Category Archives for Student Learning
Build a Curriculum with the Greatest Impact on Student Learning
“There is a ‘mountain of evidence’ (Sahm, 2017) that implementing a coherent, content-rich curriculum may be the most foundationalelement of effective schooling and has the greatest impact on students learning, reading ability, and life chances.” These are powerful words written by Mike Schmokerin the March2019 Educational Leadership publication. In this article and his second […]
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How Principals Can Focus on Learning and Not Performance (10 Steps to Change the Narrative)
With the 2019 School Year coming to a close, school leaders have a great opportunity to start planning for a focus on learning in the coming school year. With so many ever-changing challenges faced by schools and districts on a daily basis, it’s more important than ever to focus on learning rather than performance. Today’s […]
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Strategic Resourcing and How it Will Improve Student Learning
How you use your resources is more important than how much you have. There has not been a tremendous amount of research on leadership practices and their impact on student achievement. Viviane Robinson is best known for her research that revealed the five leadership practices that have the greatest impact on student achievement. I shared […]
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How Collective Teacher Efficacy Impacts Student Achievement
As a result of the expanding field of educational research, we now know more than ever about what does and does not influence student learning and achievement. And, because Dr. John Hattie wanted not only to know what works and doesn’t work, but what works BEST, we have an answer! As I write this, Collective […]
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Professional Development as an Instructional Leader: All for One and One for All!
As a presenter, there have been a number of times where the principal introduces me, and stays for 15 minutes before heading back to the office. He or she might show up to check in before lunch or may never come back because their office paperwork calls. I have also presented in situations in which all the administrators, […]
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Performance Tasks Bring Learning to Life
If you are trying to create a balanced assessment system with a combination of formative and summative assessments, don’t dismiss the use of performance tasks. Performance tasks could be considered the “jack of all trades.” They can be used as learning experiences, formative assessments, or as summative assessments and performance tasks can enhance student learning […]
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How to Focus on Student Learning in Your Classroom
In the fall of 2016 my book Designing and Using Performance Tasks was published. It had been a big undertaking for me with a number of struggles along the way. However, once it was published, I was proud of what I had accomplished. I had a number of “aha” moments as a result of the tremendous […]
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Be an instructional leader, focus on student learning
When it comes to student learning, leadership matters. In fact, leadership is only second in line behind classroom instruction among aspects that play a part in what students learn at school. Twenty-five percent of effects at a school are a result of leadership. However, some leaders are more effective than others. Some effective leaders can […]
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