A handbook that helps educational leaders hone the social and emotional skills essential to promoting positive school culture and navigating their complex jobs. In this profoundly useful work, Janet Patti and Robin Stern make the case for social-emotional learning (SEL) as part of a critical skill set for K-12 school leaders, and they offer…

When teachers and students share the responsibility for learning, students become active agents in their own learning who respond to feedback, set learning goals, track their progress, and adapt their own learning strategies when needed. Formative assessment provides a clear path forward to this kind of teaching and learning experience, and site…

This article describes how teacher leadership emerged within schools with either a high level or a low level of readiness to establish a professional learning community. Through the perspectives of principals and teacher leaders, there were distinct differences in the emergence of teacher leadership, the operation of shared leadership structures,…

This book presents a process and framework designed to improve the chances that administrators will learn within the context of leading. It shows administrators how to use portfolios to develop their philosophy and leadership, zero in on goals, create plans and participate in professional development, coach peers, and assess and articulate what…

Although 80% of all administrative decisions are made at the department level, many community college department chairs accept their positions without a clear understanding of the demands or training in leadership skills. It is critical to a productive department, however, that chairs possess the leadership skills to shape their departments into…

Standards-based education is likely to remain prevalent in education far into the future. Effective leaders must protect and support teachers, who are the heart of every school. Chapter 1, "The First Key: Understanding Motivation," explores the importance of motivation in promoting change in schools. Teachers and staff can choose to…

This guidebook is intended to help state literacy leaders evaluate their states' progress in implementing five key strategies for establishing an integrated literacy system. Chapters are devoted to each of the following strategies: determine the dimensions of the literacy problem, set priorities and performance expectations, create quality…

Children and adolescents who enjoy healthy growth and development along six primary pathways are the students who learn well and achieve success in school and in life. But children from poorly functioning families and impoverished social networks too often find themselves without adequate preparation and support for the academic challenges that…