"Grade reform and standards-based grading (SBG) is a hotly debated issue in education. As one high school administrator puts it, "Traditional letter grading is probably the biggest elephant in the room in regard to school reform. We start [grading] at a young age, and it becomes all about accumulating points, and it's not about the learning anymore." (Dan Kelley, principal of Smithfield High School, Rhode Island). When students can focus less on the score and more on the learning, great things happen. SBG is even more challenging in high school. In this book, the authors share their districts' successes moving to alternate assessment methods that promote learning rather than solely achievement. The proponents of grade reform highlight the arbitrary nature of grades, the undue stress experienced by some learners, and the potential interference in the process of learning. On the other hand, opponents reference the lack of accountability and a shift away from content knowledge that is perceived in many alternate assessment models. This book outlines how to remove the negative impacts of grades while still maintaining a high level of accountability. While the majority of other books in this space provide a rationale for why the shift is necessary, these authors provide the classroom teacher's perspective and concrete examples of how these approaches can be developed and applied. They provide sample assessments, student work samples, an accountability checklist, a sample of their rubrics, and a review of our collected data"--

Elliot Eisner has spent the last forty years researching, thinking and writing about some of the enduring issues in arts education, curriculum studies and qualitative research. He has compiled a career-long collection of his finest work including extracts from books, key articles, salient research findings and major theoretical contributions and brought them together in a single volume. Starting with a specially written introduction, which gives an overview of Eisner’s career and contextualises his selection, the chapters cover a wide range of issues including: * children and art * the use of educational connoisseurship * aesthetic modes of knowing * absolutism and relativism in curriculum theory * education reform and the ecology of schooling * the future of education research.

Do you think education works? Does it meet the needs of future society, business and most importantly, the average school leaver? In this book, Richard Wells explains his amazement at how all the components of New Zealand education collaborate in creating an ever forward-moving system better prepared for the 21st century than any other. After teaching in the UK, Wells moved to New Zealand in 2006 to find there was no prescribed curriculum and teachers were trusted to run the whole system, including writing high school graduation assessments themselves. The Government is appreciated by teachers as a supportive aide to them as they hold each other to account in a positive and collaborative nationally networked system. In New Zealand, teachers are proud of the education system they operate and develop with their students, some being unaware of how lucky they are. Wells explains each of the elements and organisations that jointly form the world's leading 21st Century education system. He describes the developments and decisions that were made in achieving this and how it is moving into a phase of using student-negotiated national assessments that few other countries' educators could even contemplate. The book is filled with useful diagrams and posters to illustrate key themes and pedagogies. Wells paints a picture of what happens when young people are measured by their depth of thinking and understanding and can personalise their approach to doing so. The book introduces you to a country where the leading people and schools shape the future of world public education.

A revolutionary new educational model that encourages educators to provide spaces for students to display their academic brilliance without sacrificing their identities Building on the ideas introduced in his New York Times best-selling book, For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood, Christopher Emdin introduces an alternative educational model that will help students (and teachers) celebrate ratchet identity in the classroom. Ratchetdemic advocates for a new kind of student identity—one that bridges the seemingly disparate worlds of the ivory tower and the urban classroom. Because modern schooling often centers whiteness, Emdin argues, it dismisses ratchet identity (the embodying of “negative” characteristics associated with lowbrow culture, often thought to be possessed by people of a particular ethnic, racial, or socioeconomic status) as anti-intellectual and punishes young people for straying from these alleged “academic norms,” leaving young people in classrooms frustrated and uninspired. These deviations, Emdin explains, include so-called “disruptive behavior” and a celebration of hip-hop music and culture. Emdin argues that being “ratchetdemic,” or both ratchet and academic (like having rap battles about science, for example), can empower students to embrace themselves, their backgrounds, and their education as parts of a whole, not disparate identities. This means celebrating protest, disrupting the status quo, and reclaiming the genius of youth in the classroom.

This fascinating and vital book seeks to challenge the effectiveness of current practices in professional development by urging educators to rethink professional learning for teachers and teaching assistants. It importantly brings together ideas about teacher professionalism and how to build creative and trusting cultures in which high expectations are not compromised. Throughout, teachers describe significant professional learning and growth, often through dynamic partnerships with others, that allows them to inspire imaginative possibilities; different and creative ways to ignite hope and opportunity for children. Four key themes guide the reader through the collection of chapters: professional capital, learning communities, teachers as researchers and subject-specific professional development. They explore: The types of professional development approaches that support teachers to make meaningful changes within their practices. The conditions and school cultures that are needed for teachers to meaningfully prosper from professional development. The impact that unintended consequences of system accountability drivers and funding have on teachers’ experiences of professional development. The ways in which the development of curriculum and pedagogy can be integrated with models of professional development, particular in the creative arts. Packed with innovative ideas and practical suggestions and co-written by researchers and practitioners, this book highlights the importance of using research evidence to develop teachers’ practice within the realities of their own classrooms and schools. This will be a key read for teachers, school leaders, teaching assistants and student teachers.

This book considers the diffusion and transfer of educational ideas through local and transcontinental networks within and across five socio-political spaces. The authors examine the social, political, and historical preconditions for the transfer of “new education” theory and practices in each period, place, and school, along with the networks of ideas and experts that supported this. The authors use historical methods to examine the schools and to pursue the story of the circulation of new ideas in education. In particular, chapters investigate how educational ideas develop within contexts, travel across boundaries, and are adapted in new contexts.

This book discusses the rationale for, and design of, the first Business Education Jam. It reviews key challenges and articulates a vision for how the role and delivery of business education could be reimagined in a time when business schools struggle to identify the innovations necessary to meet the needs of a changing world.

This engaging book presents a frontal attack on current forms of schooling and a radical rethinking of the whole education process. Kieran Egan, a prize-winning scholar and innovative thinker, does not rail against teachers, administrators, or politicians

The K-12 Educator’s Data Guidebook is a comprehensive field guide for school professionals learning to use data. “Non-data people,” rejoice! Requiring no prior proficiency in data tools and programming, this book validates the implicit challenges of learning to use data to empower educators and features original real-world examples from in-service educators to illustrate common problem-solving. Each chapter uses stories, humor, and a human approach to set the tone for a safe and fun learning experience. Through this highly practical foundation, everyday educators can better engage school initiatives, professional development, and instructional challenges that require competent data use for improving school systems.