Broader, Bolder, Better: How Schools and Communities Help Students Overcome the Disadvantages of Poverty
by Elaine Weiss and Paul Reville, Harvard Education Press, Cambridge, Mass., 2019, 303 pp. with index, $33 softcover

At the outset of this book review, I must disclose that one of the authors, Elaine Weiss, has become a colleague and a friend to us in Vancouver Public Schools over the past decade as she has studied and written about our efforts to scale up Family-Community Resource Centers (FCRCs) in 18 high poverty-affected schools and establish two mobile FCRCs to serve 17 other schools. VPS Superintendent Steve Webb and I hold her in such high regard that, immediately on the release of her book, we ordered 160 copies to share with our entire district leadership team — principals, associate principals and central office administrators — for our summer reading and book study discussions.

Broader, Bolder, Better deserves similar attention from leaders in education, community, government and business sectors across the U.S. Co-written by Weiss, an Economic Policy Institute research associate and the former national coordinator of the Broader, Bolder Approach to Education campaign, and Paul Reville, the former Massachusetts secretary of education, this book spotlights 12 diverse communities, including Vancouver, that provide integrated student supports (ISS) to address the needs of the whole child.

Based on nine years of research by the Broader, Bolder Approach to Education, Weiss and Reville contend that most education reforms are too narrow and disconnected from societal and cultural realities to be effective in ensuring that all students, regardless of their background and circumstances, will become future-ready graduates. The authors advocate for closing opportunity gaps through large-scale expansion of school-community partnerships in health and nutrition, early childhood education, out-of-school time programs, family support and more.

Only by closing opportunity gaps, removing barriers to learning and thereby leveling the playing field do Weiss and Reville believe schools can enable all children to develop the critical and creative thinking skills and engage in the deeper learning that will help them thrive in our increasingly competitive, globally connected world. They point to the progress and success in the 12 case-study communities as evidence that employing ISS is a broader, bolder and better type of reform.

The communities spotlighted in this book have different sets of needs, challenges and assets, so it is no surprise that they are pursuing different ISS strategies to advance whole-child education. Some, like Vancouver FCRCs, New York City Children’s Aid and Boston City Connects, apply the community-school approach to integrate academics, health and social services, youth and community development, and public engagement to improve outcomes. Some use the Promise Neighborhoods framework modeled after the Harlem Children’s Zone. Others include Bright Futures USA, Promise Scholarship Communities and emergent multilayer initiatives.

Although Weiss and Reville concede that no ISS model is perfect, the 12 communities they studied clearly are changing the trajectories of students’ lives. Broader, Bolder, Better concludes with a call to action for America’s leaders to create “a stronger, more visible and more effective ISS field” through state and national advocacy, networks for professional learning, and aligned research and resources.

Reviewed by Tom Hagley Jr., chief of staff, Vancouver (Wash.) Public Schools

Extraordinary Influence: How Great Leaders Bring Out the Best in Others
by Tim Irwin, 2018, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, N.J., 2018, 196 pp. with index, $25 hardcover

Extraordinary Influence, Tim Irwin’s fourth book on leadership, intertwines brain research and the interactions leaders have with individuals in their organizations. The author examines research that differentiates how the brain reacts to criticism versus praise or affirmation. These interactions create the core competencies of leaders as they strive for “extraordinary influence.”

Irwin posits that, in lieu of praise, individuals crave affirmation and value. Speaking “words of life” motivates people to exceptional results. Additionally, Irwin describes how leaders can characterize mistakes into learning experiences inspiring their people to extraordinary performances.

Irwin takes his readers through the steps of creating extraordinary influence with anecdotal stories and descriptions of his theories in practice, business and personal life. The book reads well and is rich with successful examples of his theories.

This book is written for leaders in the business world, with one chapter for the adaptability to teachers and coaches. School administrators will benefit from reading this book for self-reflection and growth.

Reviewed by Rob Clark, superintendent, Sequim Unified School District, Sequim, Wash.

Leading High-Performance School Systems: Lessons from the World’s Best
by Marc Tucker, ASCD, Alexandria, Va., 2019, 256 pp. with index, $30.95 softcover

U.S. students need higher standards and higher skills to compete globally for decent jobs. Although U.S. schools are doing better than ever, they are still falling further behind other nations’. In Leading High-Performance School Systems, former CEO of the National Center on Education and the Economy Marc Tucker tells how the world’s best schools are building high expectations and high standards into their systems, and outlines what we can do to catch up.

Tucker has studied education in the U.S. and globally for more than 30 years. He shares how leading nations build nine ‘systems’ intentionally designed to support student learning. Top performing systems like Singapore, Shanghai, Australia, Canad, and Finland are closing gaps while reaching for very high standards by thinking very carefully about how all the parts fit together.

This book hits on hard truths. Many policy issues addressed globally are beyond our control. The author, therefore, focuses on the building blocks most directly under the control of U.S. educators. He urges leaders to own the need for transformative change, plan toward coherent high standards, identify key building blocks, expand the number of high-quality teachers, think strategically about early wins and begin building.   

The challenge, Tucker claims, is providing to all a kind and quality of education provided, up to now, only to a small elite. To do so, he offers intriguing examples of U.S. schools and states that they are creating curriculum frameworks around high standards, career ladders for teachers and school-leaving certificates that make students career ready.

