How did a young generation of activists come together in 1990s Los Angeles to shake up the education system, creating lasting institutional change and lifting children and families across southern California? Critics claim that America's public schools remain feckless and hamstrung institutions, unable to improve even when nudged by accountability-minded politicians, market competition, or global pandemic. But if schools are so hopeless, then why did student learning climb in Los Angeles across the initial decades of the twenty-first century? In When Schools Work, Bruce Fuller details the rise of civic activists in L.A. as they emerged from the ashes of urban riots and failed efforts to desegregate schools. Based on the author's fifteen years of field work in L.A., the book reveals how this network of Latino and Black leaders, civil rights lawyers, ethnic nonprofits, and pedagogical progressives coalesced in the 1990s, staking out a third political ground and gaining distance from corporate neoliberals and staid labor chiefs. Fuller shows how these young activists-whom he terms "new pluralists"-proceeded to better fund central-city schools, win quality teachers, widen access to college prep courses, decriminalize student discipline, and even create a panoply of new school forms, from magnet schools to dual-language campuses, site-run small high schools, and social-justice focused classrooms. Moving beyond perennial hand-wringing over urban schools, this book offers empirical lessons on what reforms worked to lift achievement-and kids-across this vast and racially divided metropolis. More broadly, this study examines why these new pluralists emerged in this kaleidoscopic city and how they went about jolting an institution once given up for dead. Spotlighting the force of ethnic communities and humanist notions of children's growth, Fuller argues that diversifying forms of schooling also created unforeseen ways of stratifying both children and families. When Schools Work will inform the efforts of educators, activists, policy makers, and anyone else working to reshape public schools and achieve equitable results for all children.

While building a soapbox racing car, a pair of friends provide an easy-to-understand lesson in how simple machines are all around us, making our work more efficient. Michael and Luci show readers that a broom is a lever, nails are wedges, and a screwdriver is both a lever and a wheel and axle. The two also prove that curious children can be just like scientists, making observations and using how and what questions to explore physical science principles they encounter all the time. Michael s Racing Machine is part of the I Wonder Why book series, written to ignite the curiosity of children in grades K 6 while encouraging them to become avid readers. These books explore the marvels of light, color, machines, sound, and other phenomena related to physical science. Included in each volume is a Parent/Teacher Handbook with coordinating activities. The I Wonder Why series is written by an award-winning science educator and published by NSTA Kids, a division of NSTA Press.

Social justice is a philosophy that has gathered momentum over the past few years to bring to light the inequities that exist within our society. In the field of education, social justice illuminates the challenges that marginalized students and minority students face compared to other students. Social Justice and Culturally-Affirming Education in K-12 Settings seeks to bring together social scientists, researchers, and other practitioners to delve into social justice issues in K-12 settings and considers the various challenges and future directions that are associated with this field. Covering key topics such as inclusive education, educational reform, and school policies, this reference work is ideal for administrators, policymakers, researchers, academicians, practitioners, scholars, instructors, and students.

In The Coach Approach to School Leadership, Jessica Johnson, Shira Leibowitz, and Kathy Perret address a dilemma faced by many principals: how to function as learning leaders while fulfilling their evaluative and management duties. The answer? Incorporating instructional coaching techniques as an integral part of serious school improvement. The authors explain how principals can: Master the skill of "switching hats" between the nonjudgmental coach role and the evaluative supervisor role. Expand their classroom visits and combine coaching with evaluation requirements. Nurture relationships with teachers and build a positive school culture. Provide high-quality feedback to support the development of both teachers and students. Empower teachers to lead their own professional learning and work together as a team. Drawing from the authors' work with schools as well as their conversations with educators across the globe, this thought-provoking book speaks to the unique needs of principals as instructional leaders, providing solutions to challenges in every aspect of this complex endeavor. The role of the principal is changing at a rapid pace. Let this resource guide you in improving your own practice while helping teachers master the high-quality instruction that leads to student success.

Based on the popular Patterns of Power invitational approach to grammar instruction, Patterns of Wonder sets the stage for introducing PreK-1 emergent writers to the power of language and writing. It's no secret that emergent writers thrive in classrooms filled with inquiry, play, and wonder, but how can we invite our youngest writers into the conventions of language, engage them in authentic writing experiences, and capitalize on their natural curiosity around what writers do? Building on the same playful qualities of the invitational process introduced in their bestselling Patterns of Power series, Whitney La Rocca and Jeff Anderson turn their instructional lens to our youngest writers, sharing new ways we can invite them to experiment, have fun, and take risks with writing and language.In this valuable resource, Whitney and Jeff: Introduce the Patterns of Wonder Phases of Emergent Writing as a way to reflect on the work young writers are doing and plan for effective, scaffolded instruction. Outline an adjusted invitational process, adapted especially for use with emergent writers. Position grammar and concepts about print instruction across three overlapping levels of support: oral language, illustrating, and writing. Include over 50 sample lessons that pinpoint and build cumulatively across the most common needs of emergent writers. Feature over 200 engaging picture book recommendations to stir curious classroom conversations. Grounded in play, conversation, and most of all, wonder, Patterns of Wonder brings Whitney and Jeff's irrepressible excitement for inquiry and writing instruction to the ways we support our Pre-K, Kindergarten and 1st grade emergent writers.