Fighting for Change in Your School: How to Avoid Fads and Focus on Substance

by Harvey Alvy

Overview

In this indispensable book for K–12 leaders, Harvey Alvy offers a thoughtful roadmap and guidance to help educators select, implement, and assess school- or districtwide initiatives that actually work. The book is filled with a wealth of resources—action checklists, principles to guide educators, and in-depth questions and protocols—for engaging in collaborative professional development activities that strengthen teaching and learning practices and improve student achievement.

Alvy discusses in detail the six "red flags" that educators confront daily and a set of countervailing strategies (six practical guidelines) to pursue meaningful reforms, initiatives, and innovations:

Red Flags

• The Narrative Trap
• Overpromising and Overloading
• Minimizing the Enormous Difficulty of Implementation
• Eyes off the Prize
• Historical Amnesia
• The Business “Solution”

Guidelines

• Building a Collaborative Learning Community
• Effectively Using Human, Fiscal, and Material Resources
• Respecting the Change Process
• Sustaining a Coherent School Mission and Vision
• Embracing Timeless and Eclectic Teaching Practices
• Championing and Empowering the Underserved

Selecting and implementing reforms, initiatives, and practices wisely is key if we truly want the best for our students—and skipping the necessary planning and forethought can be catastrophic. Fighting for Change in Your School: How to Avoid Fads and Focus on Substance is the book every educator needs to ensure the former and prevent the latter. The time to address these challenges is now.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781416624134
Publisher:	ASCD
Publication date:	08/15/2017
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	220
Sales rank:	744,635
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. Pursuing Reforms of Substance: The Time Is Now
2. The Narrative Trap and Building a Collaborative Learning Community
3. Overpromising and Overloading and Effectively Using Human, Fiscal, and Material Resources
4. Minimizing the Enormous Difficulty of Implementation and Respecting the Change Process
5. Eyes off the Prize and Sustaining a Coherent School Mission and Vision
6. Historical Amnesia and Embracing Timeless and Eclectic Teaching Practices
7. The Business "Solution" and Championing and Empowering the Underserved
8. Conclusions: A Dialogue Among 3 Teachers and 10 Takeaways to Support Reforms of Substance
Appendix A: Protocols for Discussions on Red Flags and Guidelines
Appendix B: Questions to Promote Collaborative Discussions of Red Flags and Guidelines
Appendix C: A List of Educational Initiatives, Ideas, Practices, and Trends from the Past 30-Plus Years
Appendix D: Perennial and Recent Education-Related Either/Or Dilemmas
Appendix E: The 15 Principles to Support Reforms of Substance
References
Index
About the Author
Acknowledgments