Leading a High Reliability School: (Use Data-Driven Instruction and Collaborative Teaching Strategies to Boost Academic Achievement)

How do educators build High Reliability Schools (HRS) that consistently produce excellent results and academic achievement? The key is the PLC at Work™ process, which emphasizes three big ideas: a focus on learning, building a collaborative culture, and a results-centered orientation.

With this user-friendly resource, you will learn how to implement powerful professional learning community (PLC) structures that enable you and your team to successfully implement the key elements of a high reliability school: (1) competency-based education, (2) standards-based grading, (3) guaranteed and viable curriculum, (4) effective teaching in every classroom, and (5) a collaborative learning culture.

Marzano, Warrick, Rains, and DuFour will help you:

• Increase school effectiveness and school improvement by implementing the PLC process to form high reliability schools.
• Learn a four-step process for achieving High Reliability Schools status.
• Explore the three big ideas associated with the PLC at Work™ process to implement student-centered, collaborative teaching strategies, and data-driven instruction.
• Discover the characteristics of effective school leaders.
• Understand how to balance and achieve districtwide goals using data to improve student achievement and college- and career-readiness.

Contents:
Foreword
Introduction
Chapter 1: High Reliability Organizations and School Leadership
Chapter 2: Safe and Collaborative Culture
Chapter 3: Effective Teaching in Every Classroom
Chapter 4: Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum
Chapter 5: Standards-Referenced Reporting
Chapter 6: Competency-Based Education
Chapter 7: District Leadership in High Reliability Schools
Appendix
References and Resources
Index

Robert J. Marzano, PhD, is the cofounder and CAO of Marzano Research in Denver, Colorado. During his 50 years in the field of education, he has worked with educators as a speaker and trainer and has authored more than 50 books and 200 articles on topics such as instruction, assessment, writing and implementing standards, cognition, effective leadership, and school intervention. His books include The New Art and Science of Teaching, Leaders of Learning, Making Classroom Assessments Reliable and Valid, The Classroom Strategies Series, Managing the Inner World of Teaching, Handbook for High Reliability Schools, Handbook for Personalized Competency-Based Education, and The Highly Engaged Classroom. His practical translations of the most current research and theory into classroom strategies are known internationally and are widely practiced by both teachers and administrators.

Philip B. Warrick, EdD, is an associate vice president of Marzano Research. He was an award-winning administrator for nearly twelve years, most recently as principal of Round Rock High School, which serves nearly three thousand students. Phil has been an adjunct professor at Peru State College since 2005. In 2010, he was invited to participate in the Texas Principals' Visioning Institute, where he worked with other principals to develop model practices for Texas schools. He is a former regional president for the Nebraska Council of School Administrators (NCSA). He also served on the NCSA legislative committee and was elected chair. In 2003, he was one of the first participants to attend the Nebraska Educational Leadership Institute, conducted by the Gallup Corporation at Gallup University in Omaha. Phil was named Nebraska Outstanding New Principal of the Year and Nebraska Secondary School Principals Region One Assistant Principal of the Year in 1998, Nebraska Secondary School Principals Region One Principal of the Year in 2004, and Nebraska State High School Principal of the Year in 2005.

Cameron L. Rains, PhD, is the assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction for Clark-Pleasant Community School Corporation. In this role, he is part of a team working to ensure that all students in the district learn at high levels. Previously, Cameron served as a teacher and instructional coach, and he acquired almost ten years of administrative experience as a director of elementary education and director of curriculum and instruction.

Cameron is passionate about school and district leadership and applying research findings in the school environment. He coauthored an article on the importance of reading fluency for Reading and Writing Quarterly and is coauthor of the book Stronger Together: Answering the Questions of Collaborative Leadership.

Richard DuFour, EdD, was a public school educator for thirty-four years, serving as a teacher, principal, and superintendent. During his nineteen-year tenure as both principal and superintendent at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois, Stevenson became one of only three schools in the nation to win the US Department of Education Blue Ribbon Award on four occasions and the first comprehensive high school to be designated a New America High School as a model of successful school reform. Rick received his state's highest award as both a principal and superintendent.

A prolific author and sought-after consultant, Rick was recognized as one of the leading authorities on helping school practitioners implement the Professional Learning Communities at Work™ process in their schools and districts.

To learn more about Rick's work, visit AllThingsPLC (allthingsplc.info).