As a field, education has largely failed to learn from experience. Time after time, promising education reforms fall short of their goals and are abandoned as other promising ideas take their place. In Learning to Improve, the authors argue for a new approach. Rather than “implementing fast and learning slow,” they believe educators should adopt a more rigorous approach to improvement that allows the field to “learn fast to implement well.” Using ideas borrowed from improvement science, the authors show how a process of disciplined inquiry can be combined with the use of networks to identify, adapt, and successfully scale up promising interventions in education. Organized around six core principles, the book shows how “networked improvement communities” can bring together researchers and practitioners to accelerate learning in key areas of education. Examples include efforts to address the high rates of failure among students in community college remedial math courses and strategies for improving feedback to novice teachers. Learning to Improve offers a new paradigm for research and development in education that promises to be a powerful driver of improvement for the nation’s schools and colleges.

Learning Analytics Goes to School presents a framework for engaging in education research and improving education practice through the use of newly available data sources and analytical approaches. The application of data-intensive research techniques to understanding and improving learning environments has been growing at a rapid pace. In this book, three leading researchers convey lessons from their own experiences—and the current state of the art in educational data mining and learning analytics more generally—by providing an explicit set of tools and processes for engaging in collaborative data-intensive improvement.

Contains research and current trends used in digital simulations of teaching, surveying the uses of games and simulations in teacher education.

Strategic Management of Human Capital in Education offers a comprehensive and strategic approach to address what has become labeled as "talent and human capital." Grounded in extensive research and examples of leading edge districts, this book shows how the entire human resource system in schools—from recruitment, to selection/placement, induction, professional development, performance management and evaluation, compensation, and career progression—can be reformed and restructured to boost teacher and principal effectiveness in ways that dramatically improve instructional practice and student learning. Strategic Management of Human Capital in Education guides educators towards putting more effective teachers, teacher leaders, and principals in the country’s schools—especially in poverty-impacted urban and rural communities—equipping those teacher and principals with instructional and leadership expertise, and rewarding and retaining those who are successful in attaining these objectives. Drawing from cases, experiences, and deliberations from a national task force, this book outlines a comprehensive framework for how to transform current human resource management practices into authentic, strategic talent management systems in order to improve student achievement.

In 2002 the No Child Left Behind Act rocked America's schools with new initiatives for results-based accountability. But years before NCLB was signed, a new movement was already under way by mayors to take control of city schools from school boards and integrate the management of public education with the overall governing of the city. The Education Mayor is a critical look at mayoral control of urban school districts, beginning with Boston's schools in 1992 and examining more than 100 school districts in 40 states. The authors seek to answer four central questions: * What does school governance look like under mayoral leadership? * How does mayoral control affect school and student performance? * What are the key factors for success or failure of integrated governance? * How does mayoral control effect practical changes in schools and classrooms? The results of their examination indicate that, although mayoral control of schools may not be appropriate for every district, it can successfully emphasize accountability across the education system, providing more leverage for each school district to strengthen its educational infrastructure and improve student performance. Based on extensive quantitative data as well as case studies, this analytical study provides a balanced look at America's education reform. As the first multidistrict empirical examination and most comprehensive overall evaluation of mayoral school reform, The Education Mayor is a must-read for academics, policymakers, educational administrators, and civic and political leaders concerned about public education.

This open access book compares and contrasts the results of international student assessments in ten countries. The OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) released the results of its 2018 assessment in December 2019. This book reflects the debates that typically follow the release of these results and focuses on the causes of differences between countries. Such causes include continuous decline in one country, improvement combined with increasing internal inequalities in another country, or rapid improvement in spite of an outdated curriculum in yet another. In addition, the book discusses a number of general questions: Is knowledge outdated? Are computers taking over and replacing teachers? Are schools killing creativity? Are we adequately preparing the next generation? Are schools failing to educate our kids? The book starts out with a summary of PISA’s evolution and PISA results, and an explanation of the major factors that play a role in changes in countries’ results. The next ten chapters are devoted to ten specific countries, offering a summary of data and an explanation of the major drives for changes in education results for each one. Each chapter includes a short description of the country’s educational system as well as the impact of PISA and other ILSA studies on the country’s educational policies. The chapters also include a timeline of policy measures and main hallmarks of the country’s educational evolution, discussing the impact of these measures on its PISA results. A final reference chapter explains what PISA is, what it measures and how. While highlighting the 2018 results, the book also takes into consideration previous results, as well as long-term initiatives. This book gathers the contribution of well-known and respected experts in the field. Specialists such as Eric Hanushek, for the US, Tim Oates, for England, Montse Gomendio, for Spain, Gunda Tire, for Estonia, and all other contributors draw on their vast experience and statistical analysis expertise to draw a set of rich country lessons and recommendations that are invaluable for all of those who care about improving a country’s education system.

The "Improving the Quality of Education for All" (IQEA) school improvement project has, over the last ten years, reduced and evaluated a model of development that strengthens the school's ability to provide high quality education for all its pupils by building on existing good practice. The schools within the IQEA network have also provided the setting for a long-term investigation into the processes of school change and the enhancement of student achievement. This book provides many practical staff development activities and gives examples of specific changes which have taken place in IQEA schools, relating both to the progress of students and the professional development of their teachers. These training activities and examples demonstrate that improving the quality of education has many facets, not all of which can be measured and translated into league tables.

This book explores an approach to school improvement that merges the traditions of educational effectiveness research and school improvement efforts. It displays how the dynamic model, which is theoretical and empirically validated, can be used in both traditions. Each chapter integrates evidence from international and national studies, showing how the knowledge-base of educational effectiveness research can be used for improvement purposes. In a clear and practicable manner it outlines: Foundations of the improvement approach Research projects investigating the impact of the dynamic approach Guidelines and practical solutions to translating the approach into action Further developments for school improvement Exploring the crucial factors in the establishment of this environment, the authors outline a dynamic framework that helps schools collect data, through self-evaluation mechanisms, taking decisions about priorities for improvement, and developing appropriate policies and action plans. This approach emphasises educational targets and provides means to achieve them that are flexible enough to fit in with the circumstances of the individual school. The book draws upon research across the world, conducted especially in the United States, Europe, and Australasia, expertly showcasing how the dynamic approach can be used in a wide variety of educational settings A key book for all professionals working in education; academics, researchers, policy-makers, school advisors and practitioners will find it invaluable. Not only it is a must for graduate students, university libraries, and individual academics but also for school management teams, school support agencies and officials in educational policy.

US education is in crisis. This history and analysis of the education system is an essential primer for parents, teachers, and school administrators, as well as parent teacher organizations, education majors, education administration majors, the media, politicians, and everyone who wants to see American schools do a better job. The author considers the genesis of public schools in the United States, various aspects of public education systems from elementary school through university, trends in education and reform, and issues that still need to be addressed. The book contains information about public and private organizations, think tanks, institutions, and governmental bodies involved in public education reform. The book shows the deficiency of the existing education system and compares it to more efficient systems. The author shows that most of the existing approaches to improve education are based on the same foolish idea that as long as government spending on education is great enough, the improvement will follow. The bond between education and politics hinders progress in education. The problems facing schools as well as the recommended solutions are considered. The author cites multiple research attempts to improve the functioning of the existing education system that have still failed to bring any tangible results. He uses his specialized knowledge to explain what should be done for educational progress to become reality.