Schools that Make the Grade: What Successful Schools Do to Improve Student Achievement (Ratcliffe & Harts)

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Table of Contents

Read the article: What are the 7 characteristics of effective schools?

The Teacher's Pocket Guide for Effective Classroom Management

Leadership Strategies for Successful Schoolwide Inclusion: The STAR Approach

The Beyond Access Model: Promoting Membership, Participation, and Learning for Students with Disabilities in the General Education Classroom

Alternate Assessment for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities: An Educator's Guide

Teaching and Assessing Low-Achieving Students with Disabilities: A Guide to Alternate Assessments Based on Modified Achievement Standards

Teachers' Guides to Inclusive Practices

Alternate Assessments Based on Alternate Achievement Standards: Policy, Practice, and Potential

Secrets of great schools—revealed!

New!
Schools that Make the Grade
What Successful Schools Do to Improve Student Achievement
By Martin J.A. Ratcliffe, Ed.D., Southeastern University, Lakeland, Florida; & Melissa L. Harts, Ed.D., Hernando County Schools, Florida; with invited contributors

“In this time of high stakes assessments and accountability, I see no greater resource to schools than Schools that Make the Grade.” —Timothy P. Madigan, Ph.D., Head of School, Stratford Friends School, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania

“Demonstrate[s] the research in action, while providing action items for all levels of personnel in schools.” —Elizabeth A. Potts, Ph.D., University of Virginia

What turns a good school into a great school? With today's schools under enormous pressure to make adequate yearly progress (AYP), the answers are more important than ever—and this essential guidebook gives K–12 administrators and educators scores of proven, concrete strategies to help their school succeed.

Authors Martin Ratcliffe and Melissa Harts are veteran educators who have collective in-the-trenches experience ranging from classroom teaching to district-level administration. Pooling their expertise and the invaluable insights of other frontline professionals, they help education teams work together on seven critical success factors that directly correlate with student achievement, from high expectations to frequent progress monitoring (see box). For each success factor, readers will get

dozens of proven, research-based strategies that are aligned to meet federal requirements for school improvement
specific best practices tailored for teachers, principals, and district-level administrators, so all members of the education team can do their part to improve student achievement
tips for working with diverse students, including students with special needs and English language learners
key research studies demonstrating the importance of each factor
personal stories and perspectives from successful teachers, supervisors, administrators, and principals

Throughout the book, readers will follow documented case studies of real schools. They'll investigate the diverse approaches these schools took to each of the seven success factors, discover what worked and didn't work, and take away valuable lessons they can implement in their own schools.

An indispensable survival guide to the era of accountability, this groundbreaking book gives schools real-world solutions to the challenges of today's educational climate—and helps teachers, principals, and administrators prepare all of their students for long-term academic success.

Put these seven success factors to work in your school:

Foster positive home–school relations
Keep students engaged and motivated to learn in the time given
Create a climate of high expectations
Develop a clear and focused mission
Monitor student progress frequently
Receive strong and effective instructional leadership from the principal
Ensure a safe and orderly environment

Schools that Make the Grade: What Successful Schools Do to Improve Student Achievement

ORDERING INFO
ISBN 978-1-59857-090-8
Paperback / 208 pages / 6 x 9 / 2011 / $29.95
Stock# 70908

Table of Contents

About the Authors
Contributors
Foreword
Ben A. Birdsell
Preface
Acknowledgments

1: The Adequate Yearly Progress/Student Achievement Crisis

2: What Makes a School Effective in Improving Student Achievement?

3: Positive Home–School Relations Correlate
with Samuel R. Bennett

4: Opportunity to Learn and Student Time on Task Correlate
with Mary Brezinski & Glenn S. Gardner

5: Climate of High Expectations Correlate
with Helene Robinson

6: Clear and Focused Mission Correlate

7: Frequent Monitoring of Student Progress Correlate
with Sonya Jackson

8: Instructional Leadership Correlate

9: Safe and Orderly Environment Correlate
with James Dwight Davidson & Heather Croft Jackson

10: The Clarion Call

References
Index