Leading Standards-Based Learning: An Implementation Guide for Schools and Districts

Standards-based learning is a great step forward for schools, but it must be implemented correctly to ensure the best educational experience possible. In this comprehensive guide, the authors outline a research-backed, five-phase plan for leading the transition to a standards-based system. Throughout the phases of implementation, readers will find specific steps to develop curriculum, train staff, leverage technology, deploy new reporting systems, and communicate with stakeholders.

Use this book to take full advantage of academic standards and criterion-referenced forms of education:

• Develop a strong standards-based curriculum.
• Align instruction and reliable assessments to the standards.
• Change outdated grading and reporting practices to promote student learning and growth.
• Share knowledge with and seek feedback from teachers, students, families, and other stakeholders.
• Achieve a sustainable standards-based learning system that benefits all students in a school or district.
• Study implementation examples from real teachers, leaders, and schools.

Contents:
Introduction
Chapter 1: Phase 1--Curriculum and Communication
Chapter 2: Phase 2--Alignment and Capacity Building
Chapter 3: Phase 3--Universal Implementation, Communication, and Reporting Systems
Chapter 4: Phase 4--Continuation, Revision, and Expansion
Chapter 5: Phase 5--Monitoring, Tracking Student Achievement, and Celebrating
Epilogue
Appendix A: Additional Resources for Chapter 1
Appendix B: Additional Resources for Chapter 2
Appendix C: Additional Resources for Chapter 3
Appendix D: Additional Resources for Chapter 4
Appendix E: Additional Resources for Chapter 5

Tammy Heflebower, EdD, is a highly sought-after school leader and consultant with vast experience in urban, rural, and suburban districts throughout the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Australia. Dr. Heflebower has served as an award-winning classroom teacher, building leader, district leader, regional professional development director, and national and international trainer. She has also been an adjunct professor of curriculum, instruction, and assessment at several universities, and a prominent member and leader of numerous statewide and national educational organizations.

She is lead author of an award-winning book titled A School Leader's Guide to Standards-Based Grading, co-author of Collaborative Teams That Transform Schools: The Next Step in PLCs, and Teaching & Assessing 21st Century Skills, and contributing author to more than a dozen other books and publications.

Dr. Heflebower holds a bachelor of arts from Hastings College, where she was honored as Outstanding Young Alumna and inducted into the athletic hall of fame. She has a master of arts from UNO and her educational administrative endorsement and doctorate from UNL.

Jan K. Hoegh is an author and associate for Marzano Resources and Solution Tree. She has been a classroom teacher, building-level leader, professional development specialist, assistant high school principal, and curriculum coordinator during her 30-plus years in education. Prior to joining Marzano Resources, Jan was assistant director of statewide assessment for the Nebraska Department of Education, where her primary focus was Nebraska State Accountability Test development. Jan has served on a variety of statewide and national standards and assessment committees and has presented at numerous conferences around the world.

As a highly sought-after consultant with Marzano Resources, Jan works with educators around the world as they strive to improve student achievement. Her passion for education, combined with extensive knowledge of curriculum, instruction, and assessment, provides credible and impactful support for teachers, leaders, schools, and districts. She is an author of Collaborative Teams That Transform Schools, the award-winning A School Leader's Guide to Standards-Based Grading, and A Teacher's Guide to Standards-Based Learning.

Jan holds a bachelor of arts in elementary education and a master of arts in educational administration, both from the University of Nebraska-Kearney. She also earned a specialization in assessment from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Philip B.Warrick, EdD, is an author and consultant, and has worked globally in the areas of school leadership, instruction, collaborative practices, and grading for 25 years.

In 2010, Dr. Warrick 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 past 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.

Dr. Warrick was named 2005 Nebraska State High School Principal of the Year, 2004 Nebraska Secondary School Principals Region One Principal of the Year, and 1998 Nebraska Outstanding New Principal of the Year and Nebraska Secondary School Principals Region One Assistant Principal of the Year.

He earned a bachelor of science from Chadron State College and master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.