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Unmistakable Impact
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Unmistakable Impact
A Partnership Approach for Dramatically Improving Instruction

Foreword by Michael Fullan

Additional resources:


November 2010 | 336 pages | Corwin

A focused approach to school improvement that hits the mark

A staggering amount of evidence shows that our schools are not as effective as they should be, and they are working toward improvement. This book simplifies the process for becoming an Impact School through targeted, consistent professional learning that is done with teachers, not to teachers. Award-winning author Jim Knight describes how to translate staff members’ joy of learning into high-leverage practices that achieve dramatic student outcomes. Characteristics of Impact Schools include

  • A focused, clearly defined improvement plan that takes into account the complexity of teaching and learning relationships
  • A school culture that encourages enrollment in ongoing professional development
  • Alignment of purpose and actions among all staff members

Helpful resources include tangible tools and reproducibles for use by principals, workshop leaders, professional learning communities, and instructional coaches. When everyone learns, every student receives excellent instruction every day in every class. Unmistakable Impact provides the roadmap to remarkable results.


 
Foreword by Michael Fullan
 
Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Author
 
1. Impact Schools
The Best Jobs

 
The Failure of the American School System

 
Unmistakable Impact

 
Core Concepts of an Impact School

 
What You Will Find in This Book

 
To Sum Up

 
Going Deeper

 
 
2. Partnership
Helping Others

 
Partnership: The Theory Behind Impact Schools

 
Equality: Professional Learning With Teachers Rather Than Training Done to Teachers

 
Choice: Teachers Should Have Choice Regarding What and How They Learn

 
Voice: Professional Learning Should Empower and Respect the Voices of Teachers

 
Reflection: Reflection Is an Integral Part of Professional Learning

 
Dialogue: Professional Learning Should Enable Authentic Dialogue

 
Praxis: Teachers Should Apply Their Learning to Their Real-Life Practice as They Are Learning

 
Reciprocity: We Should Expect to Get as Much as We Give

 
To Sum Up

 
Going Deeper

 
 
3. Principals
Leading Schools and the Partnership Principles

 
Principals as Designers

 
The Target

 
The Big Four

 
Creating the Target

 
Observing and Monitoring Teacher Progress

 
Principals as First Learners

 
Making It All Happen

 
Getting Support From Central Office

 
To Sum Up

 
Going Deeper

 
 
4. Instructional Coaching
Partnership

 
Partnering With Administrators

 
Workshops and Intensive Learning Teams

 
Components of Coaching

 
Who Should Be a Coach

 
To Sum Up

 
Going Deeper

 
 
5. Workshops That Make an Impact
Take the Partnership Approach

 
Address the Impact Factors

 
Use Effective Design

 
Apply Learning to Real Life

 
Deliver the Message Powerfully

 
Connect With the Audience

 
Walk the Talk

 
Keep the Energy High

 
Use Dialogue Architectures

 
Tell Stories

 
To Sum Up

 
Going Deeper

 
 
6. Intensive Learning Teams
The Challenge

 
Partnership Principles

 
Address Impact Factors

 
Partnership Facilitation

 
Intensive Learning Teams

 
To Sum Up

 
Going Deeper

 
 
7. Partnership Communication
Partnership Principles and Communication

 
Listening

 
Good Questions

 
Finding Common Ground

 
Controlling Difficult Emotions

 
Love Your Partners

 
To Sum Up

 
Going Deeper

 
 
Final Thoughts
 
Resource A: Impact Toolkit
Administrator Resources

 
Big Four Observation Tools

 
Teacher Progress Map (TPM) Resources

 
Coach Resources: What Coaches Do

 
Additional Tools

 
Intensive Learning Teams

 
 
Resource B: Research
Research on Coaching

 
Research on Workshops

 
Research on Intensive Learning Teams

 
 
References and Further Readings
 
Index

Supplements

Supplemental Resources Website
This companion website houses PDF versions of the tools contained in Resource A – the Impact Toolkit. Designed for easy download, use these tools in your meetings and PD sessions.

"Unmistakable Impact exemplifies everything Jim Knight advocates: a clear focus, respect for educators’ significant contributions, and the value that well-designed professional learning contributes to school improvement efforts."

Dennis Sparks, Former Executive Director
Learning Forward

"A must read for anyone who cares about learning, this book is from the heart. Knight uses his own experiences to describe processes and strategies for impacting student and adult learning in today’s schools."

Sandee Crowther, President
Phi Delta Kappa International

“Jim Knight's work has had a tremendous impact on the quality of our professional development practices that that are job-embedded and meet the REAL needs of our teachers. He is a consummate relationship builder who models how to establish the types of relationships necessary for second-order change to occur."

Carolyn J. Teigland, Associate Superintendent for Education Services
Cecil County Public Schools, Elkton, MD

"Jim Knight outlines a clear path to success for educators to make sense out of the complex nature of external mandates, competing initiatives and prevailing traditional models found within many schools and districts around the nation."

Ken Geisick, Superintendent
Riverbank Unified School District, CA

"Unmistakable Impact takes us deeper into the realm of grounded school improvement—a great contribution to the field."

Michael Fullan, Professor and Author
University of Toronto, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Centre for Teacher Development

“Jim Knight helps us to understand how learning can be infectious, energizing, and humanizing as he eloquently delineates the steps involved in creating an impact school. I suggest buying this book for all principals who want to strengthen their schools. I believe that Unmistakable Impact will be a resource they return to time and again."

Stephanie Hirsh, Executive Director
Learning Forward, Dallas, TX

"The book introduces the reader to the theoretical framework, strategies, structure and findings from qualitative studies on instructional coaching to explain how partnership learning supports effective instruction and student achivement."

Susan Farber, University of Cincinnati
Education Review

Sample Materials & Chapters

Foreword by Michael Fullan

Preface


For instructors

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ISBN: 9781452239491

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