Solution Tree Press

Communicating & connecting with social media.

The authors believe that public schools cannot continue to overlook the benefits of social media. Their guide for K-8 administrators focuses on integrating social media into communication and professional development; schools can start using social media in these areas right away without violating current district policies about communicating with students beyond the school day. The book concentrates on using Twitter to build the school's brand and as a tool for building a personal learning network, with a review of other resources such as LinkedIn, blogs, wikis, and Facebook. Each section closes with next-step activities and numerous reproducibles. In addition to surveys, parent letters, tracking and evaluation forms, rubrics, and planning sheets, there are also reproducible explanations of social media tools to give to various stakeholders. The book also includes an annotated list of ten websites, books, Twitter feeds, and Diigo collections for learning more about social media. Ferriter is a sixth grade teacher who offers professional development courses in social media technology. Co-author Jason Ramsden is chair of the North Carolina Association of Independent Schools' Commission On Technology. Co-author Eric Sheninger is the media-savvy principal of New Milford High School. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Embedded formative assessment.

William, an educational assessment consultant, presents simple, practical changes every teacher can make in the classroom and shows how these changes will result in improved outcomes for students. He explains that previous attempts at reform went wrong because they didn't take into account the most important variable — teacher quality. He shows why some popular initiatives, such as learning styles, have had no effect on student achievement. He summarizes research proving that classroom formative assessment practices have a greater impact on educational achievement, and describes five practical strategies of formative assessment: clarifying learning intentions, finding out what students know, providing feedback, cooperative learning, and self-regulated learning. William is former deputy director of the Institute of Education at the University of London. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Leaders of learning; how district, school, and classroom leaders improve student achievement.

This work emphasizes collaborative leadership at the district, principal, team, and individual levels, and advocates the professional learning community (PLC) as the best environment for great teaching and leading. The authors, veteran educators, describe the district's role in supporting the PLC process and the principal's role in leading a PLC. They outline the creation of the collaborative culture of a PLC and give ideas for developing a viable curriculum. There are also suggestions for ongoing monitoring of student learning, ensuring effective instruction, and responding when kids don't learn. Dufour received Illinois' Distinguished Educator award as a principal and the state's Award of Excellence as a superintendent. Marzano is an educational researcher. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Personal learning networks; using the power of connections to transform education.

The authors define personal learning networks (PLNs) as informal online networks for lifelong learning. With this guide, teachers and administrators will first learn how to create their own PLNs to become networked teachers, then use the book's step-by-step instructions to bring learning networks to the classroom and implement PLNs throughout the school. The book begins by making the case for transformation, then gives specific ideas for using tools such as Twitter, Diigo, Google Reader, blogs, and Facebook. It also gives advice on advocating for change at the school and district levels, finding funding, creating support structures and policies, and overcoming common objections. Richardson writes about online social learning networks and education in blogs, journals, and magazines. Mancabelli is an educational consultant, (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

RTI & differentiated reading in the K-8 classroom.

Bender, a former teacher and education professor at the U. of Georgia who writes and presents on differentiated and brain-compatible instruction, response to intervention, and classroom discipline, and Waller, a teacher, author, and presenter on technologies for new literacy, differentiated instruction, and thematic teaching, explain how general and special education teachers and other school staff can use response to intervention (RTI), differentiated instruction, and technology to teach elementary reading. They overview RTI in primary and elementary reading and give background on differentiated instruction models, then discuss a second model based on small-group learning center activities and new literacy technologies for the organization of universal screening data, including e-assessments. Further chapters cover differentiated techniques for early literacy; research on brain functioning; instruction and technology applications for content areas, including English learners; and immediate activities to facilitate a system and school-wide shift to this approach. Lists of websites and software are annotated. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Teaching for diversity; a guide to greater understanding, 3d ed.

García (education, U. of Nebraska-Lincoln) explores how to teach diverse students in general and also teach them to deal positively with diversity. He integrates the role of facilitative teachers with a developmental view of human diversity, first discussing broad concepts of schools, teaching, and learning: the definition of an American, how twentieth century immigration shaped the US, diversity and national unity and the educational system, the establishment of universal public education, culture and self-identity, prejudice, and sociocultural factors and the achievement gap. Specific instructional practices, classroom community building, and methods for curriculum development are then covered. Reorganized, this edition adds new information on the impact of non-white immigration on society and schools, the demographic shift in American life and schools, family diversity, and religious diversity in the US and Canada. It also has a new chapter on teacher and student-created curriculum materials that reflect local cultures, new reflection questions and interactive group exercises in each chapter, and updated resources. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Using formative assessment in the RTI framework.

This guide for teachers and administrators provides background, tools, and examples for assessing student needs and evaluating progress within a Response to Intervention (RTI) framework. No experience in using formative assessment and data collection and analysis is necessary to use the book. Part 1 explains basics of formative assessment and RTI and gives instructions for using assessment data to inform decision making. It offers a framework of teaching strategies, data collection and analysis, ongoing assessment, and evaluation of effective assessment and teaching practices. Part 2 describes various methods of administering formative assessments and dealing with the resulting data, with tips on feedback and reflection, checklists for learning in the RTI framework, rubrics as an assessment tool, and performance assessments. Burke is a professional development facilitator. Depka is assistant superintendent of education services for a school district in Wisconsin. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)