A School Leader's Guide to Excellence: Collaborating Our Way to Better Schools [Paperback]

Carmen Farina (Author), Laura Kotch (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0325011389 | ISBN-13: 978-0325011387 | Publication Date: March 18, 2008

 

This book is an enormous gift. It has the power to change you and your school in ways that will bring vibrancy and excellence to your community.

- Lucy Calkins

Author of Units of Study for Primary Writing

and Units of Study for Teaching Writing, 3 - 5

 

What a pleasure to read a book on leadership that focuses on ideas so humane, clear, and wise that the reader wonders how we ever made the art of leadership so complicated and didactic. 

- Ellin Oliver Keene

Coauthor of Mosaic of Thought, Second Edition

 

A veritable treasurehouse of practical help, inspiring support and constructive challenge from two high level leaders who have keep completely in touch with the classroom and never lose sight of the humanity of their own learning and leadership.

- Andy Hargreaves
Thomas More Brennan Chair in Education
Boston College

 

Carmen and Laura translate their soaring vision into a clear, . . . easy-to-use, friendly guide any educator can apply.

- Bill Cirone

Superintendent of Santa Barbara County Office of Education

 

Is something - no matter how big or small - holding your school back? If so, turn to Carmen Farina and Laura Kotch. In New York City they've transformed struggling schools into excellent schools and made good ones great. And in A School Leader's Guide to Excellence they'll show you a direct, detailed road to improving schoolwide achievement.

 

A School Leader's Guide to Excellence gets at what's really important when you're leading the way to change:

• gathering the energy of the school community for change
• focusing that energy on problem solving
• assuring ownership and sustainability so that new practices last.

Farina and Kotch present their ideas with step-by-step instructions, implementation and evaluation advice, artifacts of their own reform efforts, and all the modifiable forms and documents you'll need. Their strategies will help you:

• form a doable vision of change
• collect information and create urgency
• spark professional conversation and reinforce beliefs
• motivate change through celebration
• involve every staff member
• secure parents' support
• develop a culture of professional learning
• make your job easier by nurturing teacher leaders
• lead in the moment by planning in advance.

 

Energize your school for change, make reform happen, and make it last. Improve the performance - and the lives - of your students. And do it all with a realistic plan developed by people who've been there and know the way to success.

 

Read A School Leader's Guide to Excellence and raise your school to new heights.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Carmen Farina is the coauthor, with her longtime collaborator Laura Kotch, of A School Leader's Guide to Excellence. They have in-depth experience with helping all schools make the changes they need to achieve excellence. As professional partners they have held numerous roles in the New York City public schools. Most recently, Carmen was the Deputy Chancellor for Teaching and Learning of the New York City Department of Education, while Laura was its Executive Director of Professional Development and Curriculum. Their vast experiences also include tenures as Superintendent and Deputy of District 15 (a thirty-two-school district) and Region 8 (154 schools), Principal and Staff Developer, college instructors, teacher leaders, and classroom teachers. Currently they work with principals to create structures that improve schoolwide teaching and learning.

Laura Kotch is the coauthor, with her longtime collaborator Carmen Farina, of A School Leader's Guide to Excellence. They have in-depth experience with helping all schools make the changes they need to achieve excellence. As professional partners they have held numerous roles in the New York City public schools. Most recently, Carmen was the Deputy Chancellor for Teaching and Learning of the New York City Department of Education, while Laura was its Executive Director of Professional Development and Curriculum. Their vast experiences also include tenures as Superintendent and Deputy of District 15 (a thirty-two-school district) and Region 8 (154 schools), Principal and Staff Developer, college instructors, teacher leaders, and classroom teachers. Currently they work with principals to create structures that improve schoolwide teaching and learning.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Heinemann (March 18, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0325011389
• ISBN-13: 978-0325011387
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #623,743 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WONDERFUL, May 21, 2008

By 

Mary Pena - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A School Leader's Guide to Excellence: Collaborating Our Way to Better Schools (Paperback)

This book was an insight into the way teaching should be. It is a book that all in the education field should be read. Easy to read and a pleasure to be able to learn from other educators experience

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The Chickens Have Come Home To Roost, August 28, 2008

By 

Al From Bay Shore (Bay Shore, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A School Leader's Guide to Excellence: Collaborating Our Way to Better Schools (Paperback)

The chickens have finally come home to roost!!!! Hooray! Miss Kotch and Miss Farina have done an outstanding job for the New York City School sytem. Kudos to them. The students who were fortunate enough to learn under their programs are now old enough to take the SAT. Today, The New York Post, a periodical that has consistenly lauded their efforts, reports the following:

"But now - in the exam that serves as the standard in assessing students' readiness for college [, the SAT,] - city students aren't just falling behind, they are posting some of the worst scores in the nation."
"City averages were 55 points to 64 points behind the national average in the three standardized exams."

Thank you New York Post! You just saved me 22 dollars (plus shipping and handling), as well as the time I would have wasted sifting through the pages of a book on "School Leadership" and "Better Schools" developed by educrats who essentially played a role in the NYC school system taking a giant step backwards in the area of academic progress. Nice going ladies. Thank you New York Post, again. Today's editorial column, which is titled "Doubts on NYC's Schools Gains", should also be titled "How Not To Waste $22.00."