Tucker urges school leaders to leave no stone unturned in the search for better ways to support the learning of the most vulnerable children. District and school leaders who share that determination will find Leading High-Performance School Systems an excellent menu of key systems needed to create great learning for students.  

Reviewed by Larry L. Nyland, retired superintendent, Seattle, Wash.

 

None of the Above: The Untold Story of the Atlanta Public Schools Cheating Scandal, Corporate Greed, and the Criminalization of Educators
by Shani Robinson and Anna Simonton, Beacon Press, Boston, Mass., 2019, 219 pp. with index, $16.95 softcover

None of the Above is the story of the 2009 Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal, as told from an insider’s perspective. One of the authors, Shani Robinson, was convicted and charged in the case, giving the readers a very detailed, personal depiction of the story.

The tone of the book is different from most educational books, being realistic in its description of what allegedly happened from the viewpoint of the accused. There is also a different theme from the positive aspects of most educational readings to another view of education as a political, possibly criminal entity dependent upon the priorities of the persons in charge. This view of education, which hopefully is more uncommon than common, was very interesting to read and learn more about.

The book uses academic language in that it goes into the historical and political background of Atlanta’s educational system. There are also personal and emotional situations as the author describes her day-to-day life and struggles throughout the process. The conclusion of the book leaves afterthoughts and questions what will happen next.

As the accountability and pressures around testing continue to increase, I found this book to be a great reflection source for academic leaders. I would recommend it, not only to school leaders, but district leaders and all educators tasked with making curriculum and instructional decisions in a school, ensuring that the priorities of students are first and foremost.
   
Reviewed by Xandra Brooks-Keys, elementary curriculum coordinator, North Bolivar Consolidated School District, Mound Bayou, Miss.


Nuance: Why Some Leaders Succeed and Others Fail
by Michael Fullan, Corwin, Thousand Oaks, Calif., 2019, 140 pp. with index, $26.95 softcover 

Michael Fullan, author and professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, continues to provide powerful insight and wisdom for learning about and applying leadership to the urgent need for improved, changed schooling. In Nuance: Why Some Leaders Succeed and Others Fail, Fullan identifies the urgency for leadership that goes below the surface and addresses disengaged, inequitable education. He describes how nuanced leaders propel change that improves educational outcomes for all students.

Fullan links other leadership and strategic literature while finding practical, case-based studies to demonstrate how nuanced leadership is important to fight the power of the stagnant status quo. Using the life of Leonardo da Vinci as a model, Fullan explains why leaders who understand nuance “see the big picture — the system — while at the same time being able to understand the details and their connections and hidden patterns.”  

Three important chapters provide viable case studies that show how key elements of nuance are used together by successful educational leaders. First, is “jointly determined change.” Successful leaders seek to understand tasks through continuous, unifying processes that engage group participants. David Cote (chairman and CEO of Honeywell) amplifies this notion by urging leaders to “be right at the end of the meeting … because you’ll get measured on whether you made a good decision, not whether it was your idea at the beginning.”

Secondly, nuanced leadership requires adaptability. Changing direction based on experience and being aware that intended results are not likely requires an ability to change when things are “right.” Jointly determined efforts lend themselves to adapting to new learning. 

Finally, nuanced leadership relies upon culture-based accountability. This culture principle is built upon precision over prescription, the use of the group to change the group, feedback and interactive trust to examine systems improvements. Building culture-based accountability requires trusting relationships that will outperform a surveillance approach to accountability.

Fullan affirms that nuanced leaders must continuously use a “synergy of fused action” to address shared challenges for preparing all students for future success, adapt to evidence and live in a culture of accountability. He compels action and identifies a hopeful future for educators and their students in the face of chaotic societal conditions.

Reviewed by Brian L. Benzel, former superintendent and consultant in Redmond, Wash.


Pathways to Personalization: A Framework for School Change
by Shawn C. Rubin and Cathy Sanford, Harvard Education Press, Cambridge, Mass., 2018, 284 pp. with index, $33 softcover

Across the country, superintendents are working to create personalized learning environments, but struggling to define and scale these innovations. In Pathways to Personalization: A Framework for School Change, Shawn C. Rubin and Cathy Sanford of the Highlander Institute provide the strategy and tools for system-wide change toward more personalized learning.

Sometimes the implementation of personalized learning is portrayed as an increased use of technology and adaptive learning tools rather than a shift in pedagogical practices. Rubin and Sanford have avoided this misstep and clearly align the student-centered practices within their definition of personalized learning with understandings over time from leaders in learning science and educational practitioners. Their framework rests on a solid understanding of personalized learning as the practice of supporting each student to become empowered and self-directed learners.

Built on a solid foundation of change management theory, Pathways to Personalization describes five phases for systemic change: plan, pilot, refine, grow and network. Regardless of how much or how little change toward personalized learning may have already occurred within a school system, this book is a good resource for successful change. The framework is also scalable across varying timelines and school system sizes.

Implementing personalized learning can be a challenge for education professionals because of the flexibility inherent in the definition and multiple entry points for change. However, Rubin and Sanford have distilled the research and their experiences facilitating organizational change to create a valuable roadmap with resources to impact an entire organization from the individual classroom to the entire school system community.

Reviewed by Michelle Benham, director of innovation in teaching and learning, Dysart Unified School District, Surprise, Ariz.