate the LMC's integral role in the school's instructional program. Based on Information Power, as well as input from focus groups of librarians, computer educators, teachers, administrators, and parents, the authors identified a core of the essential elements found in quality library media programs. Rubrics developed for this core provide a foundation for developing and prioritizing goals and objectives, as well as tools for ongoing evaluation. School library media centers, often short of time and staff, will welcome this easy-to-follow blueprint, packed with forms, questions to consider, templates, rubrics, and charts. From forming a committee and constructing surveys, to good PR and a consistent evaluation process, this essential handbook provides the tools to create a visionary mission statement, the strategic plan that embodies it, and the steps to implement it.

Many parents search for a "good" school to enroll their children. They look at the school's standardized test scores and check out demographic statistics, but fail to investigate the strengths of these schools that have a vibrant mix of races and cultures. Eileen Gale Kugler offers a unique perspective on what every educator, parent, and community leader should know about reaping the rich harvest of our diverse schools. This book provides guidance on how we can all work together to dispel the myths and nurture the opportunities that these schools offer such as academic challenge and social advantages. Anecdotes from Kugler's personal experience are included as well as information from 80 interviews with key educators, parents, and students. This book stands alone as a resource that pulls all of this information together. Will be of interest to anyone who cares about education. See Wendy Burt-Thomas's interview with author Eileen Kugler at http: //askwendy.wordpress.com/?s=kugle

This easy-to-read book integrates research and performance-based concepts in order to demystify and debunk the conventional wisdom about education. For many years, education has been beset by myths - myths that it can't be fixed with new concepts, that it takes specialists to diagnose what's wrong, that research doesn't reflect the real world, that the lessons of business cannot be generalized to education. This book takes on these misunderstandings and shows precisely what educators may do in order to overcome them. Educators will find Salowe and Lessinger's advice to be a rational, sober, and research-based approach to an often-debated topic.

This book presents, in 11 chapters, a comprehensive look at the school superintendent that will be welcomed in the fields of education management and policy. Many different perspectives are represented: studying the school manager (Glass, Kowalski, and Glasman), minorities in the profession (Ortiz and Brunner), and the radical decentralization of the British school system under Thatch and Major (Campell, Powell, and Parker). Legal positions and collective bargaining are also discussed to great effect. Professors, public school educators, and policymakers should all find this book useful due to the critical nature of the superintendency.

This is a time of far-reaching change and debate in American education and social policy, spurred in part by a rediscovery that civil-society institutions are often better than government at meeting human needs. As Charles Glenn shows in this book, faith-based schools and social agencies have been particularly effective, especially in meeting the needs of the most vulnerable. However, many oppose providing public funds for religious institutions, either on the grounds that it would threaten the constitutional separation of church and state or from concern it might dilute or secularize the distinctive character of the institutions themselves. Glenn tackles these arguments head on. He builds a uniquely comprehensive and persuasive case for faith-based organizations playing a far more active role in American schools and social agencies. And, most importantly, he shows that they could do so both while receiving public funds and while striking a workable balance between accountability and autonomy.

Glenn is ideally placed to make this argument. A leading expert on international education policies, he was for many years the director of urban education and civil rights for the Massachusetts Department of Education, and also serves as an Associate Minister of inner-city churches in Boston. Glenn draws on all his varied experience here as he reviews the policies and practices of governments in the United States and Europe as they have worked with faith-based schools and also with such social agencies as the Salvation Army and Teen Challenge. He seeks to answer key theoretical and practical questions: Why should government make greater use of faith-based providers? How could they do so without violating First Amendment limits? What working relationships protect the goals and standards both of government and of the organizations that the government funds? Glenn shows that, with appropriate forms of accountability and a strong commitment to a distinctive vision of service, faith-based organizations can collaborate safely with government, to their mutual benefit and that of those they serve. This is a major contribution to one of the most important topics in political and social debate today.

Can charter schools save public education? This radical question has unleashed a flood of opinions from Americans struggling with the contentious challenges of education reform. There has been plenty of heat over charter schools and their implications, but, until now, not much light. This important new book supplies plenty of illumination.

