Large Scale School Reform And Social Capital Building

This book introduces and explores the nature of large scale reform, and offers a fresh insight into the importance of social capital and professional development leadership for teachers and school management. It synthesizes research on the role of the professional development leader and the importance of social capital in schools, and examines its potential to impact large scale, system-wide, reform projects. The text presents a range of international examples and theories from renowned researchers and educationists, which illustrate the challenge of raising the prominence of education social capital in schools. Considering crucial research that informs effective adult learning interventions, underlying themes supporting constructivist and transformative interventions are identified and woven into the narrative. Factors and variables needed to encourage and implement initiatives are examined, and each section is accompanied by case studies from around the world. The book is split into five sections and twelve parts which include: -The Lesson of Large Scale Reform for Leadership Development -Assessment of Wide Scale Educational Reform Initiatives -Developing Social Capital through National Education Reform -System Improvement through Professional Learning Communities Large Scale School Reform and Social Capital Building will be of interest to policy makers and system reform leaders, along with researchers and postgraduate students with a focus on continuous professional development, educational reform and school leadership.

This book introduces and explores the nature of large scale reform, and offers a fresh insight into the importance of social capital and professional development leadership for teachers and school management. It synthesizes research on the role of the professional development leader and the importance of social capital in schools, and examines its potential to impact large scale, system-wide, reform projects. The text presents a range of international examples and theories from renowned researchers and educationists, which illustrate the challenge of raising the prominence of education social capital in schools. Considering crucial research that informs effective adult learning interventions, underlying themes supporting constructivist and transformative interventions are identified and woven into the narrative. Factors and variables needed to encourage and implement initiatives are examined, and each section is accompanied by case studies from around the world. The book is split into five sections and twelve parts which include: -The Lesson of Large Scale Reform for Leadership Development -Assessment of Wide Scale Educational Reform Initiatives -Developing Social Capital through National Education Reform -System Improvement through Professional Learning Communities Large Scale School Reform and Social Capital Building will be of interest to policy makers and system reform leaders, along with researchers and postgraduate students with a focus on continuous professional development, educational reform and school leadership.

Much has been written of late about the need to reform school systems across the world. In like manner there have been many attempts to change school systems for the better but without a great deal of success. This, in part, has much to do with the inertia in school systems and the nature of the work. The professional isolation of teachers from one another in schools is no excuse but it is a key factor in the development of system wide professional capital. This book explores the importance of school leadership and the use of digital media to develop social capital in schools. Particular examples of school reforms that focused on developing professional capital with varying degrees of success are to be seen in the UAE, in reforms to the Australian middle school, and in attempts to reform the Community College in the USA. Throughout the book there are three powerful ideas associated with successful large scale reforms. First, there are the structural elements that all successful school systems have in common including revised curriculum standards, a reliable assessment system, technical skills of teachers and school leaders, a comprehensive data system, rewards and remuneration of workforce and policy documents to support change. Second, strategic imperatives such as the singular focus on teaching and learning for student success, the need to build workforce capacity in schools, the need to ensure system wide implementation of reforms and the importance of collaboration and team building. Third, the systematic development of professional learning communities and teacher leadership will increase social capital in schools which will ensure student success. This book looks at overcoming the inertia to school reform in education systems caused by structural deficiencies, strategic shortfalls and implementation procedures.

This comprehensive book presents emergent findings and promising results in teacher education, curriculum, assessment, teaching and learning approaches, pedagogical innovations and practices, and professional development in educating the next generation of students. The volume reflects the current trends and highlights teacher education programs in all 14 MENA countries in one place. The chapters in this handbook discuss the challenges and the ways to improve teacher education by the educators in the Middle East region, including Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. It also provides an extensive and rich reference for future comparisons across the countries. The book contains chapters written by experienced international teacher educators who draw on their experience and expertise to perennial issues and formidable challenges in teacher preparation and meaningful school reforms. This volume is a valuable resource and essential companion for teacher educators, faculty members, staff developers, trainee teachers, undergraduate and postgraduate students, researchers, school leaders, policy-makers, and professional learning communities to refresh their knowledge and improve their understanding. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in evolving issues in teacher education in the Middle East region.

