Mobilizing Citizens for Better Schools

Mobilizing Citizens for Better Schools
Author: Robert F. Sexton
Publisher: Teachers College Press
Total Pages: 148
Release: 2004-03-20
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9780807744413

Tired of the complacent attitudes Kentucky politicians showed toward education, the Prichard Committee formed as an organization to galvanize the citizens of Kentucky to attack the state's historic educational deficits. The committee's campaigning helped prepare the way for the passage of the Kentucky Education Reform Act in 1990 and continues to work for school reform today. Based on his wealth of experience and success with the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, Sexton provides invaluable guidance for citizens of all states who are interested in implementing school reform.

Mobilizing for Democracy

Mobilizing for Democracy
Author: Vera Schatten Coelho
Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.
Total Pages: 214
Release: 2013-04-04
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1848139152

Mobilizing for Democracy is an in-depth study into how ordinary citizens and their organizations mobilize to deepen democracy. Featuring a collection of new empirical case studies from Angola, Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, this important new book illustrates how forms of political mobilization, such as protests, social participation, activism, litigation and lobbying, engage with the formal institutions of representative democracy in ways that are core to the development of democratic politics. No other volume has brought together examples from such a broad Southern spectrum and covering such a diversity of actors: rural and urban dwellers, transnational activists, religious groups, politicians and social leaders. The cases illuminate the crucial contribution that citizen mobilization makes to democratization and the building of state institutions, and reflect the uneasy relationship between citizens and the institutions that are designed to foster their political participation.

Vote for Our Future!

Vote for Our Future!
Author: Margaret McNamara
Publisher: Random House Studio
Total Pages: 41
Release: 2020-02-18
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1984892800

In this charming and powerful picture book about voting and elections, the students of Stanton Elementary School learn how we can find--and use--our voices for change. Every two years, on the first Tuesday of November, Stanton Elementary School closes for the day. For vacation? Nope! For repairs? No way! Stanton Elementary School closes so that it can transform itself into a polling station. People can come from all over to vote for the people who will make laws for the country. Sure, the Stanton Elementary School students might be too young to vote themselves, but that doesn't mean they can't encourage their parents, friends, and family to vote! After all, voting is how this country sees change--and by voting today, we can inspire tomorrow's voters to change the future.

Finnish Lessons

Finnish Lessons
Author: Pasi Sahlberg
Publisher: Teachers College Press
Total Pages: 193
Release: 2011
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0807752576

Finnish Lessons is a first-hand, comprehensive account of how Finland built a world-class education system during the past three decades. The author traces the evolution of education policies in Finland and highlights how they differ from the United States and other industrialized countries. He shows how rather than relying on competition, choice, and external testing of students, education reforms in Finland focus on professionalizing teachers' work, developing instructional leadership in schools, and enhancing trust in teachers and schools. This book details the complexity of educational change and encourages educators and policymakers to develop effective solutions for their own districts and schools.

Mathematics Professional Development

Mathematics Professional Development
Author: Hilda Borko
Publisher: Teachers College Press
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2015
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0807773794

This resource will help school leaders and other professional development providers conduct ongoing, structured learning opportunities for mathematics teachers (K–12). The authors present models for professional development and the preparation of PD leaders designed and field-tested as part of two research projects supported by the National Science Foundation. The Problem-Solving Cycle model and the Mathematics Leadership Preparation model focus on topics of primary interest to mathematics teachers—mathematics content, classroom instruction, and student learning. They are intentionally designed so that they can be tailored to meet the needs and interests of participating teachers and schools. Through engaging vignettes, the authors describe the models, summarize key research findings, and share lessons learned. The book also includes detailed examples of workshop activities for both teachers and PD leaders. Book Features: Supports teachers’ learning and teaching of math in line with current reform principles.Develops math teachers’ capacity to foster students’ learning of the CCSSM content and practices.Prepares teacher leaders to facilitate professional development.Illustrates the use of video as part of professional development.Includes examples of workshop activities for teachers and teacher leaders. “This book presents an approach to teacher professional learning that integrates many popular ideas in the field, such as teacher leadership, evidence-based practice, and teacher learning communities. It avoids the superficiality that plagues so many treatments of these themes, offering readers depth, substance, detail, and clarity. This will surely be a valuable resource for educational leaders and professional development specialists seeking research-based ways to assist teachers to engage effectively in ambitious mathematics instruction that enables students to understand mathematics deeply and to use it effectively to solve problems.” —Edward A. Silver, William A. Brownell Collegiate Professor of Education & Professor of Mathematics, University of Michigan “Mathematics Professional Development delivers the details we need but can rarely access. The authors detail a research-based, principled approach to school-based professional development that supports teachers in taking on the continual improvement of their practice.” —Megan Franke, professor, UCLA

Managing to Change

Managing to Change
Author: Thomas Hatch
Publisher: Teachers College Press
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2015-04-18
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0807771155

This book shows how school improvement efforts are often undermined by the changing conditions around schools, as well as by some of the very policies and programs designed to help them make improvements. Hatch argues that schools cannot wait around for conditions to improve or policymakers to figure out how to provide the right support. Schools need to create the conditions for their own success. To help them accomplish that, the A01thor describes a small set of key practices that schools can use to get resources, manage external demands, and build their capacity to make and sustain improvements over time.