Fighting for Change in Your School: How to Avoid Fads and Focus on Substance

In this indispensable book for K-12 leaders, Harvey Alvy offers a thoughtful roadmap and guidance to help educators select, implement, and assess school- or districtwide initiatives that actually work. The book is filled with a wealth of resources--action checklists, principles to guide educators, and in-depth questions and protocols--for engaging in collaborative professional development activities that strengthen teaching and learning practices and improve student achievement.

Alvy discusses in detail the six "red flags" that educators confront daily and a set of countervailing strategies (six practical guidelines) to pursue meaningful reforms, initiatives, and innovations:

Red Flags

• The Narrative Trap
• Overpromising and Overloading
• Minimizing the Enormous Difficulty of Implementation
• Eyes off the Prize
• Historical Amnesia
• The Business "Solution"

Guidelines

• Building a Collaborative Learning Community
• Effectively Using Human, Fiscal, and Material Resources
• Respecting the Change Process
• Sustaining a Coherent School Mission and Vision
• Embracing Timeless and Eclectic Teaching Practices
• Championing and Empowering the Underserved

Selecting and implementing reforms, initiatives, and practices wisely is key if we truly want the best for our students--and skipping the necessary planning and forethought can be catastrophic. Fighting for Change in Your School: How to Avoid Fads and Focus on Substance is the book every educator needs to ensure the former and prevent the latter. The time to address these challenges is now.