Courses

The ASAP Workbook Library is a package containing all 15 of the ASAP Workbooks. Titles include:

Best Practices for Literacy

Decision Making Methods

Faculty Development

The Ethical Educator

Best Practices for Mathematics

Diversity

Restorative Practices

Using Student Achievement Data

Building Community in the Classroom

Entering a School as a New Principal

Shaping a Collaborative School Culture

Using Technology for Instructional Purposes

Creating a Learning Community

Essentials of Instructional Leadership

Team Building

ASAP^® Workbooks are available for professional development and school leadership programs for K-12 educators. Each workbook consists of four chapters of study and activities, which can be broken out weekly or monthly, culminating with a project or presentation to be shared at a group learning event.

The ASAP workbooks are aligned with the requirements of the 2015 Professional Standards for Educational Leaders and your state’s leadership standards.

An effective leader leads the development and implementation of a vision for learning that is supported by the school community.

This workbook provides practical strategies to assist aspiring school leaders in creating a learning community. This includes shaping the school’s shared vision and facilitating committees that will support its implementation.

This workbook provides the rationale for creating a learning community and the benefits for the staff and students. In this course you will have an opportunity to:

• Consider how the role of school principal is crucial in creating and sustaining a learning community.
• Review the characteristics of a learning community.
• Identify the history of the vision in your district and school.
• Develop strategies for revisiting and revising the school’s goals and objectives, based on the school’s mission or vision statement.
• Use what you have learned to consider a school principal opportunity and make a decision based upon school goals and objectives.

This workbook is designed to help you emerge with a better understanding of the characteristics of a learning community and be prepared to lead your school community forward. You will participate in practical activities and reflections designed to assist you in the role of an aspiring school principal.

An effective leader demonstrates critical thinking, decision making, and problem solving within the context of personal integrity and ethical behaviors.

This workbook provides an understanding of decision making and problem solving approaches that range from incremental, sequentially staged processes to complex, multi-layered collaborative approaches for making decisions.

Workbook topics include:

• Key concepts in decision making.
• The distinction between problems and issues.
• Special considerations for decision makers.
• Limitations of past experience.
• Participative decision making.
• Weighted ranking of options.

School leaders make decisions on a continual basis. Sometimes the decision follows deliberation and consultation with others, but often a school leader must act alone and in response to an immediate need for a decision.

This workbook is designed to assist you in both collaborative and independent processes. The activities are meant to be practical in nature. They will assist you in analyzing situations and prioritizing issues, essential steps in making effective decisions within an ethical context.

There are four sections, each with their own activities. Some begin with a scenario to introduce a typical school-based challenge. You may be asked for an immediate decision about how you would handle the situation and the rationale for your approach. The intent of asking you to make an initial decision is to encourage reflection on how you make decisions. There are no absolute right or wrong answers.

An effective leader understands, responds to, and influences the social and cultural relationships in the classroom, school, and community.

This workbook will help you identify the components of diversity and assist you as an educational leader in supporting diversity at the classroom, school, district, and community levels.

Workbook topics include:

• Uncovering significant facts about diversity.
• Understanding the components of diversity in schools.
• Promoting human rights in schools.
• Describing effective practices around diversity in schools.

Educators serve diverse populations. Schools today are comprised of students with an array of distinct characteristics from a variety of backgrounds. They represent a vibrant cross section of society and as the population grows and expands, so does its diversity.

The concept of diversity is not one dimensional. It includes and extends beyond what is commonly thought to be place of origin or cultural connections. Some of the sources of diversity include ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, ability, and religion. Regardless of the particular source, diversity in any of its dimensions presents both opportunities and challenges.

Educational leaders today are expected to understand the meaning of diversity and its impact on schools, staff, students, and community. School leaders are required to protect human rights for all individuals, advocate for the full participation of all people in the school to achieve a just and equitable society, and ensure that the school upholds the value of social responsibility. Perhaps most important is the responsibility to ensure that diversity is understood and respected by all members of the school community.

