Improving Achievement in Low-Performing Schools
Key Results for School Leaders
- Randolph E. Ward - Compton Unified School District
- Mary Ann Burke, Editor - Santa Clara County Office of Education
School Change, Reform, & Restructuring | School Management | Standards & Accountability
Roland S. Barth
Author, Lessons Learned
How can multi-stressed, low-performing schools overcome obstacles to respond to the unique learning needs of students?
As accountability in schools becomes more crucial, educators are looking for comprehensive and innovative management practices that respond to challenges and realities of student academic achievement. In order to improve academic performance and the quality of instruction, the entire school community needs to be involved.
Improving Achievement in Low-Performing Schools provides six steps to overcome low performance. School principals and teacher leaders can create a school culture that supports the goals for student achievement and expects the same standards for all students. This excellent new resource focuses on:
- Improving student achievement in the core subjects
- Aligning teaching and learning with student performance
- Linking professional development for all staff to the goals for students
- Creating safe, clean, and secure school facilities
- Forging stronger links with parents, families, and the community
- Increasing management effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability
The student is the chief client served by the educational profession. As students and their families become more confident that educators are dedicated to meeting students' individualized needs, they become committed to supporting the key results accountability process.
"I find here nothing less than a blueprint for transforming a failing urban school district with abysmal levels of student and adult performance into one of fiscal and academic respectability. No small feat! This compact little volume offers countless aids for systemic reform, from six giant steps to many small forms. There is much to be gleaned from the Compton Story, which will be applicable to others who would turn their districts around."
"[This] is a valuable book for anyone seriously interested in having more effective schools. This is not a one-shot panacea, but a detailed recipe of what can be done to improve student academic improvement."