Schools for All Kinds of Minds - Hardcover

Barringer, Mary-Dean

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 047050515X ISBN 13: 9780470505151

Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 2010

Synopsis

This book shows how schools can--and must--develop expertise in "learning variation" (understanding how different kinds of minds learn) and apply this knowledge to classroom instruction in order to address the chronic learning challenges and achievement gap faced by millions of students. Barringer shows how using what we know about learning variation with a focus on discovering learning strengths, not just deficits, can help schools create plans for success for those students who often find it elusive. The book specifically addresses how school leaders can incorporate this knowledge into instructional practice and school-level policy through various professional development strategies.  

Schools for All Kinds of Minds:

• Provides a readable synthesis of the latest research from neuroscience, cognitive science, and child and adolescent development as it relates to understanding learning and its many variations.
• Links this information to strategies for understanding struggling learners and adapting school practices to accommodate a wider array of learning differences in a classroom.
• Demonstrates how this understanding of learning variation can change the way teachers and others help students succeed in various academic and content areas and acquire necessary 21st century skills.
• Includes discussion questions and facilitator guidelines for staff developers and teacher education programs; downloadable forms that accompany exercises from within the book; an action plan for schools to implement the ideas found in the book; and more.

About this title

From the Back Cover

Praise for Schools for All Kinds of Minds

"Any educator who is genuinely interested in improving student success, and their own knowledge about learning, will benefit from the research and practical suggestions in this book."
—IAN ADAMSON, retired superintendent, Alternative Programs, Curriculum, Instruction and Special Education Support Services, Peel School District Board, Ontario, Canada

"Schools for All Kinds of Minds is for all kinds of teachers. There's more than one way to learn and more than one way to teach, but only one way to have high expectations for the students in our schools. This book helps teachers with high expectations turn that thought into action."
—MIKE FEINBERG, cofounder of KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program)

"Provides school leaders with a framework and strategies that will help them move beyond an ever-growing list of accountability mandates to a focus on all students as learners that can reach their true potential."
—ERIC HIRSCH, director of special projects, New Teacher Center

"In the fast-moving world of educational reform, this work stresses the importance of putting the science of learning front and center in the current debate about how to improve schools. I highly recommend it to a wide audience of those committed to the maxim that effective teaching results in higher student learning."
—MICHAEL SPAGNA, Ph.D., dean, Michael D. Eisner College of Education, California State University, Northridge

"This essential book puts the customization of school-based learning opportuni- ties in the spotlight with accessible descriptions of how our brains work and concrete tools for maximizing their full potential. A must-read for educational leaders at all levels of school systems."
—SANDRA J. STEIN, CEO, NYC Leadership Academy

"Students everywhere deserve principals, district leaders, and teacher leaders who have not only read this book, but who also have taken the ideas in it to heart—and who have worked in partnership with students and their families to create schools and classrooms that teach all kinds of minds."
—GENE THOMPSON-GROVE, director, professional development and special initiatives, Public Schools of Brookline and national facilitator, The School Reform Initiative, Inc.

From the Inside Flap

Schools for All Kinds of Minds

Based on cutting-edge brain research and the pioneering work being done at the All Kinds of Minds nonprofit organization, this groundbreaking book offers a dynamic approach to closing the ever-widening achievement gap in schools. Schools for All Kinds of Minds shows how educators at all levels can develop expertise in "learning variation"—understanding how different kind of minds learn—and demonstrates how to apply this knowledge to raise achieve- ment for all. This focus—which recognizes kids' learning strengths, not just deficits— can lead to school success even for struggling students.

The All Kinds of Minds model is defined by these essential components: Expertise in the science of learning and the belief that differences are variation, not deviation; evidence gathered from multiple sources, including an approach for understanding how specific students learn; a problem-solving model that helps to identify passions and affinities that can drive scholarship, careers, and other life choices; a set of five core beliefs about how all students are treated; and a commitment to align school and edu-cational practices and policies to the way students learn and vary in their learning.

The book includes reflection exercises and accompanying online resources that can facilitate the use of the All Kinds of Minds model within school-based professional learning communities (PLCs) and other staff development activities, as well as teacher education programs.

About this edition

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 047050515X
• ISBN 13: 9780470505151
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288