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Culture Re-Boot
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Culture Re-Boot
Reinvigorating School Culture to Improve Student Outcomes

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January 2013 | 272 pages | Corwin

Your start-up menu for super-charged culture change

There's an invisible thread woven through your school that defines everything from dress codes to student success. It's your school culture, and reshaping it will yield highly visible improvements for teachers and students. Leslie Kaplan and William Owings guide you in improving leadership, teaching, learning, confidence, and trust throughout your school.

Culture Re-Boot reframes school culture to include organizational learning, relational trust, accountability, program improvement, and teacher effectiveness while showing you how to:

• Be the transformational leader your school needs to reinvigorate your school culture
• Establish a student-centered learning culture focused on student outcomes
• Engage teachers in culture-focused leadership teams that support teacher and student learning
• Get parents and community on-board to collaborate for student achievement
• Connect professional development and school culture for maximum results

Packed with hands-on culture re-boot activities to help school leaders and faculty revitalize their school's values and practices, this practical handbook for school improvement will energize your school's culture and build the capacity to help all students succeed.

"Ever since Seymour Sarason wrote his seminal book on The Culture of Schools and the Problem of Change, we have known that 'culture' is at the heart of all organizational performance. But reformers keep forgetting this key fact. Kaplan and Owings' book changes all that. Now in one place you can find everything you need to know to 're-boot' you own school's culture."
—Michael Fullan, Author of Motion Leadership

"As a principal focused on student achievement and school climate, I am excited to begin using these strategies and discussions to drive our conversations to a deeper and more meaningful level. The combination of school culture, professional learning community, and teacher/community leadership provides a compelling and unique exploration of real methods to sustain student achievement and school improvement."
—William Richard Hall, Jr., Principal
R. C. Longan Elementary School, Henrico, VA


 
Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Authors
 
1. School Culture and Change as Learning
Focus Questions

 
Why 40 Years of School Reform Has Not Worked (and Why Culture Re-Boot Will)

 
What is Culture Re-Boot?

 
What is School Culture?

 
Components of Positive School Cultures

 
Change as Organizational Learning

 
Understanding Your School’s Culture

 
Research: The Impact of School Culture on Student Achievement

 
Resources

 
 
2. School Leadership as Culture Building
Focus Questions

 
Leadership as Culture Building

 
How Principal Leaders Transform Their Schools

 
Understanding the Dynamics and Resources for Culture Re-Boot

 
How Principals Can Prepare for Culture Re-Boot

 
Research: Principal Leadership and Student Achievement

 
Resources

 
 
3. School Culture, Ethical Behavior, and Relational Trust
Focus Questions

 
School Culture and Ethical Behavior

 
School Culture and Relational Trust

 
Building Relational Trust with Parents

 
Research: Trust and Student Achievement

 
Resources

 
 
4. Developing Professional Capacity and Shared Influence
Focus Questions

 
Why Schools Should Develop Professional Capacity

 
Building Teachers’ Instructional Capacity

 
Building Teachers’ Leadership Capacities

 
Where We Go From Here

 
Research: How Building Teachers’ Capacity Improves School Outcomes

 
Resources

 
 
5. Establishing a Student-Centered Learning Culture
Focus Questions

 
Why We Need to Educate Every Child to High Levels

 
A Safe and Orderly Learning Environment

 
Teacher Expectations

 
Academic Press and Supports

 
Relationships

 
References

 
 
6. Promoting and Creating Strong Parent-Community Ties
Focus Questions

 
Family Involvement and Student Outcomes

 
Challenges of Working with Parents in Culturally Diverse Communities

 
Ways to Involve Families with Schools

 
Working with the Community

 
References

 
 
7. Developing a Plan for Action
Focus Questions

 
Planning Overview

 
 
Index

Supplements

"Ever since Seymour Sarason wrote his seminal book on The Culture of Schools and the Problem of Change we have known that 'culture' is at the heart of all organizational performance. But reformers keep forgetting this key fact. Kaplan and Owings' book changes all that. Here is a book the brings school culture back into the driver's seat—from the emphatic title of Re-Boot through all of the chapters the authors show clearly what culture is and how to understand and change it for the better. Now in one place you can find everything you need to know to 're-boot' you own school's culture."

Michael Fullan, Professor Emeritus
OISE/University of Toronto

"Efforts to reorganize, restructure, or reform a school is a difficult task at best. Change can only occur in a culture that brings together the salient factors that alter the teaching and learning processes. The authors bring numerous years of experience in educational leadership as they effectively show how principals and teachers can address the single most important component in raising student achievement—school culture."

Elliot Y. Merenbloom, Educational Consultant
Baltimore, MD

"As a principal focused on student achievement and school climate, I am excited to take this book and begin to use the strategies and discussions to drive our conversations to a deeper and more meaningful level. The combination of the constructs of school culture, professional learning community, and teacher/community leadership provides a compelling and unique exploration of real methods to sustain student achievement and school improvement."

William Richard Hall, Jr., Principal
R. C. Longan Elementary School, Henrico, VA

"Leaders looking for a fresh and practical approach to change will welcome Kaplan and Owings compelling case about the omnipresent culture of a school and the unexplainable disregard it receives in the literature and in actual school improvement endeavors."

Robin Fogarty, President
Robin Fogarty & Associates Educational Consulting

I am recommending it to specific students; those in education or on an ed track.

Mr Court Booth
College of Professional Studies, Northeastern University
April 5, 2014

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Professor Prd Sat1us
School Of Business, Adams State College
September 24, 2013
Key features
  • Focused, readable, and authoritative chapters on key aspects of school culture which impact teaching and learning and which can generate professional development.
  • Activities are located immediately following major concepts in each chapter. These reflective and practical exercises help readers find personal and shared meaning and relevance from the ideas just discussed, build collegial teams, and begin applying these ideas to their own school.
  • Presents questions and surveys to use in identifying and assessing school culture and planning for improvement.
  • Addresses important topics that aren't typically covered in existing books on school culture, such as trust, establishing a student-centered learning culture with a focus on student outcomes, building professional capacity, and cultivating teacher leadership.

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ISBN: 9781452277950

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