Assessing with Respect: Everyday Practices That Meet Students’ Social and Emotional Needs
by Starr Sackstein, ASCD, Alexandria, Va., 2021, 157 pp. with index, $28.95 softcover
The impact of grades, assessment and how these “results” are delivered is extremely important to a student’s self-image, self-confidence and willingness to persevere through challenging academic material. In
Assessing with Respect, Starr Sackstein emphasizes the need to develop relationships with students to understand the best way to guide each through constructive feedback for academic and social growth.
Sackstein has worked as an educator for over 20 years and has recently added the work of consultant to her resume. As a teacher, Sackstein discarded traditional grading methods and replaced them with a focus on skill development.
Sackstein believes it is our job as educators to help students develop “positive learning dispositions” which will lead to their success.
Assessing with Respect examines the relationship between academic assessment and student social emotional learning and overall growth.
Chapters 1 – 4 review the CASEL competencies as the author examines the relationship between assessment and social emotional growth. Strategies to support the whole learner are discussed, including building relationships, developing student self-awareness, guiding student self-management and promoting student ownership of learning. Teachers are encouraged to be role models and demonstrate these skills as they build relationships with students to better understand them as individual learners.
Assessing with Respect draws the reader’s attention to developing a positive attitude for continuous improvement with each student to grow as a learner. The author uses several field examples from both teachers and students throughout the book to highlight the understanding that each has regarding developing positive learning habits.
Sackstein emphasizes throughout the need for teachers to help students understand what assessment means on the continuum of developing as a learner. All educators should be aware of the emotional responses that students have towards grades, along with society’s attitude towards academic competition, rather than individual growth.
As the world continues to recover from a global pandemic, schools will respond to the interruptions and changes in teaching modes and the impact on our students. Educators and parents must focus on individual student learning and growth. It is imperative for educators to guide and encourage students to learn how best that is accomplished for each, rather than how best to achieve a grade or outperform others. Sackstein’s book is a good resource and tool for a PLC investigating a change to grading practices and individualized learning.
Reviewed by Edythe B. Austermuhl, superintendent, Berlin Township School District, West Berlin, N.J.
The Wraparound Guide: How to Gather Student Voice, Build Community Partnerships, and Cultivate Hope
by Leigh Colburn and Linda Beggs, Solution Tree Press, Bloomington, Ind., 2021, 263 pp., $39.95 softcover
Leigh Colburn and Linda Beggs are Georgia-based educators who do consulting and make presentations across the country on how to establish student-centered schools that work closely with local organizations to create “Wraparound” schools that provide resources far beyond what most school districts are able to do.
The authors raise up a traditional greeting of the Masai warriors in Africa who greet each other with the phrase, “Kasserian Ingero,” which means, “How are the children?” The expected response is “All the children are well.” Colburn and Beggs challenge readers to think about whether they could respond that all the children are well.
To answer that question from the student perspective, they begin with extensive student surveying that develops data and builds trust because students see that the schools create services to address the very the barriers and challenges students themselves have identified. As a high school student said, "When someone listens, I feel cared for, trusted, respected and hopeful.”
The top barriers at Colburn’s high school were found to be to be transiency, family change, poverty, addiction, immigration, health and trauma. The plan to combat those problems was developed with strong input from community organizations. The school was able to come up with $1 million in resources from 37 different agencies in the first year of the project and only needed small increases in staffing and district budget resources.
As a former superintendent, I found the focus on funding from corporate and community resources rather than overreliance on government funding especially helpful, as were the many materials found in easily replicable form that act as a built-in first step in developing a personalized guide to Wraparound success.
The book maintains an emphasis on listening to and earning the trust of students, and this Robert Brault quote wraps the book up nicely. “A child seldom needs a good talking-to as much as a good listening-to.” How are the children in your schools?
Reviewed by Bob Schultz, adjunct faculty member and co-chair of the Brandman University School of Education Advisory Board, Irvine, Calif.
What to Look for in Literacy: A Leader’s Guide to High Quality Instruction
by Angela Peery and Tracey Shiel, Routledge, New York, N.Y., 2021, 239 pp. $35.99 softcover
In
What to Look for in Literacy: A Leader’s Guide to High Quality Instruction, educational consultants Angela Perry and Tracey Shiel share best practices in literacy instruction through research principles and key literacy “look-fors,” differentiated by grade-level bands (e.g. elementary, middle, high school).
Using a wide and current research base, the authors explore major concepts inherent in curriculum standards and align them to vetted literacy practices. The book is particularly useful for middle and high school levels, where such tools and resources are not always as abundantly available as they are for elementary grades.
User-friendly and easily digestible, this guide prompts leaders of all kinds (e.g. system-level, principals, coaches) to think critically about how to take the book’s major ideas and operationalize them into a strong K-12 literacy program. The best parts of the book are the practical tools the authors share, such as check-lists and “look-fors” to aid classroom observations/walk-throughs, teachers’ lesson planning, curriculum design and even discussions in teachers’ professional learning communities. Once customized, the tools and checklists could be used as starting points to drive these activities.
Other noteworthy features of the book include surveys for students that gauge the effectiveness of literacy instruction, as well as photos of classrooms. The photos provide examples of effectively designed learning environments.
