Failure Is Not an Option: 6 Principles That Advance Student Achievement in Highly Effective Schools

School improvement that lasts: find out how with this masterful guide! Common Core requirements, merit-based pay, new teacher evaluations, project-based learning—21st-century learning is a demanding and rapidly changing landscape. Advance from overwhelmed to empowered with Alan Blankstein’s Failure Is Not an Option, used by more than 350,000 educators to create schools that sustain success for every student. New case studies and field-tested techniques uncover indispensable insights into successful school change. Develop high-performing leadership teams through Powerful engagement strategies and capacity-building questions to help staff and students leverage what’s working and target measurable goals New real-world examples to help stakeholders maintain collaborative cultures in the face of new teacher evaluations and merit pay, sustain successful RTI and Common Core initiatives, thrive in diverse settings, and promote community engagement New tools, forms, and video segments on a companion website Use this handbook to discover what makes results-oriented, enduring school improvement models work! Praise for the Second Edition: "An overwhelming body of research shows that educational change and improvement must come from the inside. Here is a practical road map for improving the climate and culture of schools in ways that are meaningful and enduring. We must be open to new ideas, new strategies, and new opportunities. School transformation is something you do with educators, not to them. This book will show you how." —Dennis Van Roekel, President National Education Association

Table of Contents:
List of Resources Foreword by Pedro A. Noguera Preface Acknowledgments About the Author Chapter 1. Why Failure Is Not an Option Chapter 2. Courageous Leadership for School Success Chapter 3. 10 Common Routes to Failure, and How to Avoid Each Chapter 4. Relational Trust as Foundation for the Learning Community Chapter 5. Principle 1: Common Mission, Vision, Values and Goals Chapter 6. Principle 2: Ensuring Achievement for All Students: Systems for Prevention and Intervention Chapter 7. Principle 3: Collaborative Teaming Focused on Teaching for Learning Chapter 8. Principle 4: Data-Based Decision Making for Continuous Improvement Chapter 9. Principle 5: Gaining Active Engagement from Family and Community by Alan M. Blankstein and Pedro A. Noguera Chapter 10. Principle 6: Building Sustainable Leadership Capacity by Alan M. Blankstein with Andy Hargreaves and Dean Fink Conclusion Resources Book Group Discussion Questions References and Further Readings Index

About the Author :
Award-winning author and educational leader, Alan Blankstein served for 25 years as President of the HOPE Foundation, which he founded and whose honorary chair is Nobel Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu. A former “high-risk” youth, Alan began his career in education as a music teacher. He worked for Phi Delta Kappa, March of Dimes, and Solution Tree, which he founded in 1987 and directed for 12 years while launching Professional Learning Communities beginning in the late 1980s. He is the author of the best-selling book Failure Is Not an Option®: Six Principles That Guide Student Achievement in High-Performing Schools, which received the Book of the Year award from Learning Forward. Alan is Senior Editor, lead contributor, and/or author of 18 books, including Excellence Through Equity with Pedro Noguera,.  He also authored some 20 articles in leading education print including Education Week, Educational Leadership, The Principal, and Executive Educator. Alan has provided keynote presentations and workshops for virtually every major U.S. Ed Org, and throughout the UK, Africa, and the Middle East.  Alan has served on the Harvard International Principals Centers advisory board, and the Jewish Child Care Agency, where he once was a youth in residence.