Sharon F Rallis - Böcker

The second edition continues with Sharon Rallis and Ellen Goldring providing lively and inspiring views of school leadership that is both grounded in reality and compellingly hopeful that this reality can be redefined for the better. This book packs more useful ideas about what leadership is and how it works in successfully restructuring schools than any other book now available. The authors speak to this topic with a voice that is as passionate and sensitive as it is reasoned and authoritative. Rallis and Goldring tell a story based on their extensive case studies and survey studies and on a through overview of the research of others. They define anew what it means for principals to be in charge. The principals they studied were much less concerned with controlling what people did and how they did it and much more concerned with controlling the conditions that enabled others to function in ways that increased the likelihood shared goals would be reached. Rallis and Goldring describe and illustrate the behavior of these new principals and the forces that shape their activities.

The role of the teacher is no longer confined to the classroom or to interactions with students. The authors of this book illustrate through case studies the emerging roles of `dynamic' teachers which incorporate: seeing themselves as professionals and making a commitment to professional behaviours; challenging student thinking through appropriate questioning strategies; extending the classroom into the community, and bringing the community into the classroom; and becoming agents of change, advocating school reform.

"Because the authors are critically aware of even the smallest detail and its ultimate effects on policy and stakeholders, their conclusions are not only logical but very well thought out and can be applied for maximum benefit."—Michael Fisher, Critical Thinking SpecialistStarpoint Middle School, Lockport, NY

"The authors do an excellent job of recommending practical strategies to help school leaders reason through policy dilemmas. As an academic, a former practitioner, and former member of an educational policy and advocacy organization, I give a 'hats off' to the authors for approaching educational policy and school leadership in this way."—Carri A. Schneider, Adjunct Faculty Urban Educational Leadership Program University of Cincinnati

A practical guide for creating, implementing, and evaluating school policy.

This companion book to Principals of Dynamic Schools and Dynamic Teachers brings to life the process of making and enacting educational policy and helps decision makers evaluate, interpret, and analyze the policies that govern their schools.

In accessible language, Leading Dynamic Schools presents educational leaders with a conceptual framework for developing effective and ethical school policies. Organized by key issues such as English Language Learners, inclusion, and bullying, the text incorporates vignettes, research, and relevant theories to illustrate how readers can:

Create a dialogue that represents the needs of all stakeholdersDefine relevant policies that are ethically soundIntegrate legally mandated policies with schoolwide resolutions

Providing a forum for critical reflection and community deliberation, this insightful resource offers a practical policy-making process that encourages thoughtful leadership and schoolwide collaboration.

"Because the authors are critically aware of even the smallest detail and its ultimate effects on policy and stakeholders, their conclusions are not only logical but very well thought out and can be applied for maximum benefit."—Michael Fisher, Critical Thinking SpecialistStarpoint Middle School, Lockport, NY

"The authors do an excellent job of recommending practical strategies to help school leaders reason through policy dilemmas. As an academic, a former practitioner, and former member of an educational policy and advocacy organization, I give a 'hats off' to the authors for approaching educational policy and school leadership in this way."—Carri A. Schneider, Adjunct Faculty Urban Educational Leadership Program University of Cincinnati

A practical guide for creating, implementing, and evaluating school policy.

This companion book to Principals of Dynamic Schools and Dynamic Teachers brings to life the process of making and enacting educational policy and helps decision makers evaluate, interpret, and analyze the policies that govern their schools.

In accessible language, Leading Dynamic Schools presents educational leaders with a conceptual framework for developing effective and ethical school policies. Organized by key issues such as English Language Learners, inclusion, and bullying, the text incorporates vignettes, research, and relevant theories to illustrate how readers can:

Create a dialogue that represents the needs of all stakeholdersDefine relevant policies that are ethically soundIntegrate legally mandated policies with schoolwide resolutions

Providing a forum for critical reflection and community deliberation, this insightful resource offers a practical policy-making process that encourages thoughtful leadership and schoolwide collaboration.

"This essential guide for educational leaders skillfully blends scholarship with practice and integrates theory with real-world examples. Through case studies, the authors show the reader how to develop, support, and improve a collaborative, inquiry-action process for improving teaching and learning. If we are going to have schools that successfully educate all students to high standards, then we need principals who translate the lessons of this book into practice."—Andrew Lachman, Executive Director Connecticut Center for School Change

Enhance learning with a collaborative, inquiry-based system of leadership!

With sociopolitical forces prompting calls for school improvement, school leaders look for ways to expand their expertise in instructional leadership and strengthen their role in shaping classroom practice.

Leading With Inquiry and Action presents a systematic, ongoing process for collecting information, making decisions, and taking action to improve instruction and raise student achievement. The authors illustrate this collaborative inquiry-action cycle with a running vignette of an experienced principal and offer questions and exercises to guide individual reflection and group discussion. Thoroughly grounded in research, this book helps administrators:

Identify areas for instructional improvementDetermine community-supported solutions and build stakeholder commitmentArticulate an action plan based on multiple data sourcesTake steps that support teacher development Systematically evaluate program results

Educational improvement requires informed leadership. This practical guide provides an efficient and functional framework for transforming current or aspiring principals into inquiry-minded, action-oriented instructional leaders.

Designed to foster "inquiry-mindedness," this book prepares graduate students to develop a conceptual framework and conduct inquiry projects that are linked to ongoing conversations in a field. The authors examine different ways of knowing and show how to identify a research question; build arguments and support them with evidence; make informed design decisions; engage in reflective, ethical practices; and produce a written proposal or report. Each chapter opens with a set of critical questions, followed by a dialogue among five fictional graduate students exploring questions and concerns about their own inquiry projects; these issues are revisited throughout the chapter. Other useful features include end-of-chapter learning activities for individual or group use.Useful pedagogical features include: *Framing questions for exploration and reflection. *Chapter-opening dialogues that bring in perspectives from multiple disciplines. *Example boxes with detailed cases and questions for the reader. *End-of-chapter activities and experiential exercises that guide readers to develop their own inquiry projects. *Suggestions for further reading.

Designed to foster "inquiry-mindedness," this book prepares graduate students to develop a conceptual framework and conduct inquiry projects that are linked to ongoing conversations in a field. The authors examine different ways of knowing and show how to identify a research question; build arguments and support them with evidence; make informed design decisions; engage in reflective, ethical practices; and produce a written proposal or report. Each chapter opens with a set of critical questions, followed by a dialogue among five fictional graduate students exploring questions and concerns about their own inquiry projects; these issues are revisited throughout the chapter. Other useful features include end-of-chapter learning activities for individual or group use.Useful pedagogical features include: *Framing questions for exploration and reflection. *Chapter-opening dialogues that bring in perspectives from multiple disciplines. *Example boxes with detailed cases and questions for the reader. *End-of-chapter activities and experiential exercises that guide readers to develop their own inquiry projects. *Suggestions for further reading.