Every year, the cost of a four-year degree goes up, and the value goes down. But for many students, there's a better answer. So many things are getting faster and cheaper. Movies stream into your living room, without ticket or concession-stand costs. The world's libraries are at your fingertips instantly, and for free. So why is a college education the only thing that seems immune to change? Colleges and universities operate much as they did 40 years ago, with one major exception: tuition expenses have risen dramatically. What's more, earning a degree takes longer than ever before, with the average time to graduate now over five years. As a result, graduates often struggle with enormous debt burdens. Even worse, they often find that degrees did not prepare them to obtain and succeed at good jobs in growing sectors of the economy. While many learners today would thrive with an efficient and affordable postsecondary education, the slow and pricey road to a bachelor's degree is starkly the opposite. In A New U: Faster + Cheaper Alternatives to College, Ryan Craig documents the early days of a revolution that will transform—or make obsolete—many colleges and universities. Alternative routes to great first jobs that do not involve a bachelor's degree are sprouting up all over the place. Bootcamps, income-share programs, apprenticeships, and staffing models are attractive alternatives to great jobs in numerous growing sectors of the economy: coding, healthcare, sales, digital marketing, finance and accounting, insurance, and data analytics. A New U is the first roadmap to these groundbreaking programs, which will lead to more student choice, better matches with employers, higher return on investment of cost and time, and stronger economic growth.

Michael Fullan's New Meaning of Educational Change is the definitive textbook on the study of educational change. Based on practical and fundamental work with education systems in several countries, the text captures the dilemmas and leading ideas for successful large-scale systemic reform. This updated edition includes decisionmakers at all levels, from the local school community to the state and national level, and introduces many new and powerful ideas for formulating stategies and implementing solutions that will improve educational systems. Widely used by university professors, policy makers, and practitioners throughout North America and in many other countries this perennial bestseller shows us how to: develop collaborative cultures at the school level, while avoiding superficial versions of professional learning communities; foster district wide success in all schools illustrating how state and national systems can achieve total system transformation based on identifying and fostering meaning for education at every level; and integrate individucal and systemic success, a rare feat in today's school reform efforts.

The School Reform Landscape Reloaded: More Fear, Myths, and Lies peels back the curtain of school reform to examine the tensions that exist between the democratic and equitable system of public education and the emerging dual system based on elite interests aimed at profit-making and decreasing education equity. The author takes in-depth and controversial look at school reform since the launch of Sputnik I. Education reform events, proposals, and policies are examined through the lens of progressivist philosophy and critical social theory. Some of the issues and policies critiqued include the neoliberal corporate influence on education, the Sputnik myth, A Nation At Risk, standardization, charter schools, and other relevant topics. The author provides an evidence-based view of the free-market reform ideas and he pierces the veil of the new reform policies to find that they are not built upon empirical evidence, but instead rest solidly on foundations of myth, fear, and lies. Ideas for a new set of reform policies, based on empirical evidence and supportive of a unitary, equitable, and democratic system of education are presented.

Deindustrialization, white flight, and inner city poverty have spelled trouble for Baltimore schools. Marion Orr now examines why school reform has been difficult to achieve there, revealing the struggles of civic leaders and the limitations placed on Baltimore's African-American community as each has tried to rescue a failing school system. Examining the interplay between government and society, Orr presents the first systematic analysis of social capital both within the African-American community ("black social capital") and outside it where social capital crosses racial lines. Orr shows that while black social capital may have created solidarity against white domination in Baltimore, it hampered African-American leaders' capacity to enlist the cooperation from white corporate elites and suburban residents needed for school reform. Orr examines social capital at the neighborhood level, in elite-level interactions, and in intergovernmental relations to argue that black social capital doesn't necessarily translate into the kind of intergroup coalition needed to bring about school reform. He also includes an extensive historical survey of the black community, showing how distrust engendered by past black experiences has hampered the formation of significant intergroup social capital. The book features case studies of school reform activity, including the first analysis of the politics surrounding Baltimore's decision to hire a private, for-profit firm to operate nine of its public schools. These cases illuminate the paradoxical aspects of black social capital in citywide school reform while offering critical perspectives on current debates about privatization, site-based management, and other reform alternatives. Orr's book challenges those who argue that social capital alone can solve fundamentally political problems by purely social means and questions the efficacy of either privatization or black community power to reform urban schools. Black Social Capital offers a cogent conceptual synthesis of social capital theory and urban regime theory that demonstrates the importance of government, politics, and leadership in converting social capital into a resource that can be mobilized for effective social change.