Synchronizing Success - Softcover

Koepf, Maren

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1571107436 ISBN 13: 9781571107435

Publisher: Routledge, 2008

Synopsis

"At Moreland Hills Elementary School something remarkable is taking place," writes district literacy specialist Maren Koepf. "Across the past ten years, teachers and administrators have worked together to produce a learning network supporting our students, our staff, and our parents. . . Much like the once-apprehensive peasants in the tale of Stone Soup, folks have gradually emerged from their isolated 'huts' of offices and classrooms to generate mutual resources, solutions, and innovations. Through joint endeavors, we created a Comprehensive Literacy System."

In Synchronizing Success, Maren takes you on a tour of one school's winning strategy for developing an efficient and effective network of literacy support from kindergarten through fifth-grade. Beginning with a practical framework for continuous improvement, Maren presents three guiding principles that underlie the comprehensive system: continuity across practice, instructional language, assessment, etc.; ongoing professional development; and collaborative leadership. She illustrates how applying these guiding principles extends a school's capacity for unity and innovation.

The book shows how school leaders can create a comprehensive literacy system, throughout schools and across districts, by aligning change components with a vision for literacy education, and offers tried-and-true processes for developing:job-embedded professional development;common literacy assessments; consistent instructional frameworks;prioritized curricular focus;timely and targeted intervention.

Enriched with tools, tips, and planning guides for incrementally managing positive change, Synchronizing Success provides literacy specialists, principals, and staff developers the resources and action steps necessary for designing an integrated literacy system tailor-fit to their school setting.

About this title

About the Author

Maren Koepf teaches and learns alongside the students and faculty of Moreland Hills Elementary Schools in Ohio. As district literacy specialist for kindergarten through fifth-grades, Maren coordinates and facilitates a comprehensive literacy vision integrating quality literacy instruction, professional discernement, and a collective and timely response to struggling readers.

Maren is a graduate of the University of Akron and Kent State University, with a master's degree in reading. "I wanted to be a teacher since the second grade," she says. "I tried on the role at least a 1,000 times, in youthful play, and refined my ideal with the influence of many remarkable teachers who modeled patience, high expectations, and encouragement. I wanted to make a difference in the future, one treasured life at a time, to return the favor."

Through eighteen years in education, she has enjoyed roles such as special education teacher, Reading Recovery teacher, literacy specialist, and professional developer. She says that she enjoys teaching because no two days are ever alike. "There is nothing so wise as a child's point of view on our world."

While writing her book, Maren tried to identify the knowledge and experience she has that might be of value to others. "I played around with different chapter progressions, different ways of clustering the information, until one felt right," she explains. Her advice to those who are considering writing a professional book: "Write, reflect, revise, invite readers for feedback, revise, (take a breath) revise again."

Maren has presented at state and national conferences and has led workshops and seminars in surrounding districts.

She and her husband, Paul, enjoy traveling, reading, and sailing on Lake Erie.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1571107436
• ISBN 13: 9781571107435
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 190