Planning For Academic Excellence

Discover a proven way to deal effectively with the white waters of change in education, and create a culture of hope in which students receive the support they need to achieve success. The authors’ extensive experience with effective schools research and the power of the professional learning community combine to create a uniquely hopeful approach that results in effective and efficient schools.

This book contains a general introduction to the education of academically able students. It provides a solid background of basic knowledge and a survey of research and theory for educational theorists, student teachers, practising teachers, administrators and planners. It offers insights into relevant practical problems as well as guidelines for classroom practice. The significance of this material is outlined for the various levels of the educational system from the individual classroom to the regional planning level. The book is not, however, designed to offer set answers and pat solutions, but to provide rationale for the creative work of teachers and administrators.

Strategic Planning for School Leaders equips readers with critical knowledge regarding the practices and leadership skillsets needed to establish and lead the strategic planning process within the school setting. Readers learn how to cultivate and channel visionary, curriculum, managerial, cultural, ethical, and political leadership to create effective school improvements and support academic achievement. The opening chapter defines strategic planning and illuminates how the strategic planning process applies within the school setting. Additional chapters cover the Every Student Succeeds Act; conducting needs assessments and analyzing the resulting data; developing and prioritizing goals and objectives; and the importance of consistently building the instructional abilities of those who are working with and teaching students. Closing chapters demonstrate how to effectively monitor, assess, and evaluate strategic plans with emphasis on the cyclical nature of the strategic planning process and the need for ongoing, continuous improvements. Featuring practical illustrations of the strategic planning process, vignettes based on the authors' experiences, and ample reflection opportunities, Strategic Planning for School Leaders is a valuable resource for courses and programs in educational leadership and school administration.

A revolutionary new educational model that encourages educators to provide spaces for students to display their academic brilliance without sacrificing their identities Building on the ideas introduced in his New York Times best-selling book, For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood, Christopher Emdin introduces an alternative educational model that will help students (and teachers) celebrate ratchet identity in the classroom. Ratchetdemic advocates for a new kind of student identity—one that bridges the seemingly disparate worlds of the ivory tower and the urban classroom. Because modern schooling often centers whiteness, Emdin argues, it dismisses ratchet identity (the embodying of “negative” characteristics associated with lowbrow culture, often thought to be possessed by people of a particular ethnic, racial, or socioeconomic status) as anti-intellectual and punishes young people for straying from these alleged “academic norms,” leaving young people in classrooms frustrated and uninspired. These deviations, Emdin explains, include so-called “disruptive behavior” and a celebration of hip-hop music and culture. Emdin argues that being “ratchetdemic,” or both ratchet and academic (like having rap battles about science, for example), can empower students to embrace themselves, their backgrounds, and their education as parts of a whole, not disparate identities. This means celebrating protest, disrupting the status quo, and reclaiming the genius of youth in the classroom.

This book examines the experience of 11 universities in nine countries around the world that have grappled with the challenge of building successful research institutions in difficult circumstances and outlines key lessons of from this experience.