Inventing better schools - Phillip C. Schlechty

An in–the–trenches guide to leading and implementing educational reform.?All those committed to the hard work of initiating educational change and implementing significant school improvement will find Phil Schlechty's new book a thoughtful, convincing, practical guide for improving teaching and learning for all students in the nations' schools.?––Thomas W. Payzant, SuperintAndent, Boston Public SchoolsThis powerful book is a wake–up call to educators. In it, Phillip Schlechty argues that schools must change or become obsolete, and central to this change is a radical rethinking of old rules, roles, and relationships. Most important, he designs a plan of attack to guide the invention of better schools.Thoughtful, practical, and full of step–by–step advice, Schlechty guides parents, teachers, board members, school administrators, and community leaders through the often difficult process of improving schools.. For example, he shows how the visioning process must be rooted in real shared beliefs; how mission statements must unpack visions into concrete goals that are connected to action; and how the results of reform can be usefully assessed. He points out that reinventing schools must be looked at as a continual process––and he provides leaders with the tools to negotiate their way through it.Inventing Better Schools draws on Schlechty's vast experience in the day to day work if implementing school reform and his work in the boardrooms and legislative halls. Included are samples of actual mission statements and strategic plans of successful school districts.