The authors describe the book as a “crash-course” in effective literacy instruction, and truly, it is not for those with a deep or nuanced understanding of the topic. It does, however, offer formal and informal leaders a starting place to calibrate expectations for literacy teaching and learning.
Reviewed by Kyle Arlington, superintendent, Kenilworth, N.J.
The Influential School Leader: Inspiring Teachers, Students, and Families Through Social and Organizational Psychology
by Craig Murphy and John D’Auria, Routledge, New York, N.Y., 2021, 146 pp., $29.95 softcover
Craig Murphy and John D’Auria partner on
The Influential School Leader: Inspiring Teachers, Students, and Families Through Social and Organizational Psychology. Murphy is an assistant professor of school psychology at William James College and previously served as a school psychologist for 14 years in the Newton, Mass., school system. D’Auria also works at William James College in the organizational and leadership psychology department. His four-decade career includes time as a superintendent.
In its opening pages, the book states, “
The Influential School Leader is a unique, accessible guide for any leader seeking to improve their vision and positively influence school communities in the face of adversity.” Prior to March 2020, a school leader could have created a laundry list of issues that create challenges within school systems. However, nowhere on the list would have been attempting to navigate a global pandemic. The timing and current content of this book is very applicable to the many challenges school leaders face because of the pandemic.
Murphy and D’Auria provide a three-part framework to help guide school leaders through the decision-making process. The three parts are Improving the Vision, Conditions for Change and Applying the Framework. The book is organized into these three sections with multiple chapters supporting each part of the framework. The final chapter in the book provides two case studies to illustrate how the framework process can be utilized by school leaders.
As a superintendent I found the book to be a helpful and timely tool during this ever-changing, pandemic-driven atmosphere. The research and strategies not only provide support and guidance, but also the opportunity to help you stop, think and reflect as you collaborate with teachers, principals, board of education members and parents when facing difficult decisions and adversity.
Reviewed by Justin B. Henry, superintendent, Goddard, Kan.
Creating Inclusive Learning Opportunities in Higher Education: A Universal Design Toolkit
by Sheryl E. Burgstahler, Harvard Education Press, Cambridge, Mass., 2020, 248 pp., $33 softcover
As we fully embrace the necessity to accommodate the learning needs of our students, the principles of universal design have become a major focus for all levels of education.
Creating Inclusive Learning Opportunities in Higher Education by Sheryl Burgstahler shares a universal design toolkit that applies to all levels of schooling. It is practical and technical, providing a roadmap for accessibility designs that is both reasonable and difficult.
During my time as a superintendent, I was always skeptical of the many costly requests relating to IEP and Section 504 accommodations. As a result of reading this book, I am skeptical no more. We can and should go beyond our typical reactionary posture of merely looking for accommodations when problems surface. We must address the issues proactively in the first place.
This book is timely and applies to K-12 as well as higher education. It demonstrates how we can make courses more accessible, and more importantly, why we need to do so. It is a balance of technical and pragmatic strategies. Some of the suggestions, although reasonable, are much more difficult and expensive to accomplish under current conditions. However, these suggestions provide relevant guidance for whenever we begin looking to design new learning spaces, including new technologies.
By following the Burgstahler toolkit, we can design learning spaces and new technologies that work without the need to supply additional accommodations for both special education and general education students. Of course, there will be exceptions, but embracing the author’s proactive approach will help you resolve these issues prior to the need for unanticipated resolutions. This book will show you the way.
The author captures the essence of the book’s message when she states: “Every student has a right to access all that we have to offer. [Universal design] has a simple, honorable goal: to design products and environments for everybody, thus minimizing the need for accommodations... Promoting inclusive practices is the right thing to do!”
Reviewed by John W. Hannum, assistant professor, Caldwell University, Caldwell, N.J.
Choosing Courage: The Everyday Guide to Being Brave at Work
by Jim Detert, Harvard Business Review Press, Boston, Mass., 2021, 226 pp., $30 hardcover
Choosing to demonstrate courage in the workplace when a wrong is perceived should be encouraged, but too often comes with risk. Calling attention to unfairness, inequality, lack of transparency or other questions of authority can diminish reputations, decrease social standing and perhaps lead to job loss. Not demonstrating courage can result in job dissatisfaction and loss of personal integrity. Can being courageous be a skill set that can be mastered to reduce the risk of action?
Jim Detert, a professor of business administration at the University of Virginia, has studied courage in the workplace and has produced a guide to developing techniques that enhance the positive aspects of voicing opinions and ideas.
Choosing Courage is a handbook with step-by-step instructions and progressive exercises designed to strengthen individuals who want to show intellectual and moral character while reducing the potential risks.
Superintendents who only read the first few chapters of this book will likely find much that they have experienced in their careers and already know when to be courageous or be in a position where they have the final say without being challenged. Rather than set the book aside, they should skip to the last chapter where the author advocates creating a workplace culture where courage is encouraged and ideas that challenge are heard without repercussion.
Education leaders should not underestimate the impact their behaviors and attitudes have on their organizations. There is much in this guide that should stimulate reflection and self-assessment.
Reviewed by John C. Fagan, retired superintendent, Elmhurst, Ill.