Corwin Schoolwide Action Research for Professional Learning Communities: Improving Student Learning Through The Whole-Faculty Study Groups Approach

Foster a schoolwide learning environment with this action research model! This resource takes a close look at how schoolwide action research can support school change and improved student achievement. The authors discuss steps for implementing the schoolwide action research process, describe what the approach looks like in action, and show readers how: the schoolwide action-research process works in primary, middle or secondary schools; study groups move from discussion to action that improves teacher practice; head teachers and district leaders can support schoolwide action research. Review "Clearly shows the success that can occur when a staff learns together. I highly recommend this book to aspiring and beginning principals, as well as those with years of experience." -- Paul Young, Executive Director, West After School Center Published On: 2008-01-24 "Whole-Faculty Study Groups (WFSGs) have proven to be an effective vehicle for job-embedded professional learning in our district. We will be using this new resource to take us to the next level!" -- Anita Kissinger, Executive Director, Quality and Development Published On: 2008-02-07 "Clauset, Lick, and Murphy get to the heart of continuous improvement and closing the knowing-doing gap with this powerful tool." -- Susan Zook, Associate Superintendent Published On: 2008-02-07 "What a fantastic tool to ensure that districts will be successful in increasing student performance and implementing academic school improvement! The authors have used their understanding of the current issues in education to provide school districts with comprehensive guidelines that will guarantee success for schools involved in action research using data to improve student learning." -- Cinde Wendell, Superintendent Published On: 2008-04-08 "Imagine the impact when every teacher, principal, and central office administrator participates in a small group that focuses on increasing student achievement. The schoolwide action research program described in this book is not mere reform―results are nothing less than transformational." -- From the Foreword by Bert L’Homme Published On: 2008-07-16 About the Author Karl H. Clauset is director of the National WFSG Center. He is an experienced school improvement coach and Whole-Faculty Study Group® trainer. Since 1999 he has helped more than ninety elementary, middle and high schools launch WFSG and has supported the schools through the implementation phase. He was the lead author, with Dale Lick and Carlene Murphy, for Schoolwide Action Research for Professional Learning Communities: Improving Student Learning Through the Whole-Faculty Study Groups Approach (Corwin Press, 2008), which focuses on the collaborative work teacher teams do to improve their teaching and increase student learning. He is also a senior consultant with Focus on Results and works with principals, school leadership teams, and central office staff to help them align and strengthen efforts to improve teaching and learning. Previously, he worked as a site developer with ATLAS Learning Communities, a nationally recognized school reform program, and in standards-based reform and international education development at the Education Development Center. In his earlier careers in education, he was a teacher and administrator at the Jakarta International School in Indonesia, and taught in secondary schools in Philadelphia, Zambia and Tanzania. He received a national award from ASCD for the outstanding dissertation in supervision for his doctoral dissertation on the dynamics of effective schooling. As a faculty member at the Boston University School of Education, he taught graduate courses in educational policy analysis, organizational analysis, and planning. Before moving to western Washington in 2003, he served as an elected school board member and board chair for six years in his Massachusetts community. Dale W. Lick is President and Professor Emeritus at