Accurately report students’ academic strengths and weaknesses with standards-based grading. Rather than using traditional systems that incorporate nonacademic factors such as attendance and behavior, learn to assess and report student performance based on prioritized standards. You will discover reliable, practical methods for analyzing what students have learned and gain effective strategies for offering students feedback on their progress.

Ensure your school’s grading procedures are supportive of learning, accurate, meaningful, and consistent. Discover how the “seven essential Ps” can improve your effectiveness in supporting assessment and communicating student achievement. You will also learn how to avoid inaccurate grades caused by penalties for lateness or academic dishonesty; extra credit; group rather than individual work; and marking down for attendance.

"The first priority for school leaders is to understand that problems cannot define a vision nor become its end point. Instead, they are opportunities to include stakeholders in formulating the vision." - Carmen Farina and Laura Kotch This updated edition of A School Leader's Guide to Excellence models exactly how current Chancellor of New York City Public Schools, Carmen Farina, and former Executive Director of Professional Development for the New York City Department of Education, Laura Kotch, transform struggling schools and make good schools great. Carmen and Laura "believe that conversations and collaboration work better than competition and isolation, and that excellence can be shared and replicated. The building blocks of what works well in one classroom or school can be exported to build consistency and community across classrooms and schools." Their plan shows precisely how to envision success and share your plan, collaborate inside your building and outside it to build the momentum for change then focus everyone's energy toward accomplishing even your highest goals.

A positive model for restorative discipline If you would like a more effective way to deal with discipline issues than "old school" punishment, this book is for you. The authors provide a research-based and field-tested model that gives school leaders more productive alternatives to reprimands, exclusion, and out-of-school suspension. This positive program helps improve behavior and keep students in school. This guide′s model covers school-wide prevention, restoration, and intervention needs for students with emotional, behavioral, and conduct disorders (such as bullying) as well as developmental disabilities and autism. Key topics include: The latest research on the effectiveness of restorative discipline How to implement a comprehensive, school-wide discipline plan Ways to support and sustain the plan with teacher teams Networking with community services such as child protection, child welfare, juvenile justice, and mental health professionals This program has high social validity and utility for actual school and classroom settings. In addition to content learning, students need to learn appropriate behavior and social skills to succeed in school and in life. This book offers a solid, proven, and humane program that benefits students and keeps the focus where it should be—on learning.

A School Leader's Guide to Standards-Based Grading by Tammy Heflebower, Jan K. Hoegh, and Phil Warrick, with Mitzi Hoback, Margaret McInteer, and Bev Clemens, offers a reliable framework for analyzing student learning and providing students and stakeholders with effective feedback on student progress. This guide not only articulates significant research supporting standards-based grading as an accurate, precise, and effective way to report academic strengths and weaknesses but also shares applicable anecdotes from educators implementing its components. The authors detail specific procedures, processes, and systems necessary for implementation. In chapter 1, readers will learn the differences between standards-based grading and standards-referenced grading and address why grading practices should change. Chapter 2 explains how teachers can prioritize standards and create proficiency scales. Chapter 3 helps readers design assessments based on the standards and scales. Chapter 4 guides readers through the grading process. Chapter 5 addresses the role of exceptional learners students with special needs, English learners, and gifted and talented students in the assessment process. Finally, chapter 6 provides a big-picture view to help school leaders implement standards-based grading school- or districtwide. Each chapter also includes real-life accounts from teachers, principals, superintendents, and other educators who have applied standards-based grading in their schools.

A laser-beam focus on improving instruction to improve learning If we want to change how students write, compute, and think, then teachers must transform the old “assign-and-assess” model into engaging, coherent, and rigorous instruction. The authors show school leaders how to make this happen amidst myriad distractions, initiatives, and interruptions. Unlike other books that stop at evaluating teachers and instruction, this work demonstrates how to grow schools’ instructional capacities with a three-step process that involves: Envisioning what good teaching looks like Measuring the quality of current instruction against this standard Working relentlessly to move the quality of instruction closer and closer to the ideal

Rev. ed. of: What every principal needs to know about special education. 2nd ed. c2009.

Learn everything you need to know to implement an integrated system of assessment and grading. The author details the specific benefits of formative assessment and explains how to design and interpret three different types of formative assessments, how to track student progress, and how to assign meaningful grades. Detailed examples bring each concept to life, and chapter exercises reinforce the content.

When teachers adopt standards-based learning, students take ownership of their education and achievement soars. Written specifically for K-12 teachers, this resource details a sequential approach for connecting curriculum, instruction, assessment methods, and feedback through standards-based education. The authors provide practical advice, real-world examples, and answers to frequently asked questions designed to support you through this important transition.

This essential resource provides strategies for the effective and equitable distribution of available FTEs throughout the district, while helping you work through the many critical questions and decisions involved in the scheduling process.