Reading & Resources
School Administrator, March 2018


Book Reviews
 
Empowered Educators: How High-Performing Systems Shape Teaching Quality Around the World
by Linda Darling-Hammond, et al., Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, Calif., 2017, 281 pp. with index, $19.95 softcover

Linda Darling-Hammond, along with a team of researchers, examines the teaching profession and the quality of teaching from an international perspective in Empowered Educators, the first volume of a series. Darling-Hammond inspects how several countries on the cutting edge of educational policy assimilate that dogma into productivity for their students. 

The countries or nations have developed high-performing systems that are state sponsored and are governed/lead/managed under one umbrella. This umbrella takes into account all aspects of the profession from recruitment and selectivity to all the particulars in the professional development of teachers.

The discussion of policy and practice is rich and well documented. Darling-Hammond’s team critiques every characteristic of specific policies and describes how the end beneficiary is the student. In most situations, the success of students is born out of these policies. As you read these descriptions, you continually ask yourself, “Why can’t we do this?”

The book is written for policy wonks, legislators and state departments of education. That said, superintendents, curriculum directors and others interested in teaching and learning would benefit from reading.

Reviewed by Rob Clark, superintendent, Milton-Freewater Unified School District, Milton-Freewater, Ore.
 

The Hero Maker: How Superintendents Can Get Their School Boards to Do the Right Thing
by Ryan Donlan and Todd Whitaker, Routledge, New York, N.Y., 2017, 119 pp., $29.95 softcover

How do you turn school board members into heroes? Do you want or need to make them heroes? Do they want to be called heroes and/or do they need your help in becoming a hero? These are some of the thoughts that went through my head while reading The Hero Maker as a former superintendent. Ryan Donlan and Todd Whitaker write as if many of these questions are givens and that superintendents need a guide to make members of the school board into heroes “by helping them make smart, worthwhile decisions that they will deserve to brag about.”

The authors, one of whom was a superintendent, present a number of topics including describing the relationship between the board and the superintendent, the two-way expectations, the optimal situation, the roles of each, and the never-ending cycle of meetings and what happens between them.

There is value in this book for those seeking the superintendency and those serving or who have served. In some cases, I found myself nodding and in others, shaking my head in disagreement. As in most situations, there will be similarities and dissimilarities with the prime players of board and superintendent.

As I read, I had to fight what I thought was the offensiveness of the title. Recalling many news stories of people who completed truly heroic deeds, rarely did they want to be called a hero. And, those instances where that label stuck, the person may have received appropriate recognition. However, even when tattooed with the label, they rarely accepted the designation of “hero.”

So, I find it difficult to believe that board members want to be called a hero for their public service and, further, to know that they are being manipulated — yes manipulated — by the superintendent to achieve hero status. Many board members may have huge egos that would play into this process of being able to brag about their decisions, but others with a truly altruistic nature may be offended.

In summary, this book would not be one I would put on my “must read” list for superintendents. If this book highlighted the intrinsic nature of a board member to promote better understanding for superintendents, it would have had greater value.

Reviewed by Kurt W. Eisele, retired superintendent and assistant professor of educational leadership, School of Education, Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
 

How Autism is Reshaping Special Education: The Unbundling of IDEA 
by Mark K. Claypool and John M. McLaughlin, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Md., 2017, 132 pp., $25 softcover

In How Autism is Reshaping Special Education: The Unbundling of IDEA, authors Mark Claypool and John McLaughlin provide insights to, thought-provoking comments on and suggestions for reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).   

Claypool is the founder and CEO of ChanceLight Behavioral Health, Therapy and Education, which provides behavioral, physical, occupational and speech therapy, and alternative and special education programs for children and adults. McLaughlin is a school founder, professor, and director of research and analytics at ChanceLight.  

The authors outline the critical events that have taken place since IDEA was last reauthorized: the increase in the number of children diagnosed with autism; the rise of applied behavioral analysis (ABA); the birth of social media; and the reality of unbundling.  

They also point out the basic requirement of IDEA for students with qualifying disabilities is access to the curriculum and IEP-based services are designed to help students access the curriculum. With the CDC stating that 1 in 68 children have autism spectrum disorder, the estimates state that amounts to more than 1 million infants, children and adolescents in the United States.  

The authors point out with the rise in the number of child identified with autism spectrum disorder, there has been an increase in the need for professional services to address the needs of those children. 

