Innovation in Odds-Beating Schools

By Kristen C. Wilcox; Hal A. Lawson and Janet I. Angelis

Three policy innovations at the heart of this book - the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), new Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR), and data driven instruction (DDI) provide a timely opportunity to join school and district improvement and policy implementation research with improvement science. This book is not just a collection of findings about odds-beating schools (those with higher than predicted student performance trends and higher than average poverty and diversity) and their journeys to implement these innovations. It also provides timely perspectives regarding policy innovations and how they might disrupt practice in desirable or undesirable ways. This book offers readers insight into how educators at every boundary-classroom, school, and district interact to make meaning of innovations, both individually and collectively; and also how their meanings and values influence innovation implementation outcomes. The story includes details how policy innovations were tailored to school and district office priorities; the features of these schools' structures, climates, and routines that were conducive to implementation; and how these innovations were able to penetrate the classroom boundaries.

ForewordPrefaceAcknowledgements1. Schools as Innovation-Ready Learning OrganizationsKristen Campbell Wilcox, Hal A. Lawson, Janet Ives Angelis2. A Climate of TrustJanet Ives Angelis, Karen Gregory, Francesca T. Durand3. Reciprocal CommunicationsFrancesca T. Durand4. Alignment and CoherenceSarah J. Zuckerman, Hal A. Lawson, Kristen Campbell Wilcox5. Readiness for InnovationFrancesca T. Durand, Hal A. Lawson6. Instructional AdaptationKristen Campbell Wilcox7. Whole Child Wellness and Positive Youth DevelopmentKaren Gregory, Kristen Campbell Wilcox, Hal A. Lawson8. Odds Beaters as ExemplarsHal A. Lawson, Kristen Campbell Wilcox, Janet Ives Angelis9. The Sample and the SchoolsKathryn S. Schiller, Janet Ives AngelisAbout the Authors