Help for students who are overwhelmed, feel confused, can't remember, lack language skills, or just don’t get it. In today's era of accountability, teachers are expected to help all secondary students understand complex concepts and ideas and demonstrate proficiency on high-stakes tests. To promote success for struggling readers in all content areas, expert educator Elaine K. McEwan offers 40 user-friendly and easy-to-implement strategies in an invaluable text that includes three tables of contents (traditional, topical, and problem-solving) formatted for quick and easy reference. Each of the 40 research-based and classroom-tested techniques features:

Chosen by the National Association of Secondary School Principals as the first selection for its NASSP Principal's Book Club.

• An intriguing quotation or definition to grab your attention
• A brief description of the method and suggestions for implementation
• Recommended resources to gain a more in-depth understanding of the method
• Research citations to demonstrate the power of the method to get results

This revised second edition focuses on broadening and enhancing the "five big ideas" for winning the battle against illiteracy, with reflection and discussion questions for reinforcement. With new research and programs designed for adolescent learners, this update includes new material on the seven cognitive strategies of highly effective readers and more than 20 "teaching for learning" tips to infuse into daily content instruction. This indispensable guide helps educators:

• Understand the current state of reading achievement
• Alter the instructional planning and delivery system
• Motivate all students to read and teach them how to read to learn
• Create reading cultures in schools

This invaluable resource identifies the distinguishing qualities and unique characteristics of schools that help all students make outstanding gains in performance. Each chapter offers a comprehensive description of a research-based trait and examines its impact on student achievement. Featuring a "10 Traits Audit" for use by schools or districts, this book provides principals and administrators with:

• Tools and processes to facilitate the development of each trait
• Snapshots of each trait in actual schools and districts
• Reflections from teachers and administrators who have helped create effective schools
• Observations on the school improvement process from noted thinkers, theorists, and scholars
• Examples of documents, forms, and resources used in effective schools

By nurturing these traits in their schools, educational leaders can build coherent instructional programs and create schools of equity and excellence.

Ten Traits of Highly Effective Principals: From Good to Great Performance

• Principals at every level who want to notch up their personal effectiveness as well as feel affirmed for what they are already doing well
• Administrative teams who are engaged in study and reflection regarding the role of the principal in improving school performance
• Central office administrators who hire, supervise, mentor, and coach principals
• Teams of teachers who participate in the screening and hiring of principals for their schools
• Educators who aspire to the principalship and are looking for outstanding role models
• College and university educators who train principals

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7 Steps to Effective Instructional Leadership - 2nd Edition

Have the courage and the vision to lead your staff to achieve their highest instructional goals!

Make a substantive impact on the lives of your students and your staff. This practical, hands-on guide can help you become a more effective instructional leader.

Here are research-based activities to help you lead your staff though McEwans’s seven steps:

1. Establish, implement, and achieve academic standards
2. Be an instructional resource for your staff
3. Create a learning-oriented school culture and climate
4. Communicate your school’s vision and mission to staff and students
5. Set high expectations for your staff and yourself
6. Develop teacher leaders
7. Develop and maintain positive relationships with students, staff, and parents

Use the Instructional Leadership Checklist to:

• Assess your current level of instructional leadership
• Find out how your staff thinks you’re doing
• Set goals for improving your instructional leadership practice
• Evaluate your progress toward your goals

Attaining a new and higher level of instructional leadership will make a difference for each person in your school. Staff, students, and parents will get the message that all students matter. Everyone will start expecting that all students can learn, and your school will achieve its mission—improving education.

Making Sense of Research : What's Good, What's Not, and How To Tell the Difference

How can educators make sense of the complexities of research?

Making Sense of Research brings together the best of two worlds—the "real" world where education is practiced daily and the "ivory tower" world where research is ongoing. The authors have written this book for practitioners at all levels, from teachers making site-specific decisions such as allocating time, to administrators making schoolwide and policy decisions such as reducing class size. They outline and explain how quality research can inform, enlighten, and provide direction to educators that will save time and money, as well as make schools more effective and increase opportunities for students.

Educators are increasingly accountable for the outcome of their efforts. This vital resource will assist them in assessing the validity of research claims by leading the reader through a revealing examination of five critical questions:

• Does it work? (the causal question)
• How does it work? (the process question)
• Is it worthwhile? (the cost question)
• Will it work for me? (the usability question)
• Is it working for me? (the evaluation question)

How to Deal with Parents Who Are Angry, Troubled, Afraid, or Just Plain Crazy, Second Edition.

How do you deal with high-maintenance parents who never seem happy with the job you are doing?

Emotionally charged, often disgruntled, and occasionally abusive parents--sound familiar? The newly revised, second edition of Elaine McEwan’s bestselling classic will help you manage your most difficult audience, adding several new features and examples that will give you the confidence and skills you need to handle such situations, including:

• Over two dozen strategies-enhanced and updated-to defuse emotionally charged parents
• An updated, easy-to-administer Healthy School Checklist to determine if your school’s culture encourages parents or pushes them over the edge
• Fifty Ways to build parental support for your school
• Ten Goals-at-a-Glance to help keep your school-community relations on target
• A built-in facilitator guide--ideal for book groups and staff development, including energizers, suggestions for role-playing, think-alouds, and questions for reflection and discussion

Effective Instruction

Master the 3 + 3 = 33 equation for successful first days at school-at any grade level!

Research shows that time invested during the first three weeks of school to teach Routines, Rubrics, and Rules-the three R’s-leads to higher student achievement throughout the remaining 33 weeks of school, or 3 + 3 = 33.

This wonderfully practical and effective new book from bestselling author Elaine McEwan will help any teacher through those critical weeks and show how truly "with-it" teachers (WITs) can manage more easily the three critical facets of every teacher’s day: classroom management and organization, student engagement, and time management.

WITs from K-12 classrooms share their specific personal routines, rubrics and rules to help you survive and thrive in those first three weeks of school, including

• Designing and organizing your classroom to support learning
• Teaching routines, rubrics, and rules to maximize learning time
• Creating organizational, academic, and social routines
• Choosing rules and rewards to build character and motivation
• Using the "With-It" teacher list, including attention-getters, noise-breakers, timesavers, routines, and homework helpers

With the power of 3 + 3 = 33, and the secrets of WITs, you can chart a sure-footed course for those all-important first weeks of school, and help guide your students successfully through the school year!

Discover the qualities that yield exceptional performance and far-reaching success!

As all educators increasingly face the pressures of accountability, filling our schools with effective teachers skilled at fostering outstanding academic achievement has never been more important. In this quick-read resource, Elaine McEwan explores the ten characteristics that lead to success in the classroom, increased school morale, satisfied parents, and eager, high-achieving students.

This highly organized and user-friendly guide shares practical insights into these ten crucial traits through real-life examples, experiences, research, and personal reflections from students, parents, and educators at all levels.

Administrators will value the numerous tools that Ten Traits of Highly Effective Teachers provides for hiring, coaching, mentoring, and motivating effective teachers, while new and experienced teachers will be inspired to fully embody the ten traits and renew their zeal for teaching.

Special features include:

• Numerous graphic organizers to clearly illustrate the ten traits
• More than 50 interview questions based on the ten traits to help administrators and teachers prepare for the all-important interview process
• Dozens of exercises for principals to use to energize experienced teachers, empower new teachers, and nurture the ten traits
• Examples from research that highlight the relationship between the traits and student achievement