Managing to Change: How Schools Can Survive (and Sometimes Thrive) in Turbulent Times

Hatch, Thomas

ISBN 10: 0807749664 / ISBN 13: 9780807749661

Published by Teachers College Press, 2009

Pages are clean and are not marred by notes or folds of any kind. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0807749664I2N00

Synopsis:

This book shows how school improvement efforts are often undermined by the changing conditions around schools, as well as by some of the very policies and programs designed to help them make improvements. Hatch argues that schools cannot wait around for conditions to improve or for policymakers to figure out how to provide the “right” support. Schools need to create the conditions for their own success. To help them accomplish that, the author describes a small set of key practices that schools can use to get resources, manage external demands, and build their capacity to make and sustain improvements over time. Drawing on the stories of real schools, this important book: Explains why even schools that have strong principals, committed teachers, and involved parents continue to struggle while other schools can get by even without displaying the usual features of effectiveness. Provides practical strategies to help schools take advantage of opportunities and respond to pressures in the external environment. Explains why some of the usual solutions to improving schools—like increasing pressure on low-performing schools, scaling-up programs, and school choice—don’t seem to be working the way they are supposed to. Offers a vision of the work that needs to be done at both the local and national level to support school improvement on a wider scale.

About the Author:

Thomas Hatch is an associate professor at Teachers College, Columbia University and Codirector of the National Center for Restructuring Education, Schools, and Teaching (NCREST). His books include the coedited volume Going Public with Our Teaching: An Anthology of Practice.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Managing to Change: How Schools Can Survive ...
Publisher: Teachers College Press
Publication Date: 2009
Binding: Paperback
Condition: As New
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket