With teacher and leader workloads and burnout at an all-time high, it's time for de-implementation: de-prioritizing and deleting the less effective, higher-cost initiatives we implement in schools. De-implementation allows us to focus on practices that have more supporting evidence and a higher probability of positive impact on students, and at…

Today's educators are buried under old practices, new ideas, and recommended initiatives. The problem? With such an abundance of strategies, it's hard to recognize what, if anything, is working. Before you're tempted to add just one more idea to the pile, take a step back--and an objective look--so that you, central office leaders, building…

Drawing on frameworks of teacher research and critical literacy, this volume documents the experiences of educators in New Mexico who participate in Teaching Out Loud--an intergenerational, professional development program that focuses on the creation and implementation of imaginative, critical curriculum with historically marginalized students.…

This case study discusses an investigation to develop and validate a survey designed to obtain information on practitioner self-reported knowledge, use, and perceived effectiveness of recommended classroom-based practices for the inclusive instruction of students receiving special education services for Emotional Disturbance. First, students will…

In the 1950s and 1960s, students practiced ducking under their desks in case of an atomic bomb attack. We know that this was silly and provided no protection and many school practices that are popular today are equally silly. This book explores a wide range of what the authors label "duck and cover" policies--ideas that may have started…

Medical products are required to disclose both their intended outcomes and known side effects. Educational policy and practice, however, carries no such labels. Thus, teachers, school leaders, and the public are not told, for example, that "this program helps improve your students' reading scores, but it may make them hate reading…

Just because a school has adopted a social and emotional learning (SEL) program does not mean it will work. This book explores the conditions needed to implement, strengthen, and sustain effective SEL, and identifies paths that schools, districts, and states have taken to create those conditions. Major themes include equity of access to…

"Questioning the Language of Improvement and Reform in Education" challenges the language used in education by linking the language of both the public and professional domains with the changing intentions of the governance of education. Exploring various issues, which embody the many manifestations of the manner in which strident,…

In New York City in 2009, a new kind of public school opened its doors to its inaugural class of middle schoolers. Conceived by a team of game designers and progressive educational reformers and backed by prominent philanthropic foundations, it promised to reinvent the classroom for the digital age. Ethnographer Christo Sims documented the life of…

During the 2014-2015 academic year, WestEd hired us as research interns at the West Comprehensive Center in Phoenix, AZ. As PhD students, our task was to conduct a collective case study on two local education agencies in Arizona that participated in a 2-year school turnaround specialist program. The goal of the project was to gain a deeper…

It is important that stakeholders are aware of practices supported as effective for students with learning and behavioral disabilities in order to provide instruction that results in improved learner outcomes. Perhaps equally important, stakeholders should also know which practices have been shown by research to be ineffective (e.g., have no,…

This important new book provides the first in-depth, authoritative and balanced examination of the critical issues pervading Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). The book highlights strengths and flaws in SEL theory and research, and sets the agenda for the next generation of inquiry. The book investigates key topics such as: (1) definitions and…

Taking the students' perspective, Education Policy Outlook 2018: Putting Student Learning at the Centre analyses the evolution of key education priorities and key education policies in 43 education systems. It compares more recent developments in education policy ecosystems (mainly between 2015 and 2017) with various education policies adopted…

The paper analyses the status and characteristics of adult literacy campaigns and programmes since 2000. Global trends are analysed in terms of the ten key aspects of the suggested framework for successful literacy campaigns and programmes. Four case studies on major literacy campaigns in Brazil, India, South Africa and Indonesia are used to…

Over the last decade, teaching assistants (TAs) have become an established part of everyday classroom life. TAs are often used by schools to help low-attaining pupils and those with special educational needs. Yet despite the huge rise in the number of TAs working in UK classrooms, very little is known about their impact on pupils. This key and…