Teachers stand at the intersection of educational goals, directing students down the road to success or to the byways of diminished opportunities. They are the most important school variable effecting student achievement. Consequently, placing and retaining only qualified and effective teachers in our nation’s classrooms is a critical responsibility of school leaders. Effective supervision and evaluation requires that the school leader possess the knowledge of effective instruction, exhibit skills in documentation of professional conduct, and embrace a professional approach with the will to place and keep students at the center of school policy and practice decisions. Supervising and evaluating teachers is a difficult, but essential work. Research shows that time and expertise are necessary to effectively supervise and to build a case for adverse employment decisions, when necessary. Threading the Evaluation Needle: The Documentation of Teacher Unprofessional Conduct addresses the legal and professional knowledge that structures discipline and dismissal in the public schools. The authors, based on their educational, legal, and research experience, provide templates for various types of documentation necessary to effectively build a case for discipline. This book seeks to give principals the tools and knowledge to institute in good faith a fair and accurate documentation system.

Teachers and Their Unions: Labor Relations in Uncertain Times explores the decade of uncertainty in public education following the Great Recession by first laying a foundation that describes the development of teachers and public education and the rise of teacher unions. The selection of the industrial labor model at the outset of public sector collective bargaining set the table for challenges to its fit with education. The theme of teacher as member of a union and teacher as a professional is explored within the context of a collective bargaining environment. The section “Law and Politics in Uncertain Times: Retrenchment and Assault” explores the decade of uncertainty. It reviews the industrial union model and within the twin challenges of the conundrum of teacher as union member and professional in the struggles of the decade. Tenure (boondoggle or necessary protection), VAM (rank and yank), right-to-work, agency fees, and teacher strikes are explored within the themes of the industrial union model and the tension of union member and professional. The book concludes with thoughts for the future and responds to the question of whether teacher unions are still pertinent.

This book details the background on the history and development of rehabilitation teaching and provides practical information and instructional strategies. Proven techniques are described for working with individuals with adventitious or congenital visual impairments, as well as strategies for teaching basic living skills. Included are chapters on each of the skill areas taught by rehabilitation teachers; detailed, step-by-step lesson plans for specific skills in each area; and valuable sample forms for assessing and planning the needs and course of instruction for new clients.

Nearly 50 years ago a California court heard a complaint from a recent high school graduate who alleged that he could not read at a level that would allow him to apply for, let alone hold, a meaningful job. He asserted that the public school district was negligent and that his prospects for a productive life were diminished by their negligence. The court disagreed and educational malpractice was cast outside the schoolhouse gate and an educational malpractice wall was erected. In sum, both federal and state courts have constructed a sturdy wall against the recognition of educational malpractice lawsuits. However, recent advances in research on instruction, statistical analyses that some have argued can identify substandard teaching, may have cracked the wall. Thus, confluence of events may lead to demolishing the educational malpractice wall constructed over the past half century. The authors of Raising a Cautionary Flag: Educational Malpractice and the Professional Teacher, explore the judicial reticence to recognize educational malpractice as a viable tort of negligence. They review the concept of what constitutes a professional, what is malpractice and how is it related to the professional malpractice of physicians and attorneys, and the potential responses to education malpractice. They conclude by raising a cautionary flag about breaching the judicial wall.

Now in paperback, The Needlepoint Book is the only needlework guide you’ll ever need—now including 436 stitches and 1,680 illustrations. Since its original publication in 1976, The Needlepoint Book has become known as the bible for all stitching enthusiasts—the one resource for every needlepoint aficionado. Whether you’re new to the craft or have been practicing for years, this guide covers your sewing journey from inspiration to achievement with specific guidelines on how to make the painted canvas yours. Featuring all-new projects and stitch patterns for every level of expertise, you will learn practical skills, such as how to: -Choose your project with purpose -Tell its story with stitches and fibers -Create mood with color and texture -Fill that blank background -Select and use embellishments such as beads and sequins Included in this revised and expanded edition is a crash course on how to use new fibers; updated information on materials, as well as how to work with and care for them; dozens of new stitches; and diagrams and stitch guides for select projects included in the book. Also featured are thirty-two pages of color photographs with all-new projects; dozens of new stitches explained with photos and drawings; and a new ribbon stitch chapter. The Needlepoint Book is the one book to own on the topic. In one comprehensive volume, it has everything you'll need to create your own artistic, high-quality heirloom.

Since the 1960s, school rules and regulations concerning apparel and hair have been the subject of litigation in the federal courts. Most of this litigation involves students’ assertions that their clothing and hairstyle choices are forms of expression that are protected by the First Amendment. In some cases, students have argued that school dress and grooming codes discriminate against them based on their gender or their racial or ethnic identity. I Got Dress Coded explores court cases, policies, and research on student appearance and dress codes. The impact of Constitutional protections of student speech on sexual orientation, politics, weapons, drugs, and alcohol are explored as well as restrictions targeting female students and prohibitions on student appearance that reflects a student’s racial and ethnic heritage.