Charter schools--independently operated public schools of choice--have existed in the United States only since 1992, yet there are already over 1,500 of them. How are they doing? Here prominent education analysts Chester Finn, Bruno Manno, and Gregg Vanourek offer the richest data available on the successes and failures of this exciting but controversial approach to education reform. After studying one hundred schools, interviewing hundreds of participants, surveying thousands more, and analyzing the most current data, they have compiled today's most authoritative, comprehensive explanation and appraisal of the charter phenomenon. Fact-filled, clear-eyed, and hard-hitting, this is the book for anyone concerned about public education and interested in the role of charter schools in its renewal.

Can charter schools boost student achievement, drive educational innovation, and develop a new model of accountability for public schools? Where did the idea of charter schools come from? What would the future hold if this phenomenon spreads? These are some of the questions that this book answers. It addresses pupil performance, enrollment patterns, school start-up problems, charges of inequity, and smoldering political battles. It features close-up looks at five real--and very different--charter schools and two school districts that have been deeply affected by the charter movement, including their setbacks and triumphs. After outlining a new model of education accountability and describing how charter schools often lead to community renewal, the authors take the reader on an imaginary tour of a charter-based school system.

Charter schools are the most vibrant force in education today. This book suggests that their legacy will consist not only of helping millions of families obtain a better education for their children but also in renewing American public education itself.

Drawing upon research and practice in a number of countries, the contributors to this volume describe advances in meeting the needs of children and young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. Following the Salamanca agreement and other international treaties, sovereign states are pursuing, at different rates, a more inclusive educational agenda. There is concern for those pupils who are excluded and in danger of becoming increasingly marginalized in their societies as their engagement in education decreases. Foremost amongst these pupils are those with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The issues surrounding their inclusion in education, particularly mainstream education, are explored, along with the factors that contribute to successful interventions. Contributors from Spain, Norway, Australia, Canada, Finland and the United Kingdom describe ways of meeting their emotional and behavioural needs within education. The authors raise factors, which could contribute towards greater inclusive practice.

Specialized Schools for High-Ability Learners focuses on educational programming offered in nontraditional, publicly approved, and private settings, with important details about how to serve high-ability learners in specialized schools and deliver schoolwide educational change. Each chapter offers a differentiated resource for educators who are interested in designing and implementing programs in specialized school settings by providing a discussion of the critical components for inclusion in a carefully planned, coherent, and quality-minded K-12 curricular sequence. This book delivers a comprehensive discussion with recommendations for the learning experiences of high-talent students in specialized schools and alternatively approved educational programs. Through relevant research and practical applications, this compendium will help in developing high levels of talent among the next generation of competent critical thinkers.

Unlike other humanistic disciplines, the academic study of religion must contend with a phenomenon that touches every dimension of human experience. For scholars so engaged, the study of religion often becomes a cross-cultural as well as a necessarily interdisciplinary endeavor. In this collection of original essays, Jon R. Stone has brought together the intellectual autobiographies of fourteen senior scholars--all with national or international reputations in their respective fields--each of whom reflects upon his or her own theoretical assumptions and methodological approaches to the study of religion. Taken together, these essays represent the variety of research methods and interpretive rigor mature scholars bring to the task of examining religious phenomena, religious actions, religious movements, and religious ideas.

ORDER 10 OR MORE OF ANY ITEM AND RECEIVE A 20% DISCOUNT Preventing Classroom Discipline Problems is a handbook, with its own self-improvement exercises, for all the skills needed to implement successful classroom management and eliminate discipline problems. This book, based on the author's extensive work with New York City school teachers, helps teachers to design instructional strategies to prevent, not just handle, disruptive classroom behavior. Seeman discusses more than 100 of these problems, from responding to talking in class to preventing violence from erupting in your school. This is the only text that is both a comprehensive training handbook and academic course text. The third edition includes new sections in each chapter for grades K-6, parents, strategies for school violence prevention, a computer resource guide, conflict-resolution training, systematic rewards for all grades, and methods for handling peer pressure and bullies. It also contains a collection of supplemental online training tools. Visit Classroom Management Online for more information."

