More Than a SMART Goal: Staying Focused on Student Learning (Classroom Strategies) - Softcover

Anne E. Conzemius; Terry Morganti-Fisher

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1935543245 ISBN 13: 9781935543244

Publisher: Solution Tree, 2011

Synopsis

Setting data-informed, high-priority SMART goals is a critical step in school improvement that is widely acknowledged. However, goals themselves don't drive improvement; they must be aligned to the school improvement process, curriculum, instruction, assessment practices, mandates, and professional development. Understand how to properly use the SMART goal process to effect change and achieve real school improvement.

Benefits:

• Learn multiple strategies and processes designed to bring coherence and measurement to instructional planning.
• Discover five effective guidelines for total system improvement.
• Acquire a SMART process for professional learning.
• Gain practical tools for sustained focus throughout professional development.

Contents:
Chapter 1: The Nature of Systems Improvement
Chapter 2: Less Is More
Chapter 3: Putting SMART Goals to Work
Chapter 4: Professional Learning by Design
Chapter 5: Impact and Implementation
Chapter 6: Engaging the Mind, Body, and Spirit

About this title

About the Author

Anne E. Conzemius is cofounder and president of QLD Learning, a school improvement company headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. Before QLD, Anne served as the assistant to Wisconsin s superintendent of public instruction; in that capacity, she worked on educational policy and led the department s strategic planning and restructuring initiative.

Earlier in her career, Anne worked as a senior associate with Howick and Associates, applying her expertise in strategic planning and quality improvement to benefit government, education, manufacturing, finance, health care, and not-for-profit organizations. From 1988 to 1990, Anne served as director of employee development and training for the state of Wisconsin. Anne has also served as a school psychologist and as a consultant with the Department of Public Instruction.

Anne is coauthor of Building Shared Responsibility for Student Learning, The Handbook for SMART School Teams, and The Power of SMART Goals. She has also been published in local, state, and national education newsletters and journals, and is a contributing author to a graduate textbook on staff development.

Anne earned two master's degrees (educational psychology and industrial relations) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Anne and her husband, Bill, live on a farm near Madison, where they operate a horse stable and entertain their two grandsons, Quinn and Edilfanta.

Terry Morganti-Fisher repurposed herself through retirement after twenty-five years of service to the Austin (Texas) Independent School District to pursue continuous school improvement work on a broader scale. She has led systemic educational reform initiatives since 1989.

As director of professional development (PD) in Austin, Terry led the creation of a comprehensive PD plan and developed support systems for teacher quality. She served as district liaison to external partners including the Institute for Learning. Terry also served the district as a special education teacher and instructional technology facilitator.

Terry is vice president of client services for QLD Learning. She is also a senior consultant for Learning Forward (formerly NSDC) and facilitator for the organization's Learning School Alliance. Terry is the former president of Learning Forward Texas.

Terry earned her BS in special education and elementary education at Westfield (Massachusetts) State University and her MEd in curriculum and instruction and instructional technology at the University of Texas in Austin. She is a graduate of NSDC's Academy VIII and is a certified coach. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Staff Development.

Terry's mission is to make the world a better place for children through public education. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, Steven, and their blended family.

Review

"This book is exactly what is needed by educators as they focus on student learning. The authors identify concerns and then give a road map to follow to make SMART goals really smart! They specifically speak to levels of intent and action and break it down for the readers so that they speak to the interventions that need to go with that level. This breakdown into fixes allows the reader to identify the needs of the students based on the cause of the concern so the intervention can be specific to what they need."

--Geri Parscale, Deputy Superintendent, Fort Leavenworth Unified Schools, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

"This book serves as a GPS with turn-by-turn directions for those seeking how to determine and use a SMART goal to arrive at a student learning destination. Conzemius and Morganti-Fisher reinterpret complex statistical procedures as practitioner-friendly tools and provide examples that clarify how to use these tools effectively at the district, school, and school team levels."

--Dale Hair, Solution Tree Associate, Learning Forward Affiliate Coordinator

"Specific steps laid out in the SMART Goal Tree Diagram and in the SMS will allow schools to both chart a course and monitor their progress. The final chapter touches on the key initiatives facing schools today (leadership, student-led outcomes, learning by design, professional learning communities, and school culture, to highlight a few) and offers connections to the work of SMART processes in addressing these."

--Tom Hierck, Executive Director, BCPVPA (British Columbia Principals and Vice-Principals Association)

Edition details

• Publisher: Solution Tree
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1935543245
• ISBN 13: 9781935543244
• Binding: Perfect Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 160