After analyzing 800+ meta-analyses, 50,000+ studies, and over a quarter of a billion students, Professor John Hattie found that almost everything in education has an impact on learning. In 2009, the Visible Learning research immediately shifted the conversation in education from what works to what
As the new school year launches in August, teachers and administrators have the opportunity to once again invite and train parents to become actively engaged in their children’s classrooms. The research of the effectiveness of using parents to support student learning has consistently indicated that
As the school year begins it offers an opportunity to create an intentional classroom community of readers. One of those intentions is likely to help students become risk-takers who feel willing and able to tackle challenges and outgrow themselves as readers. When students feel pressure
Are you ready for another year of school leadership? Are you enthusiastic and excited about beginning a new year and the desire for creating an effective school environment? What are you going to do to make a difference this year? Leadership teams spend the summer getting
What if we, as instructional leaders, supported creativity in teaching and learning? I mean really supported it. Here are a few things we might expect to see (and hear). We would see ourselves leading by example. We would view uncertainty as a sign that new
When I meet my students, they can see right away that I am a “white” teacher, and I can see that they are “black” and “brown” students. These are the first things we witness about one another. I wonder what the students assume about me
Shared leadership is both one of the most powerful and one of the most underused approaches to improving student learning. Shared leadership is supported by a growing body of research by such authors as Lambert (2002), Lindahl (2008), and Marks and Printy (2003, 2006). It
The Brain Behind the Operation John Huston’s classic drama, Key Largo, is pure escapism for the school leader, but at the same time, the film serves as a celluloid vehicle for transporting a principal to better understanding the essence of effective decision-making. In the film, gangster
Teaching begins with knowing your students. Who are these young people in front of you? What do they bring to the classroom from their previous experiences, their community, their families, and their cultures? What do they need from me to further their aspirations? However, as an
Weeks of 16-hour days, endless re-arranging of furniture, and final decisions about bathroom passes and rules for pencil sharpening—all were about to pay off. I was so tired from spending so much time preparing for my students, I wasn’t even really that nervous on my first