Implementing NCLB: Creating a Knowledge Framework to Support School Improvement

"Implementing NCLB is an important guide to thinking about how to create the infrastructure to support sustained school improvement. Kimmelman′s extensive experience as an educator coupled with his understanding of policymaking and research allow him to transcend the silos that too often constrain thinking about these issues."
-Andrew J. Rotherham, Co-Director, Education Sector, Senior Fellow Progressive Policy Institute
Member, Virginia Board of Education

"This inspirational book provides a convincing and compelling call to action. Kimmelman provides plenty of practical examples and moves easily between specific applications and the big picture."
-Michael Fullan, Professor
OISE, University of Toronto

"I believe this book should be read by every administrator and teacher leader. It provides a framework for schools to address the need for continuous school improvement in order to meet the expectations of NCLB."
-Theron J. Schutte, Superintendent , Boone Community School District, IA

How can NCLB directives be successfully applied to school improvement efforts?

Meeting the requirements of NCLB is a monumental task. In a concise, straightforward manner, author Paul L. Kimmelman shows readers how to overcome this challenge by building organizational capacity through a knowledge model. This model provides a simple but effective framework for evidence-based continuous improvement that complies with the fundamental underpinnings of NCLB.

Key features include:

• A context-setting overview of the politics and education initiatives that led to NCLB
• An analysis of what educational leadership means in an age of accountability
• Lessons in leadership from educators, scientists, explorers, and entrepreneurs
• Practical examples, reflective questions, and action ideas to help link concepts to specific applications
• Recommended resources, publications, and products to help build organizational capacity

Intended for educators and administrators who have an active role in leading their school or district improvement activities, this book will also be an essential resource for focusing the efforts of school improvement and learning teams.

Paul L. Kimmelman is senior adviser to the CEO at Learning Point Associates. He has served as a consultant to the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in England, and senior consultant to Project 2061 Professional Development Programs of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He worked in K–12 education for more than 30 years as a teacher, high school assistant principal, middle school principal, assistant superintendent, and superintendent, and he has been an adjunct professor at several colleges and universities. Currently, he is adjunct professor at Argosy University. As superintendent in Lima, Ohio, he worked to help the district successfully comply with a federal desegregation order. He served as president of the First in the World Consortium when he was a superintendent in Illinois. The consortium was a collaborative group of school districts that were the first noncountry group to participate in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study. He has authored numerous articles and publications on education and presented at national and state education meetings. He is author of Implementing NCLB: Creating a Knowledge Framework to Support School Improvement (2006) and coauthor (with David Kroeze) of Achieving World-Class Schools: Mastering School Improvement Using a Genetic Model (2002). He was appointed by former U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley to the National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching, chaired by former senator and astronaut John Glenn, and served on the Third International Mathematics and Science Study Technical Review Panel. He was also appointed by U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige to serve on the Teacher Assistance  Corps and participated in the Teacher-to-Teacher project, offering sessions on building teacher leaders.