Instructor's Guide to Managing School Districts for High Performance

Teaching by the case method has the potential to affect profoundly the way that teachers, students, and professionals approach the learning process. This companion volume includes detailed teaching notes on each case in the coursebook, with an emphasis on making cases drawn from other disciplines relevant to education administrators. It also includes C. Roland Christensen's classic essay on teaching by the case method, ""The Premises and Practices of Discussion Teaching."" Both experienced instructors and those new to the case method will find this instructor's guide an invaluable resource.

About the Author :
Stacey M. Childress is a lecturer at Harvard Business School and a cofounder of the Public Education Leadership Project at Harvard University.Richard F. Elmore is the Gregory R. Anrig Professor of Educational Leadership at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.Allen S. Grossman, the MBA class of 1957 Professor of Management Practice at Harvard Business School, is a faculty cochair of the Public Education Leadership Project.Susan Moore Johnson is the Jerome T. Murphy Research Professor in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Review :
"This book of insightful case studies fills a void long felt by educational administrators in search of practical, real-world training tools. It will serve as a catalyst for the tough conversations district leaders need to have about achieving high-quality outcomes for all students. The Broad Center for the Management of School Systems has used many of these cases with great success, and we are excited that they are now compiled into a single collection." -- Dan Katzir, Managing Director, The Broad Foundation "This collaboration between the Harvard Business School and the Harvard Graduate School of Education provides a set of analytical tools to address the most complex and challenging issues facing urban public schools. The contemporary case studies document actual choices and constraints and point to patterns and similarities across organizations, from urban schools to corporate environments." -- Carol Johnson, Superintendent, Boston Public Schools "This set of case studies offers practitioners, policymakers, and scholars the opportunity to learn from the collective wisdom and real-life experiences of educational leaders involved in systemic transformation. Implementing coherent reform strategies designed to improve and sustain student performance often takes place in a vacuum. As a former urban superintendent, I believe that these selected educational case studies provide a compelling forum for shared experiential teaching and learning." -- Arlene Ackerman, Christian A. Johnson Professor of Outstanding Educational Practice, Teachers College, Columbia University "This volume is not a treatise about how schools and districts should work. Rather, it provides a deep immersion in the real dilemmas involved in advancing school district reform. Anyone who works through these cases cannot help but come away with a more informed vision for change, a more reflective orientation about the interrelationships among the multiple tasks involved, and a more prudent grasp of what it takes to educate all children to high academic standards. The course of study presented by Managing School Districts for High Performance should be required professional education for anyone charged with advancing a coherent agenda of school improvement in our diverse, demanding, and rapidly changing society." -- Anthony S. Bryk, Spencer Professor of Organizational Studies, Stanford University