The School Leader’s Guide to Learner-Centered Education

Barbara L. McCombs directs the Human Motivation, Learning, and Development Center at the University of Denver. The center focuses on the professional development of educators, personal and organizational change, systemic educational reform, and school violence prevention.

In the context of the current accountability and testing era, many school leaders have become fearful and feel disenfranchised. Their knowledge and experience are not being validated, and often they are forced to engage in practices that go contrary to what they know will provide a positive school climate and culture for their staff and students. This book will introduce a model of leadership as part of a transformation process arising from a learner-centered system. Among the issues considered by educational leaders as the most pressing are:the relationship between moral leadership and school change (based on an ethic of responsibility for preparing all learners to function in a global worlddiversity: the role of school leaders to promote success for all marginalized groups of studentspersonalizing learning and authentically engaging students to make school more effective for all learnersincorporating learning standards and high expectations without sacrificing the personal and authentic engagement with studentsThis book addresses each of these concerns from the perspective of learner-centered systems, in which leaders distribute leadership among key constituents in the educational systemùstudents, teachers, other school staff, parents, community membersùand empower them to engage in a lifelong learning process of continuous growth and improvement.áIt also provides a detailed and comprehensive treatment of LCP, as well as helpful exercises and tools that can be applied to practice.

AcknowledgmentsAbout the Authors1. Why This Is a Time for Change Why Read This Book? Schools as Living Systems What Does "Learner-Centered" Mean? How This Book Is Organized How Do You Like to Learn?2. What We Know About Learning and Leading What Kind of Learner and Leader Are You? What Does Existing Evidence Say About Leadership? The "Big Picture" View: An Ecology of Learning Model What It Means to Be Learner-Centered A Learner-Centered Educational Model What Are the New Notions of Schooling as Part of Living Systems? Self-Reflections What¿s Next3. What the Learner-Centered Model Means for Practice What It Means to Be a Learner-Centered Leader What the Research Shows About the Effectiveness of Learner-Centered Models How the Learner-Centered Principles Translate Into Practice at the School Level Implications for Leadership and Building Communities of Learners Self-Reflections What¿s Next4. The Tools Needed for the Journey Tools for the Journey Within Tools for a School-Level Assessment System and Leadership Process Implications of Implementing Learner-Centered Leadership Tools Tools for Answering the Truly Important Questions Self-Assessment and Reflection Tools to Chart the Journey Self-Reflections What¿s Next5. What Learner-Centered Assessment Tools Can Accomplish What Is Expected of Our Educational System? How School Leaders Can Provide What Is Wanted The Big Issues Facing Today¿s School Leaders The Leader¿s New Role in Staff Development Background and Supporting Research for the Assessment of Learner-Centered Practices Surveys Experiencing the School-Level Assessment of Learner-Centered Practices Survey for Yourself Self-Reflections What¿s Next6. How We Can Move Toward New Student and System Outcomes Understanding What Is and What Could Be Aligning the New Vision With Existing Realities Dealing With Current System Inequities in New Systems Designs The Learning Partnerships and Networks That We Need The Learning Partnerships You Will Need Self-Reflections What¿s Next7. How We Develop Leadership Qualities From Within New Ideas From Brain Research Preparing for the Future Other Characteristics of the Needed Framework Further Leadership Challenges in Creating Learner-Centered Models What It Means to Develop Capacity From Within A Summary: Moving From Complexity to Simplicity Summary Conclusion Self-Reflections Introduction to Summary Chapter Introduction to Additional Resources8. Summary of Major Points in Each Chapter Chapter 1: Why This Is a Time For Change Chapter 2: What We Know About Learning and Leading Chapter 3: What the Learner-Centered Model Means for Practice Chapter 4: The Tools Needed for the Journey Chapter 5: What the Learner-Centered Assessment Tools Can Accomplish Chapter 6: How We Can Move Toward New Student and System Outcomes Chapter 7: How We Can Develop Leadership Qualities From WithinAppendixResourcesGlossary of Learner-Centered TermsReferencesIndex