Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap: Whatever It Takes (Solutions) - Softcover

Richard DuFour; Rebecca DuFour; Robert Eaker; Gayle Karhanek

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1935249843 ISBN 13: 9781935249849

Publisher: Solution Tree, 2009

Synopsis

This expansion of Whatever It Takes sharpens the focus on the pyramid of interventions strategy. The authors examine case studies of schools and districts across North America to illustrate how PLC at Work™ is a sustainable and transferable process that ensures struggling students get the support they need to achieve. They address how to enrich and extend the learning of proficient students and explain how PLC intervention processes align with RTI legislation.

Benefits:

• Explore time-tested intervention insights built on the PLC knowledge base.
• Learn from real challenges experienced by educators throughout North America.
• Use the reproducibles and tools with your staff and team members.
• Assess your understanding with a free, downloadable study guide.

Contents:
Chapter 1: The Shifting Mission of Public Schooling: Establishing the Historical Context
Chapter 2: Laying the Groundwork for Effective Intervention
Chapter 3: Confronting the Brutal Facts: The Traditional Response to Students Who Do Not Learn
Chapter 4: Sustaining Excellence: A Return to Adlai Stevenson High School
Chapter 5: Hand in Hand We All Learn: A Return to Boones Mill Elementary School
Chapter 6: Embracing Systematic Intervention: Prairie Star Middle School
Chapter 7: Success and Triumph in a Worthy Endeavor: Lakeridge Junior High School
Chapter 8: From State Sanctions to National Recognition: Highland Elementary School
Chapter 9: Building Toward the F.U.T.U.R.E.: Cinco Ranch High School
Chapter 10: From Good to Great: Implementation of PLC Concepts in Kildeer Countryside Community Consolidated School District 96
Chapter 11: Whatever It Takes--Staying the Course: Whittier Union High School District
Chapter 12: Under No Circumstances Blame the Kids: Sanger Unified School District
Chapter 13: "Yah, but . . .": Considering Challenges to Systematic Intervention
Chapter 14: Finding Common Ground: The Shared Practices of Highly Effective Schools and Districts
Chapter 15: Whatever It Takes: How Effective Schools and Districts Overcome Barriers to Systematic Intervention and Enrichment
Chapter 16: Changing the Culture of Schooling to Embrace Effort-Based Achievement
Chapter 17: Moving Forward: Planning for Effective Intervention

About this title

About the Author:

Richard DuFour, EdD, in a distinguished career spanning four decades, was a public-school educator, serving as a teacher, principal, and superintendent. A prolific author and consultant, he was recognized as one of the leading authorities on helping school practitioners implement the Professional Learning Communities at Work™ process in their schools and districts. Over the course of his career, he was the author of numerous books, including the best-selling Professional Learning Communities at Work™, Learning by Doing, and In Praise of American Educators.

Rebecca DuFour brought over thirty-six years of professional experience to her work as an educational consultant, having served as a teacher, school administrator, and central office coordinator. She co-authored twelve books and numerous articles on the topic of Professional Learning Communities at Work™.

Robert Eaker, EdD, is professor emeritus at Middle Tennessee State University, where he also served as dean of the College of Education and interim vice president and provost. Dr. Eaker is a former fellow with the National Center for Effective Schools Research and Development. He has written widely on the issues of effective teaching, effective schools, helping teachers use research findings, and high expectations for student achievement. Dr. Eaker was instrumental in the founding of the Tennessee Teachers Hall of Fame and was a regular contributor to the Effective Schools Research Abstracts series.

Gayle Karhanek, an author and a consultant, was director of student services at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois, from 1979 to 2004. She won the Those Who Excel Award from the Illinois State Board of Education in 2000. Stevenson, a model professional learning community, has been named one of America's best high schools on 12 occasions and has won four coveted Blue Ribbon Awards of Excellence from the US Department of Education. As architect of Stevenson's pyramid of interventions, Gayle has worked with districts across the country to create cost-effective interventions that meet the academic, behavioral, and social-emotional needs of students.

Review:

"When it comes to school improvement for each and every child, the authors raise the bar. They take all excuses off the table and annihilate them. With diamond-cutter precision, they unveil directly from the mouths and actions of practitioners exactly what raising the bar looks like and how it can be done."

--Michael Fullan, author, educational consultant, and special advisor to the Premier and Minister of Education in Ontario

"Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap is an invaluable addition to the expanding narrative attesting to the educability of all children. The case studies, like a good cookbook, offer many appealing options for building your own system of interventions; your challenge is to find the recipe that suites your taste and prepare it with commitment and care. Our children deserve nothing less."

--Lawrence W. Lezotte, CEO of Effective Schools Products, Ltd.

"For years I have carried Whatever It Takes wherever I go because it shows school leaders in considerable detail what to do if they really want all their students to achieve proficiency not just some. The pyramid of interventions, so clearly described at the elementary-, middle-, and high-school levels in this first book, became the template for schools all over the country to achieve groundbreaking results. But now the authors have added the missing link to bring their vital work to scale. Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap has all the eloquence and moral commitment of the first book, and all its detail. But now we have a systems approach and a set of guidelines to bring the pyramid to entire school districts and high-functioning PLCs to every building. In the second half of the book, case study after case study provide specific implementation ideas and engaging stories with the unifying thread of using data well combined with strong culture building and determination that all students will succeed. It is so rare to find a work that combines high moral purpose, a systemic approach, and specific usable ideas. Now that we have this map, everyone must study it and engage it!"

--Jonathon Saphier, founder and president of Research for Better Teaching, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Solution Tree
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1935249843
• ISBN 13: 9781935249849
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256