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If you are committed to helping young adolescents become successful, responsible, global citizens, the Association for Middle Level Education invites you to read and implement This We Believe.
This book describes the 16 vital characteristics of successful middle grades schools, and is a critical resource for everyone involved in the education, health, and well being of today’s young adolescents. Now in its fourth edition, AMLE’s landmark position statement shares the enduring lessons learned in more than 35 years of active middle school advocacy. When its concepts are embraced, students are prepared for success in school and career. Since 1982, This We Believe has been a foundational piece for countless organizations, policymakers, school districts, schools, colleges, and universities in the public and private sectors. This We Believe is the essential guide for educators and others involved in creating successful schools for young adolescents. |
Differentiated instruction is a nice idea, but what happens when it comes to assessing and grading students? What’s both fair and leads to real student learning? An internationally recognized expert on grading practices, Rick Wormeli first examined these questions 10 years ago in the first edition of Fair Isn’t Always Equal.
In this thoroughly updated second edition, Rick provides a catalyst for serious reflection on current grading and assessment practices in differentiated classrooms. The book outlines coherent and effective standards-based grading practices for a high-stakes, accountability-focused world. Recognizing the importance of having a shared school vision for assessment and grading, Rick addresses the challenges for teachers and administrators alike. Educators from kindergarten to high school will find real examples and gray areas of grading. Rick tackles important and sometimes controversial assessment and grading issues constructively, incorporating modern pedagogy and the challenges of working with diverse groups of students. New sections address sports eligibility, honor roll, descriptive feedback techniques, and gifted/talented students. Chapters on test questions, redos/retakes, grading scales, and grading effort and behavior have been revised extensively. This important book clearly explains the principles behind best grading practices so that you’re ready for all grading questions or realities that you may encounter in your classrooms and schools. |
“We’ve found a common denominator in our work--a thread that ties together concerns of students, effective middle level practices, and young adolescent development. That common factor is the profound need and desire for young adolescents to find places where they feel they can belong and can discover who they are and who they want to become.”
The foundational concepts of belonging and becoming weave throughout this book as authors Laurie Barron and Patti Kinney help us understand why these concepts are so critical and how to help our students on the path to belonging and becoming. With current thinking and up-to-date research, Laurie and Patti discuss and share dozens of school and classroom examples on topics such as:
Part 1 lays the foundation by (1) sharing the importance of a common understanding of becoming and belonging, (2) the establishment of solid school policies and practices based on the characteristics of young adolescents, and (3) the creation of organizational structures that promote respectful relationships. Part 2 includes practical strategies and examples to help students experience their schools as places where they can belong and become. |
Get the best out of students by using teaming to nurture their educational, emotional, social, and developmental needs.
You will learn practical strategies to
A healthy combination of humor, wit, and experience will guide you through the difficult task of taming your team. |
Beat burnout and bring joy back to teaching--and learning.
Recharge the optimism that made you an educator in the first place! School is where students and staff should feel safe, engaged, and productive--and choosing optimism is the first step toward restoring healthy interactions necessary for enacting real change. In this book, learn to implement the Five Principles of Deliberate Optimism. Research-based strategies, practical examples, and thought-provoking scenarios help you:
Take the road to new potential and positive outcomes! With a healthy dose of humor to make it fun, Deliberate Optimism shows you the actual differences a change in attitude can make. |
How effective are the programs and initiatives at your school?
Authors Nikki Woodson and James Frakes offer a personalized system to provide school administrators, teachers, departments, school improvement committees, and central office administrators with a process and tools for continuous improvement of student learning. With perspectives from both educational and business project management experts, this book guides you through a system to plan, implement, and evaluate any initiative, strategy, or program. Although designed to be used by middle level educators, this framework works for any grade level or school. You will be coached--with the use of specific tools--through processes similar to those educators use to evaluate student progress, including:
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Educators across the country have become revitalized by the Power of ICU, with many readers commenting on how it has totally changed their approach to teaching and stirred their thinking.
Power of ICU takes the reader through the creation of ICU (Intensive Care Unit), from its inception in the classrooms and hallways of schools to the standard that “Every Student Completes Every Assignment." It is a great primer for all those interested in student success, showing educators how to move away from poor educational grading practices that do not work and create momentum for mastery learning. |
Assignment completion + Quality Assignments + Healthy Grading Practices = Student Success. Brick House provides details for building an infrastructure that pulls together proven educational practices under one roof. Brick House is not a “quick fix” that is here one day and gone the next. Danny Hill lays the foundation for a culture in which schools rally around student success and improved learning. Students’ walls at home may be cracked or broken, but their walls at school can be Brick House strong.
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The latest release from the Power of ICU Learning Library, Grade Cleanse, presents a six-step process to uncover what lies within traditional grading practices so that you can reflect, make changes, and improve! This unique approach allows you to move at your own pace. Each “grade cleanse” is accompanied by a series of challenges and “how-to” baby steps. Grading can be a meaningful process that supports reflection and growth. Cleansed grades are healthy grades, and healthy grades support learning!
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This 10th-anniversary sequel to the authors’ best-selling book Professional Learning Communities at Work™: Best Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement merges research, practice, and passion. The most extensive, practical, and authoritative PLC resource to date, it goes further than ever before into best practices for deep implementation, explores the commitment/consensus issue, and celebrates successes of educators who are making the journey.
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Whatever It Takes: How Professional Learning Communities Respond When Kids Don't Learn examines the question, What happens when, despite our best efforts in the classroom, a student does not learn? A professional learning community creates a school-wide system of interventions that provides all students with additional time and support when they experience difficulty in their learning. The authors describe the systems of interventions, including Adlai E. Stevenson High School's Pyramid of Interventions, created by a high school, a middle school, and two elementary schools. The authors also discuss the logistical barriers these schools faced and their strategies for overcoming them.
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Accessible language and compelling stories illustrate how RTI is most effective when built on the Professional Learning Communities at Work™ process. Written by award-winning educators from successful PLC schools, this book demonstrates how to create three tiers of interventions—from basic to intensive—to address student learning gaps. You will understand what a successful program looks like, and the many reproducible forms and activities will help your team understand how to make RTI work in your school.
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Response to intervention or RTI (also known as multitiered system of supports or MTSS) is the most effective process for ensuring student success, using differentiated instruction to provide the time and support necessary. This comprehensive implementation guide covers every element required to build a successful RTI at Work™ system of support in schools. The authors share step-by-step actions for implementing the essential elements, instructional strategies, and tools needed to support implementation, as well as tips for engaging and supporting educators.
Readers who valued the practical knowledge in Learning by Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work™ (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, Many, and Mattos) will appreciate a similar style and practicality in Taking Action. This guide will help you incorporate the response to intervention process by allowing you to:
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Discover how to close the knowing-doing gap and transform your school or district into a high-performing professional learning community (PLC). The powerful third edition of this comprehensive action guide from experts Richard DuFour, Rebecca DuFour, Robert Eaker, Thomas W. Many, and Mike Mattos updates and expands on new and significant PLC topics. Explore fresh strategies, tools, and tips for hiring and retaining new staff, creating team-developed common formative assessment, implementing systematic interventions, and more.
Learn how to establish professional learning communities in schools:
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