In this book, Nancy Akhavan details the stories and strategies that enabled her school to move from "under-performing" status to one in which students achieve and teachers have a whole new understanding of targeted instruction, sensitive assessment, and meaningful curriculum. There is much to appreciate in what she says, from her attention to "thinking small" and understanding the power of the details, her emphasis on planning and goal-setting, to the seriousness with which she takes the standards and incorporates them into the life of the classroom.
Drawing on the work of the best in the business, Lucy Calkins, David and Yvonne Freeman, and Tony Alvarado, Akhavan made professional development the heartbeat of her school as she helped her faculty understand that their work begins and ends with continuous assessment of their students. Now she helps readers of her book learn:
- how child-centered assessment leads to strategic instruction
- how to best support multilingual learners
- how to organize for yearlong learning
- how to think through precise workshop instruction in minilessons
- how to develop meaningful curriculum around units of study
- how to create a vibrant school community where standards and accountability stem from regular assessment and examination of instructional practices.
Akhavan provides immediately useful information for any elementary teacher, principal, or curriculum developer. Read her book and understand how to use standards as a way to connect meaningful instruction to students, not as a bar that students have to reach or a barrier to real teaching and learning.
Nancy Akhavan is Assistant Professor in the department of Educational Research and Administration at California State University, Fresno. Previously, she was Assistant Superintendent of School Leadership for Middle Schools in Fresno Unified School District, a large urban district in California's Central Valley. She has worked as a district staff developer, principal, elementary school bilingual teacher, bilingual resource teacher, and professional development coordinator for over twenty years. Dr. Akhavan is passionate about providing a high quality education for all children through authentic, purposeful instruction. She has provided staff development training to teachers grades K-12 on topics as literacy, vocabulary development, writing, English Language Development, standards based instruction, coaching and leadership. She also has provided training to teacher leaders and administrators in systems and culture change, school reform, and classroom based professional development.
In addition to her work in classrooms and schools, she has written a number of professional books, including the Heinemann titles Teaching Reading in a Title I School, K-3; Teaching Writing in a Title I School, K-3; Help! All My Students Don't Speak English: How to Set Up a Language Workshop in Your Linguistically Diverse Classroom; and How to Align Literacy Instruction, Assessment, and Standards and Achieve Results You Never Dreamed Possible.
Nancy Akhavan is Heinemann Professional Development provider.
