Leadership Lessons from Comprehensive School Reforms

"Leadership Lessons From Comprehensive School Reform addresses a topic that has received far too little attention in the comprehensive school reform movement: the role of school and district leaders in the reform process. This volume shows how much we′ve learned about how leaders shape comprehensive reform and how the reform process must shape leadership." Robert Slavin, Co-Director Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk Johns Hopkins University "This volume provides the most thorough, balanced, and informative source available on comprehensive school reform. In addition to insights regarding implementation of many of the most prominent CSR models, the book is a primer on ′distributed leadership,′ providing perspectives on the interplay of principals, teacher leaders, central office administrators and model developers engaged in school and district reform." James Lytle, Superintendent Trenton, New Jersey Public Schools "This book offers well-grounded insights about the leadership practices of educators involved in the implementation of Comprehensive School Reform models. Leaders and leadership scholars will find it a rewarding read. I recommend it highly." Kenneth Leithwood Ontario Institute for Studies in Education Ontario, Canada Discover what we′ve learned about educational leadership from comprehensive school reforms models—straight from the experts and insiders! Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) is proving to be one of the most promising avenues for improving student achievement. The authors have found that leadership is frequently acknowledged to be a prime factor in the successful implementation of comprehensive school reform. Murphy and Datnow have gathered together a group of CSR insiders and researchers to examine the issue of leadership in CSR for the first time. Contributors and CSR models include: Expeditionary Learning Schools Modern Red Schoolhouse Co-Nect Success for All New American Schools Chicago Annenberg Challenge Bay Area School Reform Collaborative Accelerated Schools Coalition of Essential Schools Comer School Development Process

Table of Contents:
About the Editors About the Contributors Preface Part I: Setting the Stage 1. The Development of Comprehensive School Reform - Joseph Murphy and Amanda Datnow Part II: New American Schools Designs 2. Expeditionary Learning Schools: Tenacity, Leadership and School Reform - Greg Farrell 3. The Modern Red Schoolhouse: Leadership in Comprehensive School Reform Initiatives - Sally B. Kilgore and James D. Jones 4. Co-nect: Purpose, Accountability, and School Leadership - Bruce Goldberg and Donald M. Morrison 5. The Accelerated Schools Project: Can a Leader Change the Culture and Embed Reform? - Christine Finnan and James Meza, Jr. 6. New American Schools: District and School Leadership for Whole-School Reform - Mark Berends, Susan Bodilly, and Sheila Nataraj Kirby Part III: Annenberg Challenge Initiatives 7. The Chicago Annenberg Challenge: Lessons on Leadership for School Development - Mark A. Smylie, Stacy A. Wenzel, and Carol R. Fendt 8. The Bay Area School Reform Collaborative: Building the Capacity to Lead - Michael Aaron Copland Part IV: Other National Comprehensive School Reform Designs 9. Success for All: District and School Leadership - Amanda Datnow and Marisa Castellano 10. The Coalition of Essential Schools: Leadership for Putting the Common Principles into Practice - Peter M. Hall and Peggy L. Placier 11. The Comer School Development Process: Developing Leadership in Urban Schools - Charles M. Payne and John B. Diamond Part V: Conclusion 12. Leadership Lessons from Comprehensive School Reform Designs - Joseph Murphy and Amanda Datnow Index

About the Author :
Joseph F. Murphy is the Frank W. Mayborn Chair and associate dean at Peabody College of Education at Vanderbilt University. He has also been a faculty member at the University of Illinois and The Ohio State University, where he was the William Ray Flesher Professor of Education. In the public schools, he has served as an administrator at the school, district, and state levels, including an appointment as the executive assistant to the chief deputy superintendent of public instruction in California. His most recent appointment was as the founding president of the Ohio Principals Leadership Academy. At the university level, he has served as department chair and associate dean. He is past vice president of the American Educational Research Association and was the founding chair of the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC). He is co-editor of the AERA Handbook on Educational Administration (1999) and editor of the National Society for the Study of Education (NSSE) yearbook, The Educational Leadership Challenge (2002). His work is in the area of school improvement, with special emphasis on leadership and policy. He has authored or co-authored 18 books in this area and edited another 12. His most recent authored volumes include Understanding and Assessing the Charter School Movement (2002), Leadership for Literacy: Research-Based Practice, PreK-3 (2003), Connecting Teacher Leadership and School Improvement (2005), Preparing School Leaders: Defining a Research and Action Agenda (2006), and Turning Around Failing Schools: Lessons From the Organizational Sciences.

Review :
"Leadership Lessons From Comprehensive School Reforms addresses a topic that has received far too little attention in the comprehensive school reform movement: the role of school and district leaders in the reform process. This volume shows how much we’ve learned about how leaders shape comprehensive reform and how the reform process must shape leadership." "This volume provides the most thorough, balanced, and informative source available on comprehensive school reform. In addition to insights regarding implementation of many of the most prominent CSR models, the book is a primer on ‘distributed leadership,’ providing perspectives on the interplay of principals, teacher leaders, central office administrators and model developers engaged in school and district reform." "This book offers well-grounded insights about the leadership practices of >educateeducators involved in the implementation of Comprehensive School >Reform models. Leaders and leadership scholars >will find it a rewarding read. I recommend it highly." "Leadership Lessons from Comprehensive School Reforms provides a blend of scholarly thought and practical anecdotes on the role of leadership in school reform. Each chapter stands alone as a powerful example of the vision, planning, and commitment of the reform effort."