This workbook takes you through the steps on how to enter the school as a new principal, allowing for a smooth transition as leader.

The workbook format is designed to help you prepare for a new principalship position through analysis and reflection. It is hoped that as you complete the practical assignments, you will document and reflect upon your perception, cognition, judgment, attitudes, motivation, choice, and performance as it pertains to being a new principal at a school.

Think of the number of times in your life when a first impression strongly influenced your reaction to a friend or colleague. The old adage that ‘first impressions are lasting’ should not be forgotten. Entering an established social system as the new leader is an especially delicate entry.

It is important that as a new principal you should:

• plan and prepare to enter the school.
• get acquainted and quickly become a functional and contributing member of the
  community.
• establish an appropriate leadership role without alienating existing members of the
  team.
• establish a way of working that supports existing objectives.
• develop mechanisms for getting meaningful feedback in support of existing objectives.

This workbook will help you as a new principal to be fully prepared by asking reflective questions, making suggestions, and employing techniques useful in building an entry plan specific to you and the school you are entering.

In your role as an instructional leader, you will foster excellence in teaching and learning by assisting teachers to create an active learning environment where students work collaboratively, engage in role-playing and debate, and take part in cooperative learning.

The term “instructional leader” has been used for decades to describe a desired model for leaders in education, with a particular focus on school principals. It is meant to convey the importance of keeping teaching and learning at the forefront of decision making. There are several models using the label of “instructional leadership” that specify particular leadership practices and provide evidence of the impact of these practices on both organizations and students.

A popular and highly researched example is the Instructional Management Framework (Hallinger, 2009). It consists of three sets of leadership dimensions, each of which includes a number of specific leadership practices:

1. Defining the School’s Mission
   1. Defining clear school goals.
   2. Communicating those goals.
2. Managing the Instructional Program
   1. Supervising and evaluating instruction.
   2. Coordinating curriculum.
   3. Monitoring student progress.
3. Promoting a Positive Learning Climate
   1. Protecting instructional time.
   2. Promoting professional development.
   3. Maintaining high visibility.
   4. Providing incentives for teachers.
   5. Providing incentives for learning.

This workbook serves as an introduction to the topic, with emphasis on the school principal as a resource for effective instructional practices, and modeling instructional design for effective teaching and learning.

An effective leader creates a safe and efficient learning environment that supports effective school organization, operations, and resource allocation.

This workbook focuses on understanding the importance of leading faculty development. It provides the rationale for the importance of human capital, the contemporary view of faculty development, and various components of school improvement.

Once completed, you will be better able to plan for effective staff development for school improvement. Efficient planning will have visible benefits for your school and district.

Ensuring that well-qualified personnel exist in every classroom is a guiding principle in the life of a school and the purpose of faculty development.

Objectives for learners using this workbook:

• Identify human resources as the most valuable asset in creating and maintaining a high- performing school.
• Differentiate among professional development, staff development, and organizational development while acknowledging that each is essential and inextricably linked to the others in supporting school growth.
• Describe the necessary perspective, knowledge and skills of an administrator who leads human resource improvement.
• Address the circumstances that form an environment in which professional development takes place.
• Describe the means for acquiring knowledge and skills.

As the leader of faculty development in your school, you must generate a focus on student and professional learning that is clearly linked to system-wide strategic objectives and the school improvement plan; evaluate, monitor, and provide timely feedback to faculty on the effectiveness of instruction; and identify faculty needs for growth and instructional proficiency.

An effective leader focuses on continuous improvement by promoting and motivating a positive school culture that has a clearly understood relationship with student achievement.

This workbook provides practical strategies for shaping a collaborative school culture. Positive school cultures foster rich learning environments where student achievement is enhanced.

Effective school leaders—principals, teachers, and parents—must be willing to assess the school culture and then shape it positively through conscious individual and collaborative efforts.

In shaping the school culture, you will want to examine the role of the school leader, how relationships are built, the role of the community, and celebrations and recognition. As you reflect on your present school culture in relation to the strategies presented here, consider how you can best assist others in helping you to shape and maintain a collaborative school culture.