After the unification of Germany had first been greeted with euphoria on both sides of the Wall, it did not take long for disillusion to set in when it became obvious that structures, mentality, values and outlook were very different in the Old and New Bundeslander. Moreover, whereas during the initial phase the East Germans were hoping just for a reform of their existing systems, they were soon disappointed and had to accept the fact that a fusion was out of the question; instead, East German structures were expected to assimilate to those of West Germany which led to the accusation of the latter's "colonization" of East Germany. The restructuring of the education system played a crucial role in the transformation of East Germany; consequently, enormous sums were pumped into East German schools and the training of teachers. This is the first study in any language that closely examines the process re-education and addresses such vital questions as whether the reforms were educationally sound, to what degree they meshed with local circumstances, what measures were taken to fill the vacuum in moral and social values that was left by the discrediting of Marxism-Leninism, and what happened to the notion of "equality", the key principle of a socialist society. Contrasting the old and the new regime in the East, the author addresses these and many more critical issues. Numerous case studies and substantial interview material richly illustrate the author's arguments.

Includes CD-Rom 'In light of Every Child Matters agenda and of the current emphasis on giving children a voice in important decision making situations, this book could be a valuable tool'- Educational Psychology in Practice 'This is a great little book designed to help children between the ages nine and 12 to develop good relationships with each other and with other people... [It] includes clear guidance on ways in which children themselves can raise the self-esteem and social status of their less popular peers through listening, talking and understanding others' - SENCO Update Ruth and Tina draw upon their experiences to provide a peer support programme that encourages inclusive prosocial processes for young people aged nine to twelve. Drawing upon the philosophy of a Circle of Friends, they have developed a six-step programme that harnesses the skills of popular young people to help others who may have low social status. The Talk Time programme builds on the message that relationships are what matter most and emphasizes that relationships happen through listening, talking and understanding others. The book provides all the resources needed including: * facilitators' notes * pupil resources * letter to parents * staff briefing sheet * pupil certificate. The programme is intended to be run for a group of eight to twelve pupils once a week during lunch times for one term. The aim is to help all group members and hopefully carry over to improve the social climate of the classroom and create a positive and cooperative working environment. Ruth MacConville is the Head of the Special Educational Needs service, based in Ealing. Tina Rae is a Senior Educational Psychologist based in Hillingdon.

In this dramatic first-person narrative, Greg Mortenson picks up where Three Cups of Tea left off in 2003, recounting his relentless, ongoing efforts to establish schools for girls in Afghanistan; his extensive work in Azad Kashmir and Pakistan after a massive earthquake hit the region in 2005; and the unique ways he has built relationships with Islamic clerics, militia commanders, and tribal leaders even as he was dodging shootouts with feuding Afghan warlords and surviving an eight-day armed abduction by the Taliban. He shares for the first time his broader vision to promote peace through education and literacy, as well as touching on military matters, Islam, and women - all woven together with the many rich personal stories of the people who have been involved in this remarkable two-decade humanitarian effort.

One day Greg Mortenson set out to climb K2 - the world's second highest mountain - in honour of his younger sister, but when another member of his group fell ill, they turned around and Greg became lost in the mountains of Pakistan. He wandered into a poor village, where the chief and his people took him in. Moved by their kindness, Greg promised to return and build a school for the children. This is the remarkable story of how, against all the odds, Greg built not only one but more than sixty schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and how he dedicated his life to establishing literacy and peace, and understanding.

Lead your school to success with PRIDE What's missing in education reform in the United States? The answer is leadership; specifically, the ability of school and district leaders to construct and continually nurture a culture of sustained high performance. A true leader needs to have not only a vision of the desired culture, but the skills and information necessary to make that vision a reality. Providing a combined 70 years of classroom and administrative experience, renowned authors James Guthrie and Patrick Schuermann offer a practice-based approach, grounded in research and theory, to achieving and maintaining an atmosphere of success in schools through effective leadership.

