September 2012 Issue
How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity and the Hidden Power of Character
Why do some children succeed while others fail? Paul Tough, author of the fascinating new book, How Children Succeed, joins us to challenge the notion that a child's future success is predicated on IQ and performance on standardized tests. Researchers have recently discovered that cognitive skills matter a lot less than has been previously thought and as Paul Tough explains in this month's main interview, the very latest research is telling us that what matters most in determining a child's success or failure is very different from what the conventional wisdom tells us. Continue
What Every School Leader Should Be Thinking About Teacher Evaluation
With Charlotte Danielson
Charlotte Danielson discusses what all school leaders should be thinking about when it comes to implementing teacher evaluation systems and why, regardless of which system they are using, every school leader needs to look at evaluation as a way to improve teaching, not as a means to identify and label teachers. Continue
Smarter Budgets: How About 100 Students in a Class?
With Nathan Levenson
Nathan Levenson, former school superintendent, school board member and business executive, and author of the new book, Smarter Budgets, Smarter Schools, challenges school leaders to think about two very different ways to save money during tough budget times. Continue
The Principal as Instructional Leader
Leadership expert Sally Zepeda, author of the newly revised book, The Principal as Instructional Leader, talks about the qualities that define great instructional leaders and why school leaders must learn to see supervision, professional learning and teacher evaluation as one coherent effort, not as separate pieces. Continue
Using Free Technology to Bring 21st Century Skills Into the Classroom
Professional development expert Jared Covili, author of the new book, Going Google: Powerful Tools for 21st Century Learning, describes the wide array of free Google technologies available to schools and explains how to use them to encourage teaching 21st century skills. Continue
5 Things Every Teacher Should Be Doing to Meet the Common Core State Standards
With Lauren Davis
Lauren Davis, editor of the new book series, Common Core Literacy Lesson Plans: Ready-to-Use Resources, outlines five very specific strategies that all teachers should be using to implement the new standards in their classrooms. Continue
Instruction That Makes a Difference
With Howard Pitler
McREL Senior Director Howard Pitler joins us to discuss the Framework for Instructional Planning from the book, Classroom Instruction that Works, 2nd edition, and the importance of using a research-based framework for instructional planning to organize those strategies that lead to better instruction and improved outcomes for students and to help teachers think about systematically incorporating the strategies into their practice. Continue
Positive Behavioral Approaches to School Discipline
With Dr. Howard Knoff
Dr. Howard Knoff, Director of Project ACHIEVE, a nationally known school effectiveness and improvement program, joins us to talk about the importance of school-wide Positive Behavioral Support Systems and why it’s more essential than ever for schools to teach students the social, emotional and behavioral skills they need to succeed in school, college and their careers. Continue