When referencing the concept of unbundling of IDEA, the authors provide perspectives from various impacted groups about the need for change within IDEA to benefit children with autism spectrum disorder and their families. Addressing the opportunities that should come with access through IDEA must be a major focus in the reauthorization. Beginning with the end in mind needs to be the approach in the reauthorization of IDEA.

Reviewed by William A. Clark, executive director, Bollinger Enterprises, Inc., Warren, Pa.
 

The Internal Coherence Framework: Creating the Conditions for Continuous Improvement in Schools
by Michelle L. Forman, Elizabeth Leisy Stosich and Candice Bocala, Harvard Education Press, Cambridge, Mass., 2017, 231 pp., $32 softcover

The Internal Coherence Framework, by Michelle L. Forman, Elizabeth Leisy Stosich and Candice Bocala, is a breakthrough book, one of the first to detail improvement efforts in real schools. That is the good news. The not-so-good news is that it will take real effort to read and apply the learning in this book. Instructional leaders at the school and district level will likely find the detailed instructions highly valuable, more so than superintendents.    

That said, The Internal Coherence Framework is a quality book that represents many innovative ideas on how to translate research into practice. Forman, Stosich and Bocala capture “clinical practices” that have emerged from work in Boston, Mass., Fort Worth, Texas and a consortium of California districts. They provide a wealth of tools that make this a handbook for improving teaching and learning.  

The authors define internal coherence as the ability of educators to engage in collective learning to identify and refine improvement strategies that reach all students. This requires clarifying problems of practice, learning to work together, exploring promising strategies and making practice public in order to create new adult learning. In so doing, adult efficacy blossoms and true learning organizations emerge.  

This also requires major shifts in roles, responsibilities and culture. Since this book emerges from actual implementation, the authors are able to provide a wealth of protocols, readings and other suggestions for where to begin and how to proceed. The internal coherence framework survey and rubric are the two anchors for the book — practices that have emerged from work across multiple districts.  

This is comprehensive whole-school (or district) reform at its best. The Internal Coherence Framework is grounded in research across many fields, includes a detailed outline of practices and offers down-to-earth advice forged in the cauldron of everyday work in schools. The authors are candid about what worked and what they would do differently. I found many takeaways that I can put to good use.  

The book concludes by saying that “internal coherence is not an initiative; it is a way of life.” This is the future of student success —  growing educator’s beliefs in their collective ability to improve learning for every student.
 
Reviewed by Larry L. Nyland, superintendent, Seattle Public Schools, Seattle, Wash.
 

Ten Steps for Genuine Leadership in Schools
by David M. Fultz, Routledge, New York, N.Y., 2017, 144 pp., $34.95 softcover

Ten Steps for Genuine Leadership in Schools is a blend of research and personal experience. The intended audience is for principals, especially beginning ones, and the superintendents who will be mentoring them.

The author, David M. Fultz, identifies ten steps for successfully leading a school and employs a structure that succinctly describes each step, creates a template with suggested actions and concludes with a moment of reflection which asks the reader to identify a personal situation related to the chapter’s subject.

Fultz provides key insight for school leaders. In one of the more interesting chapters in the book, Fultz identifies the characteristics of a school faculty, not by gender or seniority, but by generation. There are distinct differences between baby boomers, Generation X and millennials, and the author not only describes those differences, but also how to tap into the needs and strengths of each to achieve the school’s goal.

Another interesting concept in the book is how Fultz differentiates between student achievement and student success, emphasizing the latter as focusing on the whole child, rather than just a test score.

While many aspects of Ten Steps for Genuine Leadership in Schools have been addressed in other books on education, Fultz does an excellent job of consolidating information into a concise format while weaving in his own experience as a school administrator. This would be a good book to place on a syllabus for a course on the school principalship. 

Reviewed by Marc Space, superintendent, Grants/Cibola County Schools, Grants, N.M.
 

You’ve Got 8 Seconds: Communication Secrets for a Distracted World
by Paul Hellman, AMACOM, New York, N.Y., 2017, 169 pp. with index, $17.95 softcover

Paul Hellman, international speaker and consultant on effective communication who has worked with companies such as Aetna, Boeing and NASA, provides expert advice in his new book, You’ve Got 8 Seconds: Communication Secrets for a Distracted World.