In order to effectively shape school culture, you will need to develop a clear understanding of how school culture relates to student achievement. To assist you in this endeavor, we will:

• Examine the characteristics of various types of school cultures, on a continuum from non-collaborative to collaborative.
• Review and reflect on behaviors and activities that shape a collaborative culture.
• Reflect on the value of relationships in determining the school culture.
• Consider celebrations and recognitions as a reflection of school culture.
• Help you to measure your present school culture in relation to the elements that define a collaborative school culture.

An effective leader acts with integrity, fairness and honesty in an ethical manner.

An ethical leader is one who can contribute to the school and community and whose moral leadership, values, and citizenship can help to make the world a better place. This workbook will focus on the behaviors and attitudes that define ethical leadership. It will provide opportunities to acquire and apply strategies that enable educators to discriminate among a variety of behaviors in identifying the ethical ideal.

By working through this workbook, you will consider many aspects of your own school and school community. You will reflect on decisions and consider various options in solving issues and dilemmas in your role as an educator.

It is not the intent of this workbook to visit the many facets of character education and the moral fabric of the school. Instead, this workbook provides strategies for educators to behave ethically in their day-to-day interactions with members of the school community, and to show by example, the need for high ethical standards among educators, especially when educators are role models for students and future citizens.

In this workbook, you will have an opportunity to:

• Examine ethics, morals, and values.
• Review Codes of Professional Ethics and Conduct.
• Identify the differences between a moral issue and an ethical dilemma.
• Apply strategies to the resolution of ethical dilemmas.

An effective leader creates a safe and efficient learning environment that supports effective school organization, operations, and resource allocation.

This workbook provides an overview of the structures and processes involved in creating and maintaining effective school teams. It offers practical activities that assist leaders with understanding roles, responsibilities, structure, and functions within a team.

The workbook also provides direction for ensuring that teams and their development are an integral way of life at school.

Workbook topics include:

• Understanding teaming as a structure
• Components of effective team building
• Functions of teams
• Leading teams and collaboration
• The Appreciative Inquiry Model

The goal of this workbook is to assist educators in beginning the process of teaming for school improvement.

Effective school teams make a difference for students and teachers in a variety of ways, but before colleagues can function effectively as a team, everyone involved must learn how to be a member of a team. The content of this workbook will provide information and describe the skills needed for teaming to make a difference at the school site.

The era of isolated teaching is over. When groups of educators work together, evidence shows that students and teachers flourish academically and socially. Team building is an essential skill that allows educators to capitalize on getting results that produce optimal student success. Team work in any industry or setting combines the expertise of many minds, skills and perspectives. The synergy that results from multiple minds at work is more effective than the outcome any one person could achieve.

Information and Communications Technology (ICT), in the realm of education, is a powerful agent for educational and social change. Using a synergistic mix of ICT materials and methods in educational environments can be intimidating. The growing use of ICT in society has created pressures on those who are not familiar with the usefulness and power of technology. Educators who are uneasy with and skeptical of the utility of new technologies may limit the opportunity for students to become prepared for a future where ICT knowledge is a necessity.

To inspire educators, educational administrators must understand the effectiveness and impact of ICT within educational settings. Educational leaders must foster a clear understanding of ICT, lead and assist with the planning of a successful implementation of ICT, and support staff in evaluating the impact of ICT within the school.

This workbook helps leaders to accomplish these goals, focusing on ICT in the context of learning and instruction. The approach in this workbook is based on the Constructivist theory of learning (Piaget, 1957), which is key to the whole area of ICT use and integration. The Constructivist theory of learning is based on the idea that learners construct knowledge for themselves—each learner individually (and socially) constructs meaning—as he or she learns.

ICT and Constructivism

This workbook focuses on the use of ICT in support of clearly defined goals and objectives. The workbook provides:

• descriptions of how aspects of ICT fit into program delivery.
• strategies for effective ICT implementation.
• a review and reflections on the impact of ICT on program delivery.

