Innovation in Odds-Beating Schools: Exemplars for Getting Better at Getting Better

Three policy innovations at the heart of this book – the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), new Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR), and data driven instruction (DDI) provide a timely opportunity to join school and district improvement and policy implementation research with improvement science. This book is not just a collection of findings about odds-beating schools (those with higher than predicted student performance trends and higher than average poverty and diversity) and their journeys to implement these innovations. It also provides timely perspectives regarding policy innovations and how they might disrupt practice in desirable or undesirable ways. This book offers readers insight into how educators at every boundary—classroom, school, and district interact to make meaning of innovations, both individually and collectively; and also how their meanings and values influence innovation implementation outcomes. The story includes details how policy innovations were tailored to school and district office priorities; the features of these schools’ structures, climates, and routines that were conducive to implementation; and how these innovations were able to penetrate the classroom boundaries.

Table of Contents:
Foreword Preface Acknowledgements 1. Schools as Innovation-Ready Learning Organizations Kristen Campbell Wilcox, Hal A. Lawson, Janet Ives Angelis 2. A Climate of Trust Janet Ives Angelis, Karen Gregory, Francesca T. Durand 3. Reciprocal Communications Francesca T. Durand 4. Alignment and Coherence Sarah J. Zuckerman, Hal A. Lawson, Kristen Campbell Wilcox 5. Readiness for Innovation Francesca T. Durand, Hal A. Lawson 6. Instructional Adaptation Kristen Campbell Wilcox 7. Whole Child Wellness and Positive Youth Development Karen Gregory, Kristen Campbell Wilcox, Hal A. Lawson 8. Odds Beaters as Exemplars Hal A. Lawson, Kristen Campbell Wilcox, Janet Ives Angelis 9. The Sample and the Schools Kathryn S. Schiller, Janet Ives Angelis About the Authors

About the Author :
Kristen Campbell Wilcox has published widely on systems approaches to school improvement and culturally responsive pedagogies that support diverse learners’ success in school. Her research focuses, in particular, on cross-school and -district practices and policies that affect students’ experiences and learning opportunities in the classroom. Hal Lawson’s publishedresearch regularly crosses boundaries between education, social welfare, and public health. This interdisciplinary approach reflects his long-standing interest in vulnerable, diverse children who need new school designs because they reside in challenging places. Janet Angelis began her career in the classroom and has devoted the major part of it to linking the worlds of research and practice. She has authored or coauthored numerous articles for practitioners, researchers, and the public, including three books.

Review :
With this volume, three equity-minded researchers cut through the sometimes confusing marketplace of school improvement stories to shine new light on what makes odds-beating schools work. The authors show what these schools do and draw on rich research to explain why those schools beat the odds. This practical scholarship can help educational leaders of all stripes understand how to lead for true systemic change on behalf of our nation’s traditionally underserved and most vulnerable students. In countries across the world, schools struggle to raise the achievements of students from economically poor backgrounds. What this book demonstrates conclusively, however, is that demography need not be destiny. Some schools serving disadvantaged populations can and do beat the odds for their students. In this searching study, Wilcox and her colleagues demonstrate precisely how they do this and how other schools can learn from their work. Their findings have major implications for school leaders and policy makers in the US - but also in many other countries where educational equity is an issue. The researchers provide not only exemplars of odds-beating schools during implementation of the Common Core but also inspiration to educators in schools with high percentages of disadvantaged students. This new research delivers an impactful resource that can be leveraged to bring clarity to efforts to ensure equitable learning opportunities and possibilities for success for diverse learning populations.