In this volume, a team of national experts address the major elements key to system redesign and long-lasting reform, describing in detail the steps needed at the community, school, district and state-level by which to achieve long-lasting reform.

There is widespread recognition that school systems need to do profoundly better, but those seeking to improve them have been persistently frustrated by popular reforms. Education leaders, policy-makers and funders lack clear guidance about the key elements and strategies necessary for effective ecosystem transformation. Would-be reformers need to understand both how these elements relate to one another, and what can be done to reduce, counteract, or overturn state regulations, local governance practices, funding systems, contractual limits, and other unquestioned practices that inhibit the growth of entrepreneurial ventures. In this volume, a team of national experts address the major elements key to system redesign and long-lasting reform, describing in detail the steps needed at the community, school, district and state-level by which to achieve long-lasting reform.

Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.

This guide to school transformation sends a wake-up call about the out-moded current school system. As educator and advocate during a sixty-year career, Wayne B. Jennings, PhD, writes in this revolutionary new text that our educational system remains stuck in the past. Jennings argues that the system should skip Band-Aid reforms and go for a full reboot! Jennings captures critical aspects of change. In School Transformation, he advances: · understanding the true purpose of education, · realizing we live in a new era, · seeing the fundamental flaws in the system, · bringing schools into the twenty-first century, · preparing students for an unknown future, · examining recent efforts to reform the system, · taking specific steps for transformation, and · considering examples of transformed schools. Jennings' experience as a teacher, principal, school board member, and university facility member energized him to start eight schools during his career. He believes community members, teachers, and students can respond to educational challenges and transform their schools. He describes specific steps and processes to follow and provides examples of transformed schools. He believes that transformed schools will make school an exciting, enriching experience for an entire generation of independent, innovative thinkers.

The United States has about $2 trillion tied up in aging school facilities. School districts throughout the country spend about $12 billion every year keeping this infrastructure going. Yet almost all of the new money we pour into school facilities reinforces an existing—and obsolete—model of schooling. In Blueprint for Tomorrow, Prakash Nair—one of the world’s leading school designers—explores the hidden messages that our school facilities and classrooms convey and advocates for the “alignment” of the design of places in which we teach and learn with twenty-first-century learning goals. Blueprint for Tomorrow provides simple, affordable, and versatile ideas for adapting or redesigning school spaces to support student-centered learning. In particular, the author focuses on ways to use current spending to modify existing spaces, and explains which kinds of adaptations offer the biggest return in terms of student learning. The book is organized by area—from classrooms to cafeterias—and is richly illustrated throughout, including “before and after” features, “smart idea” sidebars, and “do now” suggestions for practical first steps. It outlines key principles for designing spaces that support today’s learning needs and includes tools to help educators evaluate the educational effectiveness of their own spaces. Blueprint for Tomorrow will open educators’ eyes to the ways that architecture and learning are entwined and will challenge them to rethink the ways they teach and work together.

"This is our THIRD school improvement plan! Why aren't we seeing any results?" "We have all of this data, but we don't know what to do with it!" "What does this workshop have to do with the goals we set for our school? Many of today's school leaders have all the latest tools, techniques, and programs for school improvement. Unfortunately, some leaders fail to create real, sustainable results for their schools because they use one or two "flavor-of-the-month" strategies without connecting all the pieces together for real improvement. In Align the Design: A Blueprint for School Improvement, Nancy J. Mooney and Ann T. Mausbach emphasize the importance of coordinating essential school improvement processes to increase staff capacity, improve student achievement, and develop effective schools. The authors show school leaders how to use "power tools" to *Develop effective curriculum *Make the most of their school's data *Create successful school improvement plans *Implement valuable professional development sessions and workshops *Use efficient supervisory techniques *Foster leadership for school improvement Each chapter includes personal reflections from the authors and lists of touchstone texts that have inspired their efforts. At a time when school leaders are trying to translate urgent calls for higher achievement into actions that work, Align the Design provides expert guidance and practical tools that will help educators work more purposefully together to create better schools for their students.