In her six-year study of high-performing high-poverty and high-minority schools across the United States, the author tries to clarify the reasons that these schools have succeeded in closing achievement gaps, in hopes that other schools will follow suit. The principals of these schools suggest five crucial elements that drive their success: (1)…

A decade ago, many education leaders dismissed student achievement data and systematic research as having only limited utility when it came to improving schools or school systems. That was the "old stupid." But now the pendulum has swung the other way. In the "new stupid," data-based decision making and research-based practice can stand in for…

There is no doubt that in the past 10 years, school culture has become a testing culture. But all the "multiple measures" do not really lead one to achieve the three most often cited goals of testing: building proficiency in basic skills, closing achievement gaps, and fostering the top-notch knowledge and skills that students will need…

Despite repeated calls for educators to get more instructional mileage out of the assessment data they have at hand, two deterrents typically stand in the way of most educators' effective use of test data. First, there's a missing "realization", and second, there's a missing "skill". Educators who possess both this realization and this skill will…

Instructional decisions based on quality assessments and a balanced assessment system most effectively promote student learning. To inform sound decisions, assessments need to satisfy five key standards of quality: (1) clear purpose; (2) clear learning targets; (3) sound assessment design; (4) effective communication of results; and (5) student…

At a time when the United States faces unprecedented challenges at home and abroad, public schools must do far more to prepare young people to be engaged, ethical advocates of "liberty and justice for all." This article explores what makes some people behave ethically--even at the risk of their own lives--and asserts that developing…

Six high-performing/high-poverty schools provide insights into what it takes to make a dramatic turnaround. School leaders had to make tough calls--and many of those decisions were about how to use resources. The budget in a high-performing, high-poverty school is a moral document, reflective of the school's beliefs about the conditions necessary…

Teachers and administrators need opportunities to share perceptions, consider possibilities, and forge solutions. Faculty book groups are a powerful tool to create organic solutions with wide ownership. They are great for spurring true professional development. In this article, the author shares how the teachers at New City School have met…

Professional assessment organizations almost universally endorse the use of multiple measures for making education decisions. In practice, however, the concept of multiple measures is defined and applied in many different ways, depending on how we answer two questions--What counts as a "measure"? and How are the multiple measures…

Argues that, from the early grades on, children need help in learning behavior associated with the decision-making process and concludes that school must provide settings in which decision processes are analyzed, taught, and evaluated. (JG)

Successful in Japan and in American industry, quality circles are a specific way to involve staff members in solving organization problems. A growing number of school administrators are examining this technique to see if it can reduce the costs of education and improve morale. (Author/JM)

During the last few decades, the author and his colleagues have developed an instructional framework for infusing thinking into content instruction in every subject and at every grade level. In thinking-based learning, teachers explicitly teach students thinking strategies and important habits of mind and then give students opportunities to apply…

An approach to leadership that is a combination of elements from prominent models states that decisions reflect personal knowledge and values, as well as perceptions of the situational variables of people, role, task, and organization. (Author/MLF)

With a predetermined agenda, real engagement cannot occur, even if stakeholders help shape the substance of some components. Gaining public and professional support depends on developing engagement strategies (assessing needs, reporting results, and establishing strategic direction) that embody fundamental principles, such as reciprocity,…