The SC School Improvement Council Office recently received a gift of a number of copies of Steven Constantino’s well-regarded book entitled Engaging All Families – Creating a Positive School Culture by Putting Research into Practice. This is a valuable tool for local SIC members who want to learn more about developing and implementing effective family engagement strategies in their schools. Family engagement, essential to achieving positive change in school culture, is often neglected or treated as an afterthought. Dr. Constantino’s book bridges the gap between academic research and actual practice by providing school leaders with “a recipe book” for effectively engaging families in schools. While supplies last, we are offering one free copy per SIC upon request.
In his new book, The Influence of Teachers, author and journalist John Merrow presents a series of short essays reflecting on the current debate among public education professionals, policy makers and the public on how to successfully educate our nation’s children.
The first section of the book focuses on the importance of teachers and addresses issues such as what makes good teachers, how to prepare good teachers, and to evaluate and pay good teachers. The second section concentrates primarily on leadership in public education and includes, for example, reflections on the differing leadership styles of school superintendents Michelle Rhee in Washington, DC, and Paul Vallas in New Orleans. Merrow concludes with a brief essay that summarizes his hopes and suggestions for an educational system that is able to meet the needs of 21st century students.
Merrow skillfully uses stories drawn from his early teaching experiences and his 30 years of reporting on education for public broadcasting to flesh out the arguments made by the various sides of these often fiercely debated issues. By infusing these discussions with the richness and complexity of real life, Merrow is able to provide valuable insights that do not fit neatly into any particular or predictable ideological box.
Building Better Schools by Engaging Support Staff
by Sam Bartlett and Vie Herlocker
This book was written in recognition of the fact that school support staff, including office staff, cafeteria staff, custodial staff, and bus drivers, not only play a key role in creating a safe and caring environment in which children learn – they are also among the most important school ambassadors to the surrounding community. Drawn from “Sizzling Customer Service” presentations delivered to schools around the country by motivational speaker and co-author Sam Bartlett, the book is organized in short chapters, each of which focuses on one of the skills essential to becoming an engaged support staff member such as effective communication, conflict management, goal setting, time management, maintaining confidentiality, adjusting to change, and creating “bridges of goodwill” with students and the community. The chapters include suggested strategies to develop these skills and weave into the discussion real life stories of support staff who have made a difference in their schools through the use of these skills. The book concludes with a “Hall of Engaged Ambassadors” that profiles in more detail the lives and stories of the 21 support staff referenced throughout the book.
This book will be helpful to both school support staff and school administrators who seek to elevate the status of support staff and to align the work of support staff with that of teachers and administrators toward the greater goal of improving student academic achievement and success.
While supplies last, SC-SIC is offering one free copy of this book to requesting SICs.