The book is divided into three sections: focus; variety; and presence. Each of these areas contains multiple chapters blending research and actionable examples and activities. For example, the focus section includes “say less,” “the fast-forward method,” “three more ways to focus” and “watch your words – and your emails.” As Hellman explains in the introduction to the book, “Each tactic is self-contained, so it’s easy to skip around. And there’s a headline on top, so you know the point right away.”

For a school leader, this is a very useful format and allows you to utilize the book in a book study setting, progressing chapter to chapter or skipping to a specific area of interest. For example, do you have a big presentation in the near future and need an effective way to open it? A quick review of the book and you can easily locate 10 suggestions relating to effectively starting a presentation on page 94 of the book.

As indicated in the title, we seem to live in a “distracted world” and this book will provide you useful tips on how to survive and thrive as an effective communicator.

Reviewed by Justin B. Henry, superintendent, Goddard Public Schools, Goddard, Kan. 



ABSTRACT

Insomniac Administrators

Investigating the levels of insomnia experienced by school principals and superintendents in Missouri was the focus of a recent dissertation for an Ed.D. degree at Arkansas State University.

In her study, Regina Johnson Williams surveyed almost 3,000 Missouri principals and superintendents. She found that insomnia scores differed between genders, across age groups and across school settings.

Principals between ages 41 and 50, female principals and those managing urban schools had significantly higher insomnia scores than others. Scores did not differ among superintendents across any of the factors.

Copies of “The Prevalence of Insomnia on School Principals and Superintendents in Missouri” are accessible from ProQuest at 800-521-0600 or disspub@proquest.com.
 

 
Why I Wrote this Book ...



“On the last Friday in September 1967, I was a student at Cooley Upper Grade Center in Cabrini-Green in Chicago. On the first Monday in October, I was a student at Blaine School in Lake View. Overnight, my world changed from a high-poverty neighborhood to a middle-class neighborhood, which was the catalyst for my memoir.”

Roger Prosise, retired superintendent, Glenview, Ill., and AASA member since 2017, on writing Housing Projects, Mansions, and Schools: An Educator’s Odyssey (Chatter House Press, 2017)
 






BITS & PIECES

Out-of-School Time

The RAND Corporation’s review of programs that provide youth with additional academic instruction outside of school hours and/or recreational and enrichment activities found measurable benefits to youth and their families.

These programs can improve student achievement, but students need to attend them regularly to benefit.

Read “The Value of Out-of-School Time Programs."

Home Visitations

Home visits that provide information, resources and support to expectant parents and families with young children help reduce spending on government programs and increase individual earnings, according to a brief from MDRC.

Access “Evidence on the Long-term Effects of Home Visiting Programs."

Racial and Ethnic Groups

The percentage of school-age children from racial and ethnic groups other than white and black increased as much as 25 percent between 2000 and 2016, according to a report from the National Center for Education Statistics.

“Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Groups 2017” also projects that public elementary and secondary school enrollment will increase to 51.4 million in fall 2025.

Donated Merchandise

The National Association for the Exchange of Industrial Resources annually gives away more than $100 million in new, donated merchandise, including office supplies, arts and crafts supplies, educational products, books, media and sporting goods. The items are collected from companies that donate to nonprofit organizations.

Section 504 Workshop

To address prudent practices regarding Section 504, Lehigh University is offering a two-day institute June 28–29. The program includes a systematic comparison between the IDEA and Section 504/ADA and a nuts-and-bolts session on effective procedures that comply with requirements for identifying and serving 504-only students.

Cardiac Response

The Parent Heart Watch has created a Cardiac Emergency Response Plan toolkit to help educators address sudden cardiac arrest in youth.

The toolkit is easily customizable with guidelines for training a response-ready team.
 
Conference Proceedings

The major proceedings of AASA’s 2018 national conference are captured in Conference Daily Online.

The four-day publication includes summaries of keynote presenters, details about AASA award winners, blog postings by AASA members, photos and a Twitter feed.

Superintendent Certification

AASA’s National Superintendent Certification Program® offers early-career superintendents a way to develop skills, knowledge and professional networks during in-person sessions and one-on-one mentoring over the course of 20 months.

Participants complete a capstone project.

A new cohort begins July 10. For more information and applications, visit http://aasa.org/superintendent-certification.aspx.