Saving American schools is the most important task of our time. Our schools are in a state of emergency as technology grows and the cultural, social, and political landscapes shift. Producing graduates who are knowledgeable thinkers is more critical now than it ever has been if we are to compete on the world stage. Failure to address the crisis widens the achievement gap with disastrous effects:
- Students underperform and lose interest in education.
- Graduation rates decline.
- Disciplinary issues abound.
- Professionals disengage and only do enough to get by.
- Dedicated teachers leave the profession in frustration.
- Parents become enraged that the "system" has failed their children.
There is a new guard in modern educational thought. The ideas for how to fix our ever-growing problems are not coming from the top, from administrators, principals, and curriculum writers. They are coming from the frontline educators: the teachers themselves. These brave souls "on the ground" in the fight to save our schools offer a unique perspective on the solutions we crave.
In this book, the authors explore how to establish and maintain a Professional Learning Community (PLC) where teachers lead. They cover:
- Empowering teachers to lead the school community.
- Mentoring and training paradigms that work.
- Starting and running a PLC.
- How to collaborate toward practices that work.
PLCs are the most effective and innovative tool of our era to accomplish student achievement. This powerful solution sits at the heart of a collaborative effort that brings all of the stakeholders in education together. When teachers feel empowered to impact the learning environment in meaningful ways, they become electrified about their role, incentivized to increase their knowledge, and inspired to reach every student, producing schools filled with students who are fully engaged and excited to learn.
The age of toxic school cultures is over. It has been replaced by one filled with energy and promise. Get your copy of "Set Your Team on Fire" and one for every educator, principal, superintendent, and district leader you know. Better school cultures create environments where students and teachers want to be and where kids learn.
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