Facilitator's Guide to Failure Is Not an Option®

Award-winning author and educational leader, Alan Blankstein served for 25 years as President of the HOPE Foundation, which he founded and whose honorary chair is Nobel Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu. A former “high-risk” youth, Alan began his career in education as a music teacher. He worked for Phi Delta Kappa, March of Dimes, and Solution Tree, which he founded in 1987 and directed for 12 years while launching Professional Learning Communities beginning in the late 1980s. He is the author of the best-selling book Failure Is Not an Option®: Six Principles That Guide Student Achievement in High-Performing Schools, which received the Book of the Year award from Learning Forward. Alan is Senior Editor, lead contributor, and/or author of 18 books, including Excellence Through Equity with Pedro Noguera,.  He also authored some 20 articles in leading education print including Education Week, Educational Leadership, The Principal, and Executive Educator. Alan has provided keynote presentations and workshops for virtually every major U.S. Ed Org, and throughout the UK, Africa, and the Middle East.  Alan has served on the Harvard International Principals Centers advisory board, and the Jewish Child Care Agency, where he once was a youth in residence.

• About the AuthorHow to Use This Chapter-by-Chapter GuideTips to Facilitate DiscussionChapter-by-Chapter Study Guide: Failure Is Not an Option: 6 Principles for Making Student Success the ONLY Option, Second Edition by Alan M. BlanksteinChapter 1. Why Failure Is Not an OptionChapter Content ReviewActivitiesDiscussionFurther ReadingResourcesChapter 2. Courageous Leadership for School SuccessChapter Content ReviewActivitiesDiscussionFurther ReadingChapter 3. 10 Common Routes to Failure, and How to Avoid EachChapter Content ReviewActivitiesDiscussionFurther ReadingResourcesChapter 4. Relational Trust as Foundation for the Learning CommunityChapter Content ReviewActivitiesDiscussionFurther ReadingChapter 5. Principle 1: Common Mission, Vision, Values, and GoalsChapter Content ReviewActivitiesDiscussionFurther ReadingResourcesChapter 6. Principle 2: Ensuring Achievement for All Students?Systems for Prevention and InterventionChapter Content ReviewActivitiesDiscussionFurther ReadingResourcesChapter 7. Principle 3: Collaborative Teaming Focused on Teaching for LearningChapter Content ReviewActivitiesDiscussionFurther ReadingResourcesChapter 8. Principle 4: Data-Based Decision Making for Continuous ImprovementChapter Content ReviewActivitiesDiscussionFurther ReadingResourcesChapter 9. Principle 5: Gaining Active Engagement From Family and Community by Alan M. Blankstein and Pedro A. NogueraChapter Content ReviewActivitiesDiscussionFurther ReadingChapter 10. Principle 6: Building Sustainable Leadership Capacity by Alan M. Blankstein with Andy Hargreaves and Dean FinkChapter Content ReviewActivitiesDiscussionFurther ReadingWrap Up Your Reading With ReflectionResourcesResource 1. FNO Snapshot Rubric for Educational LeadersResource 2. FNO Student-Success Model and Critical-Success FactorsResource 3. Williamston Zoomerang Survey: Tying Professional Development to ResultsResource 4. FNO Tuning ProtocolResource 5. Williamston Graphic Organizer and Rubric for WritingResource 6. Williamston Professional Development AgendaResource 7. Strategies for Making TimeResource 8. Self-AssessmentResource 9. Strategies for Dealing With ResistanceResource 10. Running River Elementary School Mission StatementResource 11. Development Process for Mission, Vision, Values, and GoalsResource 12. Worksheet for Developing a School Improvement PlanResource 13. Pyramid of Support at Coyote Ridge Elementary SchoolResource 14. Developing a System of Prevention and InterventionResource 15. Instructional Learning WalksResource 16. Checklist for Using Diagnostic (Preteaching) AssessmentsResource 17. Checklist for Using Formative AssessmentsResource 18. Checklist for Using Summative AssessmentsWorkshop Evaluation Form