School improvement programs : a handbook for educational leaders /

In a search for methods of group instruction as effective as one-to-one instruction, this volume intends to help school leaders both understand and make use of major research-based school improvement programs. Of the three sections, the first is a rationale for programmatic improvement and change. Section 2, packed with insights, data, and innovations, provides in-depth, varied descriptions of school improvement from the recent past. The programs identified are intended to stimulate educators to think about programs and innovations that can supplement or complement a school improvement plan "whose whole is more than the sum of its individual programmatic parts." Section 3 offers loose guidelines for selecting and integrating programs into a particular school situation--i.e., for managing planned change. If based on "firmly grounded" programmatic research, informed and thoughtful decisions about each program can be made. This source has the potential to create genuine change in learning, teaching, and schooling. It is an important addition to the literature. General; upper-division undergraduate through faculty. R. C. Morris; West Georgia College