Product Description
How do you know if your school is improving? Do you know what really works in reading programs . . . in writing . . . in math . . . in science? How do we measure what works? What about teaching to the test--or to the vast array of standards being mandated? How do we effectively use cooperative learning--and direct instruction--and alternative assessment? How do we sustain school reform? How do we get results--and measure them in terms of student achievement? In this expanded 2nd edition, Mike Schmoker answers these and other questions by focusing on student learning. By (1) setting goals, (2) working collaboratively, and (3) keeping track of student-achievement data from many sources, teachers and administrators can surpass the community's expectations and facilitate great improvements in student learning. Through hundreds of up-to-date examples from real schools and districts, Schmoker shows how to achieve--and celebrate--both short- and long-term success. Here's one example: Bessemer Elementary school in Pueblo, Colorado, has an 80-percent minority population. Between 1997 and 1998, the number of students performing at or above standard in reading rose from 12 to 64 percent; in writing, they went from 2 to 48 percent. Weekly, standards-focused, team meetings made the difference. As Schmoker says, "We cannot afford to overlook the rich opportunity that schools have to make a difference." This second edition of Results: The Key to Continuous School Improvement includes the following: - a Foreword by Michael Fullan; - a new Preface to the 2nd Edition by the author; - new information about cooperative learning, direct instruction,standards and assessments, and research and development; - new examples of successful schools; - new educational research by Michael Fullan, Robert Marzano, LindaDarling-Hammond, Bruce Joyce, Dennis Sparks, Linda Lambert, and Richard Dufour, among others; - new information on action research--by teachers as well as administrators--and other effective staff development initiatives; and - a new emphasis on cultivating teacher leaders--and how to do it.
Average Customer Review:
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
A very straightforward book, 2002-07-17
This book takes issue with how the teaching business is the only business where it's practitioners, teachers, expect and are expected to work in isolation. Mr. Schmoker does not take issue with teachers, nor does he blame them for this problem. Rather, he blames the institution of teaching for the problem.The book outlines how to take a school and bring improvement to it through regular teacher collaboration. There are many, many facets to this, and I cannot get into them here. But I do recommend this book to teachers who are interested in dramatically improving their entire school.
7 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
Why did you leave teaching since you have the answers?, 1999-01-18
Great book. I did not see addresssed the WHY ARE KIDS SCORING LOW in schools of low sociaeconomic students. How do you account for this besides blaming teachers for using "regrograde and ineffective methods of teaching in urban and rural areas?" I thought that was very weak. Also, what you suggest looks doable but why don't schools from high socioeconocimic areas have the same testing problems as those you sight in your book? WHY don't these kids learn? Why don't we look for some of these answers? It feel punative for teachers of schools that score poorly. It's not the kids. It's the lack of life esperiences that hold them back. This is totally test driven. I doubt that these kids who will have better test scores from Result will be better educated. It's just a political move, at best.