The first comprehensive history of America’s controversial national anthem and how it evolved from an English barroom ballad into a patriotic hit.Nearly every American knows The Star-Spangled Banner, the national anthem of the United States of America. Yet many people dislike the song, contend that it glorifies militarism, and question its suitability as the musical embodiment of nationhood. Even professional vocalists have trouble singing the multi-octave...

This one-of-a-kind collection of chapters takes the reader on a tour to explore innovative practices from classrooms, schools, districts, communities, and faraway places in the world. Each of the chapters-organized under six headings-tells an authentic, compelling story of a pioneering and successful initiative that breaks the traditional mold of instructional delivery and time-honored school organization. Breaking the Mold of School Instruction and Organization guides readers thr...

Clay Christensen's groundbreaking bestselling work in education now updated and expanded, including a new chapter on Christensen's seminal "Jobs to Be Done" theory applied to education."Provocatively titled, Disrupting Class is just what America's K-12 education system needs--a well thought-through proposal for using technology to better serve students and bring our schools into the 21st Century. Unlike so many education 'reforms,' this is not small-bore stuff. For t...

"A rich, much-needed remedy for the standardized institutions that comprise too much of our school system today… ideal for teachers and parents intent on resurrecting and fostering students' inherent drive to learn…An essential resource."-Daniel H. Pink, author of DRIVE and A WHOLE NEW MIND“Schools that Learn is a magnificent, grand book that pays equal attention to the small and the big picture - and what's more integrates them. There is no book on educatio...

Take your professional learning community to the next level! Discover a systemwide approach for re-envisioning your PLC while sustaining growth and continuing momentum on your journey. You’ll move beyond isolated pockets of excellence while allowing every person in your school system—from teachers and administrators to students—the opportunity to be an instrument of lasting cultural change.

"What year are you preparing your students for? 1973? 1995? Can you honestly say that your school's curriculum and the program you use are preparing your students for 2015 or 2020? Are you even preparing them for today?"With those provocative questions, author and educator Heidi Hayes Jacobs launches a powerful case for overhauling, updating, and injecting life into the K-12 curriculum. Sharing her expertise as a world-renowned curriculum designer and calling upon the collective wi...

This anthology introduces the Framework for 21st Century Learning from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills as a way to re-envision learning and prepare students for a rapidly evolving global and technological world. Highly respected education leaders and innovators focus on why these skills are necessary, which are most important, and how to best help schools include them in curriculum and instruction.

Despite the best efforts of educators, our nation's schools are dangerously obsolete. Instead of teaching students to be critical thinkers and problem-solvers, we are asking them to memorize facts for multiple choice tests. This problem isn't limited to low-income school districts: even our top schools aren't teaching or testing the skills that matter most in the global knowledge economy. Our teens leave school equipped to work only in the kinds of jobs that are fast disappearing from the ...

Are schools making the most of new technologies? Are they tapping into the learning potential of today’s Firefox/Facebook/cell phone generation? Allan Collins and Richard Halverson argue that the way computers have transformed our workplaces and lives can and should be adapted to transform American schooling. This groundbreaking book offers a vision for the future that goes well beyond the walls of the classroom to include online social networks, distance learning with &ldqu...

School improvement that lasts: find out how with this masterful guide!Common Core requirements, merit-based pay, new teacher evaluations, project-based learning—21st-century learning is a demanding and rapidly changing landscape. Advance from overwhelmed to empowered with Alan Blankstein’s Failure Is Not an Option, used by more than 350,000 educators to create schools that sustain success for every student.New case studies...

Like the bestselling first edition, this introductory textbook succinctly presents concepts and theories of educational leadership and organizational behavior and immediately applies them to problems of practice. The second edition includes a new chapter on organizational culture, expanded overage of organizational structure, systems, and leadership, and additional case studies and scenarios representing real problems of practice.

Twenty-six percent of parents everywhere consider home schooling for their children abetter option over normal public school classes. This is because of the benefits both the parents and the children get. Home schooling gives them the chance to interact on a personal level as no other system currently available. Take your child's education into your own hands.