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The School Leader's Guide to Learner-Centered Education
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The School Leader's Guide to Learner-Centered Education
From Complexity to Simplicity

Edited by:


September 2008 | 288 pages | Corwin
In the context of the current accountability and testing era, many school leaders have become fearful and feel disenfranchised. Their knowledge and experience are not being validated, and often they are forced to engage in practices that go contrary to what they know will provide a positive school climate and culture for their staff and students. This book will introduce a model of leadership as part of a transformation process arising from a learner-centered system. Among the issues considered by educational leaders as the most pressing are:the relationship between moral leadership and school change (based on an ethic of responsibility for preparing all learners to function in a global worlddiversity: the role of school leaders to promote success for all marginalized groups of studentspersonalizing learning and authentically engaging students to make school more effective for all learnersincorporating learning standards and high expectations without sacrificing the personal and authentic engagement with studentsThis book addresses each of these concerns from the perspective of learner-centered systems, in which leaders distribute leadership among key constituents in the educational systemùstudents, teachers, other school staff, parents, community membersùand empower them to engage in a lifelong learning process of continuous growth and improvement.áIt also provides a detailed and comprehensive treatment of LCP, as well as helpful exercises and tools that can be applied to practice.
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Authors
 
1. Why This Is a Time for Change
Why Read This Book?

 
Schools as Living Systems

 
What Does "Learner-Centered" Mean?

 
How This Book Is Organized

 
How Do You Like to Learn?

 
 
2. What We Know About Learning and Leading
What Kind of Learner and Leader Are You?

 
What Does Existing Evidence Say About Leadership?

 
The "Big Picture" View: An Ecology of Learning Model

 
What It Means to Be Learner-Centered

 
A Learner-Centered Educational Model

 
What Are the New Notions of Schooling as Part of Living Systems?

 
Self-Reflections

 
What's Next

 
 
3. What the Learner-Centered Model Means for Practice
What It Means to Be a Learner-Centered Leader

 
What the Research Shows About the Effectiveness of Learner-Centered Models

 
How the Learner-Centered Principles Translate Into Practice at the School Level

 
Implications for Leadership and Building Communities of Learners

 
Self-Reflections

 
What's Next

 
 
4. The Tools Needed for the Journey
Tools for the Journey Within

 
Tools for a School-Level Assessment System and Leadership Process

 
Implications of Implementing Learner-Centered Leadership Tools

 
Tools for Answering the Truly Important Questions

 
Self-Assessment and Reflection Tools to Chart the Journey

 
Self-Reflections

 
What's Next

 
 
5. What Learner-Centered Assessment Tools Can Accomplish
What Is Expected of Our Educational System?

 
How School Leaders Can Provide What Is Wanted

 
The Big Issues Facing Today's School Leaders

 
The Leader's New Role in Staff Development

 
Background and Supporting Research for the Assessment of Learner-Centered Practices Surveys

 
Experiencing the School-Level Assessment of Learner-Centered Practices Survey for Yourself

 
Self-Reflections

 
What's Next

 
 
6. How We Can Move Toward New Student and System Outcomes
Understanding What Is and What Could Be

 
Aligning the New Vision With Existing Realities

 
Dealing With Current System Inequities in New Systems Designs

 
The Learning Partnerships and Networks That We Need

 
The Learning Partnerships You Will Need

 
Self-Reflections

 
What's Next

 
 
7. How We Develop Leadership Qualities From Within
New Ideas From Brain Research

 
Preparing for the Future

 
Other Characteristics of the Needed Framework

 
Further Leadership Challenges in Creating Learner-Centered Models

 
What It Means to Develop Capacity From Within

 
A Summary: Moving From Complexity to Simplicity

 
Summary

 
Conclusion

 
Self-Reflections

 
Introduction to Summary Chapter

 
Introduction to Additional Resources

 
 
8. Summary of Major Points in Each Chapter
Chapter 1: Why This Is a Time For Change

 
Chapter 2: What We Know About Learning and Leading

 
Chapter 3: What the Learner-Centered Model Means for Practice

 
Chapter 4: The Tools Needed for the Journey

 
Chapter 5: What the Learner-Centered Assessment Tools Can Accomplish

 
Chapter 6: How We Can Move Toward New Student and System Outcomes

 
Chapter 7: How We Can Develop Leadership Qualities From Within

 
 
Appendix
 
Resources
 
Glossary of Learner-Centered Terms
 
References
 
Index

"This book is for any school that promotes book studies for professional development or that is looking for ways to reach the student in a personal manner."

Jean L. Krsak, Faculty, CalStateTEACH
California State University, Fullerton

“The time is right and the need is profound for learner-centered practices in schools. McCombs and Miller describe the tools available and how a school can use them to make substantial changes that increase student performance.”

Jean W. Pierce, Professor of Educational Psychology
Northern Illinois University

Sample Materials & Chapters

Chapter 1

Chapter 3


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