Europe is undergoing rapid and profound social and political change, and time-honoured methods and practices are being challenged as a result. Nowhere is this challenge more pressing and relevant than in education, which is charged with the task of preparing future generations for the "New Europe." Everyone accepts that education should be for all, that it needs to be extended, and that "education for life" is a phrase with real significance, but how is education best provided? In February 1990 the Academia Europaea council decided to sponsor a study group on education in modern European society funded by the Swedish Riksbankens Jubileumsfond. The report, in the form of this book, deals with many problem areas in European education; for example school quality, examinations, the teaching of foreign languages, and science education. It also analyses the role of the school as an institution in an increasingly complex technological and meritocratic society, and spells out the role of basic education in forming a European identity and consciousness.

This book presents the views of leading scholars, academics, and educators on the renewal of Islamic schools in the Western context. The book argues that as Islamic schools in Western contexts have negotiated the establishment phase they must next embrace a period of renewal. Renewal relates to a purposeful synthesis of the tradition with contemporary educational practice and greater emphasis on empirical research substantiating best practices in Islamic schools. This renewal must reflect teaching and learning practices consistent with an Islamic worldview and pedagogy. It should also inform, among other aspects, classroom management models, and relevant and contextual Islamic and Arabic studies. This book acquaints the reader with contemporary challenges and opportunities in Islamic schools in the Western context with a focus on Australia.

The rise of high-stakes testing in New York and across the nation has narrowed and simplified what is taught, while becoming central to the effort to privatize public schools. However, it and similar reform efforts have met resistance, with New York as the exemplar for how to repel standardized testing and invasive data collection, such as inBloom. In New York, the two parent/teacher organizations that have been most effective are Long Island Opt Out and New York State Allies for Public Education. Over the last four years, they and other groups have focused on having parents refuse to submit their children to the testing regime, arguing that if students don't take the tests, the results are't usable. The opt-out movement has been so successful that 20% of students statewide and 50% of students on Long Island refused to take tests. In Opting Out, two parent leaders of the opt-out movement-Jeanette Deutermann and Lisa Rudley-tell why and how they became activists in the two organizations. The story of parents, students, and teachers resisting not only high-stakes testing but also privatization and other corporate reforms parallels the rise of teachers across the country going on strike to demand increases in school funding and teacher salaries. Both the success of the opt-out movement and teacher strikes reflect the rise of grassroots organizing using social media to influence policy makers at the local, state, and national levels.

The SAGE Handbook of School Organization provides a substantial review of the history, current status and future prospects of the field of school organization. Bringing together chapters exploring key issues, important debates and points of tension, the Handbook highlights school and system organisational structure, processes and dynamics coupled with insights into important theoretical foundations from diverse perspectives. This volume is designed to provide a much-needed, critically informed and coherent account of the field, against a backdrop of increasing complexity in which schooling as an institution and schools as organisations operate.

From Proficiency to Authenticity - A Holistic School Development & Assessment Plan

Education is a perennially vexing issue in American life. What, exactly, is the best system for teaching? Proponents of charter schools believe that competition is the key; public schools will improve if they have to compete for students. Charters themselves are public schools, but ones run by any group accepting the challenge of improving student performance in return for fewer regulations and tight budget restrictions. In short, charter schools have defined focus and clear accountability. Those opposing the charter movement though, claim that charter schools are divisive and distract attention from public school needs. Some politicians have shown approval of charter schools, as evidenced by President George W Bush's bill for funding charter programs. This book aims to clear up some of the questions around charter schools and can help answer the questions surrounding the future of the American education system.

Is Bethany Baptist Academy God's choice? Ask the fundamentalist Christians who teach there or whose children attend the academy, and their answer will be a yes as unequivocal as their claim that the Bible is God's inerrant, absolute word. Is this truth or arrogance?
In "God's Choice," Alan Peshkin offers readers the opportunity to consider this question in depth. Given the outsider's rare chance to observe such a school firsthand, Peshkin spent eighteen months studying Bethany's high school--interviewing students, parents, and educators, living in the home of Bethany Baptist Church members, and participating fully in the church's activities. From this intimate research he has fashioned a rich account of Christian schooling and an informed analysis of a clear alternative to public education.