Principals, Trust, and Cultivating Vibrant Schools

Although principals are ultimately held accountable to student learning in their buildings, the most consistent research results have suggested that their impact on student achievement is largely indirect. Leithwood, Patten, and Jantzi proposed four paths through which this indirect influence would flow, and the purpose of this special issue is to examine in greater depth these mediating variables. Among mediating variables, we assert that trust is key. In this paper, we explore the evidence that points to the role that faculty trust in the principal plays in student learning and how principals can cultivate trust by attending to the five facets of trust, as well as the correlates of trust that mediate student learning, including academic press, collective teacher efficacy, and teacher professionalism. We argue that trust plays a role in each of the four paths identified by Leithwood, Patten, and Jantzi. Finally, we explore possible new directions for future research

Assessing Deeper Learning: Developing, Implementing, and Scoring Performance Tasks

Deeper learning has been defined as “the skills and knowledge that students must possess to succeed in 21st century jobs and civic life” (William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, 2013). Assessing Deeper Learning: Developing, Implementing, and Scoring Performance Tasks examines the role of performance assessment to facilitate student attainment of the core competencies of deeper learning. The book details a journey that a large school district undertook to create a system of performance tasks designed to assess students’ proficiency in critical thinking, problem solving, and effective communication. Chapters devoted to the development and implementation of the district’s high-quality performance tasks and rubrics highlight successes and lessons learned during the journey. Additional chapters focus on such topics as types of performance assessments, instructional methods that promote student engagement and deeper learning, policy, and how teacher leaders can drive this innovation to serve the teaching, learning, assessment, and accountability needs of schools. Assessing Deeper Learning: Developing, Implementing, and Scoring Performance Tasks was written for teachers, administrators, superintendents, and policy makers to better understand the challenges and opportunities afforded by using performance assessment to promote deeper learning. [From Amazon.com]https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/efl_books/1011/thumbnail.jp

Teacher pay r teacher quality : Attracting, developing, r retaining the best teachers

xi, 185 p. : il.; 26 cm