Assn/Supervision & Curric. Dev.

The art and science of teaching; a comprehensive framework for effective instruction.

Consultant Marzano (also education, Cardinal Stritch U.) understands that classroom teachers strive to use instructional strategies based on sound science and research, but have difficulty choosing one of the many theories and applications currently available and also cannot always tailor a theory or application to meet the needs of an individual student. He presents a model teachers can use on the spot to diagnose needs and ask appropriate questions of themselves, starting with what they can do to establish and communicate learning goals, track student progress and celebrate success. Other model-questions address helping students deepen their understanding of new knowledge, engaging students, establishing and maintaining classroom rules and procedures, communicating expectations and organizing lessons into a cohesive unit. The result is a strong self-study guide along with a good text for inservice or discussion groups. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Checking for understanding; formative assessment techniques for your classroom.

Fisher (language and literacy education, San Diego U.) and Frey (literacy, San Diego State U.) outline how to increase students' understanding of material through creative formative assessments, such as using oral language, questions, interactive writing, projects and performances, tests, and common assessments and consensus scoring. Examples by students are given. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Edspeak; a glossary of education terms, phrases, buzzwords, and jargon.

Do you know the proper name of the bingo-like game bored teachers play at staff meetings and in-service workshops? Do you think you have a "critical friend," ("critical," not "imaginary") and if so, is he or she supposed to be on your side? Ravitch (education, New York U.) explains it all in this compendium of terms from the strictly professional to the downright weird and helps veterans as well as novices negotiate not only every course and seminar but daily teaching life as well. Along with the many iterations of "fluent" and the mysteries embedded in educational software. Ravitch gives brief biographies of leading lights in education, the latest on such issues as prayer in schools and testing, and solid advice on the precise usage of concepts, words or phrases. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The essentials of world languages, grades K-12; effective curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

Jensen (New Jersey Dept. of Education) along with Paul Sandrock (Wisconsin Dept. of Public Instruction) and John Franklin (formerly managing editor and project manager at ASCD) offer educators and policymakers a concise text in support of the development of well-articulated K-12 second-language programs in the U.S. Coverage includes an overview of the field, realistic expectations for second-language proficiency, reinventing the instructional environment to enable meaningful second-language communication, designing curriculum via assessment targets, the role of supervisors and curriculum coordinators, and a look forward to creating a workable language curriculum to prepare students for the 21st-century business world. The text also contains a list of resource organizations and websites, and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Performance Guidelines for K-12 Learners. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Leading effective meetings, teams, and work groups in districts and schools.

Jennings, the assistant superintendent of schools for the Berkeley Heights (New Jersey) Public School System, offers an overview of the research on collaboration and what it means for educators. He provides guidelines on fostering collaboration in school districts and schools, for everything from a simple school faculty meeting to a complex district-level task force. Step-by-step guidelines walk through designing and facilitating meetings and avoiding and resolving conflicts. The guide is filled with checklists, questionnaires, forms, and rubrics for designing, implementing, and assessing work groups and teaching teams. The author is an adjunct professor at Rutgers University. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Schooling by design; mission, action, and achievement.

Consultants Wiggins and McTighe expand on their previous work on frameworks for curriculum, instruction and assessment by applying their precepts to school reform in general. They advocate developing and relentlessly focusing on the long-term mission of school, which is to enable learners to demonstrate understanding and mature habits of mind; creating a curriculum and assessment framework that supports the mission and ensures that instruction is more than skin deep; using principles of learning that support all decisions about pedagogy and planning; setting structures, policies, job descriptions, practices and uses of resources consistent with the mission and learning principles; using an overall strategy that includes ongoing feedback and adjustment; and developing a set of tactics linked to strategy. They provide examples, including course-level frameworks and reproducible action plans. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Tests that teach; using standardized tests to improve instruction.

Tankersley (Arizona State U., West Campus, Phoenix) is an education consultant with 28 years of experience in the public school system, as a teacher, principal, and district superintendent. She offers educators a guide to helping students apply the skills they are learning as independent and deep thinkers so that assessments truly measure daily instruction. The text covers all core content areas — language arts, social studies, math, and science — and respects all levels of student performance. By teaching students the skills they need to do well on constructed-response tests they will be prepared to do well on state and national tests, and function as thoughtful and organized thinkers in a rapidly changing, competitive society. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Using technology with classroom instruction that works.

This guide describes ways to use technology in the classroom, keyed to the nine categories of instructional strategies presented in Classroom Instruction That Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement (2001). Each chapter begins with an overview of the strategy and gives recommendations for using the strategy in the classroom, then provides specific examples of technologies that support the strategy. All chapters include teacher- and student-created examples, many of which reflect actual lessons plans, projects, and technology products. Directions for the use of hardware and software have been kept to a minimum, so that the book can be used as a practical guide, not a procedural manual. The guide concludes with advice for planning technology in the classroom, and includes a lesson plan template. Pitler is director of educational technology for a private sector organization. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)