This workbook offers activities, knowledge and resources to answer the following questions:

• What are common obstacles faced by educators as they try to implement and integrate ICT in K-12 school environments?
• What can be done to help educators and other key personnel to make valid decisions about implementing ICT?
• How is ICT changing the context of teaching and learning?

Literacy in K-12 education refers predominantly to the language literacy areas of reading and writing. A person with language literacy is able to understand and use language in effective and convincing ways. Language literacy includes the oral skills of speaking and listening. However, this module precludes the inclusion of these areas even though their importance and role is recognized here. Discussion of literacy in areas beyond language arts is provided in other resources.

Effective schools focus on student learning. The principal, as instructional leader, must possess a deep understanding of pedagogy, curriculum, and assessment. However, most principals receive “little or no training in the field of content knowledge in literacy instruction” (Children’s Literacy Initiative, 2000).

Language is a means to critical consciousness. Critical consciousness is developed and formulated as an essential activity of all learning to conceive of change and make choices to bring about transformations.”
Adapted by Ann E. Berthoff (1990) from the philosophy of Paulo Freire

Literacy teaching and learning has undergone several transformations through the years. Although the pendulum of reading instruction has swung back and forth several times, both alternate models and traditional theoretical models have been intermixed, to use an amalgam of elements of multiple philosophies. The current focus is on research that supports how students best learn to read and write. It is important to remember that writing and reading are simply two sides of the literacy coin. Both are best understood with the practice of the other. In addition, the rule of listening and speaking are increasingly recognized as a fundamental aspect of the language learning process.

Past experiences influence present thinking to create a personal perspective about literacy. Understanding current best practices means continually challenging one’s perspective.

The most effective leadership style for school improvement is instructional leadership (Robinson, Lloyd, and Rowe, 2008), and in order to improve at a basic level, education systems must strive to achieve the basics of literacy and numeracy (McKinsey & Co., 2007). In your role as an instructional leader, you therefore must familiarize yourself with the educational practices that enhance and support the learning of mathematics. As you progress through this workbook, you will hone your skills in recognizing effective teaching strategies, begin or continue to use appropriate terminology in discussions relating to mathematics education, and discover how best to coordinate professional development sessions for staff, focusing on mathematics improvement.

In this module you will investigate the following:

• philosophical bases for mathematics instruction
• effective instructional strategies
• national standards for mathematics in K-12 education
• ways to support mathematics teachers through useful resources and professional development activities
• evaluation and assessment strategies

Q: Why are mathematics activities important to you?
A: Students in schools today will use mathematics every day of their lives.

• Some may also use mathematics in their professional roles
• Competence in mathematics depends, in large part, on effective teaching

The challenge for you, as an instructional leader, is to ensure that your staff shares your enthusiasm for quality mathematics instruction and will work collaboratively to bring about real change and improved pedagogy in school mathematics.

An effective leader focuses on recommended classroom management procedures and routines by developing relationships and building community. It is important to understand the difference between classroom management and discipline. These two concepts are often used interchangeably, but they are very different. For the purpose of this module, classroom management and discipline are defined as follows:

Classroom management deals with how things are done in the classroom including the procedures, routines, and structures. Classroom management is the responsibility of the teacher.

Discipline in our changing world is no longer about ensuring the compliance of children or young adults to an authority figure. It is about students taking responsibility for their own behavior and self-monitoring their behavior while working collaboratively with their peers. Students should work with their teacher(s) to create norms and sanctions for their classroom community.

Effective teachers develop routines and procedures that facilitate and provide a learning environment where all learners work collaboratively to establish and maintain a caring classroom community. A caring community provides a safe, non-threatening environment, where learning is enhanced. Teachers guide students through thoughtful processes, which provide students with the tools and strategies to function as caring and productive citizens.

This workbook will introduce various classroom management routines, procedures, and structures which, when implemented, will build a sense of community that will provide students with the skills and abilities to be disciplined for learning today and living tomorrow.