Customer Reviews

Breakthrough

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Fullan, Hill and Crevola have done an excellent job in redirecting thought on educational change by refocussing on what actually happens in classrooms (where the rubber meets the road, as Jimmy Thompson in LeRoy often says).

A major problem with most educational change is that it is political and structural in nature and is designed to change the ways schools operate. The impetus for change founders on the vested interests imbedded in school communities and adds to the festering debate about the inability of educational change to make a real difference to students' learning. With Michael Fullan adding Hill and Crevola to the writing team, he has added a lot of credibility to this text in the eyes of school-based personnel.

This book is a testament to the fact that we need to change inputs to bring about better outcomes for students. The expectation that teachers, if left to their own devices, will improve outcomes is patently false when examining large organisations. Clearly there are individual exceptions but generally speaking Fullan is on the right track here.

I feel that this book will be a very well received book because fellow educators will recognise the book for what it- the first step on a journey worth taking. On the strength of that, our school leaders' reading group has chosen this text as our next reader.

Fullan and fellow authors present a logical, no-nonsense approach to reforming education where it is needed the most - in the classroom. They present the argument that only when instruction is changed to meet the needs of all learners, instruction is monitored daily through student progress so that it can be adjusted, will real improvement in student academic achievement be realized. It is an easy read. It should be required reading in all educational leadership programs.

Michael Fullan does an excellent job discussing differentiated learning. His book, Breakthrough presents a new way to look at educational reform and break away from current curriculum first strategies of educators. Instead, he discusses focused learning with students at the center. In the book, learning is individualized and geared towards individual needs. Fullan provides examples and ways to collect data using focus sheets, student profiles, and instructional matrixes. Great book to read for those interested in serving all students and their needs.

As an educator, I am always looking for fresh approaches in the classroom. This book offers some new ideas and brings forward some ideas from my previous learning. The three "P's" are a great way to express instructional in the classroom as well as the professional development portion of administration. The best aspect is that Breakthrough focuses on the children. Many other "theories" are so rich in esoteric thinking that the children are lost.

Michael Fullan comes through again! Every school principal should read this book, which takes schools to the next level in understanding what's next in closing the gap. Data is only the beginning of the equation, but of course a necessary piece. It focuses on the teacher who should frequently, even daily, progress monitoring every child, and then adjusts instruction to meet individual needs. It isn't necessarily a new idea, but one that emphasizes again that the teacher is the key in a breakthrough systems change that serves each student.

The best sentence in this book was the last one. "While it takes a whole village to raise a child, it takes a system to raise every child."

Everyone agrees that the future success of public school reform lies in developing expert systems. That is the key. It is easier said than done. Breakthrough does a good job documenting the failures of the direct instruction movement to achieve wholescale, systemic reform. Their failures exist in spite of the large sums of money and expertise that have been invested into the method.

The authors also talk about the importance of teacher and principal leadership to bring about systemic reform and the importance of personalizing instruction so that data is used to make instruction more effective. The book, however, falls short in the application. The last half of the books reads like a direct instruction manual. Yeah, that's right, it is a real yawner, which is surprising for an author like Fullan. I guess you can't hit a homerun every at bat.

What is lacking is the balance that must be found between using data to know where each child is at and yet at the same time providing interesting, inspiring work to the student so that her interest and motivation to learn remains high. Motivation and relevancy--especially in the 21st century is essential. The problem I am seeing across the country is that people are trading data for inspiration. It doesn't work that way. We must realize that doing work that matters--along with measuring progress toward meaningful benchmarks is the key. Otherwise, we might just find ourselves confusing assessment for learning. Not a healthy proposition.

This little volume is not a page turner, but it does make some good points. For starters, it documents via several research studies that direct instruction reforms will only yield average results at best--they will not teach students how to think, and they certainly won't teach them how to lead. They may produce mildly literate factory workers who live for the weekend, but they won't achieve systemic reform most of us are trying to achieve. I completely agree.

The authors make the statement that the quality of the instruction that happens in the classroom is what matters most. Nothing new there. However, what does effective teaching look like? That is the most salient question of all, and though the authors come close by mentioning the importance of motivation, high expectations, and engagement, they fall short in delivering a definition that will make us do something different. They propose engagement on task, but don't talk about the quality of the tasks. Student engagement in mindless seatwork will not get us where we need to go.

They talk about the importance of "focused instruction," but what do they tell us to focus on? Assessments and the data that comes from them. I don't think that is the answer either. It is important, but it is not the answer.