Unmistakable Impact: A Partnership Approach for Dramatically Improving Instruction / Edition 1

by Jim Knight

Overview

A focused approach to school improvement that hits the mark

This book simplifies the process for becoming an Impact School through targeted, consistent professional learning that is done with teachers, not to teachers. Award-winning author Jim Knight provides tangible tools for translating staff members’ joy of learning into high-leverage practices that achieve dramatic results. Characteristics of Impact Schools include:

• A focused, clearly defined improvement plan that takes into account the complexity of teaching and learning relationships
• A school culture that encourages enrollment in ongoing professional development
• Alignment of purpose and actions among all staff members

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781412994309
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	11/23/2010
Pages:	314
Sales rank:	186,596
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.90(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Jim Knight has spent more than two decades studying professional learning, effective teaching, and instructional coaching. He is a Research Associate at the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning and the President of the Instructional Coaching Group.

Jim wrote the first article on the topic of instructional coaching for The Journal of Staff Development, and his book Instructional Coaching: A Partnership Approach to Improving Instruction (Corwin, 2007) popularized the idea. Jim edited Coaching: Approaches and Perspectives (Corwin, 2009) and co-authored Coaching Classroom Management (Pacific Northwest Publishing, 2010). Jim’s other books include Unmistakable Impact: A Partnership Approach to Dramatically Improving Instruction (Corwin, 2011), High-Impact Instruction: A Framework or Great Teaching (Corwin, 2013), and Focus on Teaching: Using Video for High-Impact Instruction (Corwin, 2014).

Jim’s articles on professional learning, teaching, and instructional coaching have appeared in journals such as The Journal of Staff Development, Principal Leadership, The School Administrator, Kappan, and Educational Leadership.

Frequently asked to lead professional learning, Jim has presented to more than 30,000 educators from six continents. He has a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Kansas and has won several university teaching, innovation, and service awards. Jim also writes the Radical Learners blog.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Michael Fullan
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Author
1. Impact Schools
The Best Jobs
The Failure of the American School System
Unmistakable Impact
Core Concepts of an Impact School
What You Will Find in This Book
To Sum Up
Going Deeper
2. Partnership
Helping Others
Partnership: The Theory Behind Impact Schools
Equality: Professional Learning With Teachers Rather Than Training Done to Teachers
Choice: Teachers Should Have Choice Regarding What and How They Learn
Voice: Professional Learning Should Empower and Respect the Voices of Teachers
Reflection: Reflection Is an Integral Part of Professional Learning
Dialogue: Professional Learning Should Enable Authentic Dialogue
Praxis: Teachers Should Apply Their Learning to Their Real-Life Practice as They Are Learning
Reciprocity: We Should Expect to Get as Much as We Give
To Sum Up
Going Deeper
3. Principals
Leading Schools and the Partnership Principles
Principals as Designers
The Target
The Big Four
Creating the Target
Observing and Monitoring Teacher Progress
Principals as First Learners
Making It All Happen
Getting Support From Central Office
To Sum Up
Going Deeper
4. Instructional Coaching
Partnership
Partnering With Administrators
Workshops and Intensive Learning Teams
Components of Coaching
Who Should Be a Coach
To Sum Up
Going Deeper
5. Workshops That Make an Impact
Take the Partnership Approach
Address the Impact Factors
Use Effective Design
Apply Learning to Real Life
Deliver the Message Powerfully
Connect With the Audience
Walk the Talk
Keep the Energy High
Use Dialogue Architectures
Tell Stories
To Sum Up
Going Deeper
6. Intensive Learning Teams
The Challenge
Partnership Principles
Address Impact Factors
Partnership Facilitation
Intensive Learning Teams
To Sum Up
Going Deeper
7. Partnership Communication
Partnership Principles and Communication
Listening
Good Questions
Finding Common Ground
Controlling Difficult Emotions
Love Your Partners
To Sum Up
Going Deeper
Final Thoughts
Resource A: Impact Toolkit
Administrator Resources
Big Four Observation Tools
Teacher Progress Map (TPM) Resources
Coach Resources: What Coaches Do
Additional Tools
Intensive Learning Teams
Resource B: Research
Research on Coaching
Research on Workshops
Research on Intensive Learning Teams
References and Further Readings
Index

Editorial Reviews

"The book introduces the reader to the theoretical framework, strategies, structure and findings from qualitative studies on instructional coaching to explain how partnership learning supports effective instruction and student achivement. "

Susan Farber

"Unmistakable Impact takes us deeper into the realm of grounded school improvement—a great contribution to the field. "

Michael Fullan

Jim Knight helps us to understand how learning can be infectious, energizing, and humanizing as he eloquently delineates the steps involved in creating an impact school. I suggest buying this book for all principals who want to strengthen their schools. I believe that Unmistakable Impact will be a resource they return to time and again."

Stephanie Hirsh

"Jim Knight outlines a clear path to success for educators to make sense out of the complex nature of external mandates, competing initiatives and prevailing traditional models found within many schools and districts around the nation. "

Ken Geisick

Jim Knight's work has had a tremendous impact on the quality of our professional development practices that that are job-embedded and meet the REAL needs of our teachers. He is a consummate relationship builder who models how to establish the types of relationships necessary for second-order change to occur."

Carolyn J. Teigland

"A must read for anyone who cares about learning, this book is from the heart. Knight uses his own experiences to describe processes and strategies for impacting student and adult learning in today’s schools. "

Sandee Crowther

"Unmistakable Impact exemplifies everything Jim Knight advocates: a clear focus, respect for educators’ significant contributions, and the value that well-designed professional learning contributes to school improvement efforts. "

Dennis Sparks