Committing to continuous improvement means keeping up with best practices, solid research, and current literature. The resources and web links provided here are geared to making your search for support easy.

Many of the books listed could serve as ideal texts for faculty “study circles”, or as a focus for your professional learning communities. Several of the websites and listservs will prove invaluable assets in your professional tool kit.

Resources and Links

Allen, R. (2004) Making High Schools Better. Education Update, 46.

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

Balfanz, R. & Legters, N. (2004) Locating the Dropout Crisis. CSOS Johns Hopkins University, June 2004.

Bay Area Coalition for Equitable Schools

Daggett's Nine Characteristics of Successful Schools

DuFour, R. & DuFour, R. (2002) Getting Started: Reculturing Schools to Become Professional Learning Communities. Bloomington, IN: National Education Service.

Career Academy Support Network (CASN)

Career Clusters

Career Majors in Action

Coalition of Essential Schools National Office

Collins, J. (2001) Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't. HarperBusiness.

Connors, N.A. (2000) If You Don't Feed the Teachers They Eat the Students: Guide to Success for Administrators and Teachers. Incentive Publications.

Corwin Press

Cottrell, D. (2002) Monday Morning Leadership. Dallas, TX: Cornerstone Leadership Institute.

Covey, S.R. (2004) The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness, Free Press

Darling-Hammond, L. (1997) The Right to Learn: A Blueprint for Creating Schools that Work. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Dell'Angela, T. (2004) New small schools feel pains of change. Chicago Tribune, September 24, 2004

Elliot, M., Gilroy, C. & Hanser, L. (2002) Career Academies: Additional Evidence of Positive Student Outcomes Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 7-1

Fege, A.F. (2004) Schools Embrace Innovation. USA Today, May 18, 2004.

Fullan, M. (2001) Leading in a Culture of Change. San Francisco, CA: Josey-Bass

Fullan, M. (2003) The Moral Imperative of School Leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press

Gladwell, M. (2002) The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Nig Difference. Back Bay Books.

Hess, F.M. (2004) Tough Love for School Reform. WestEd.

Kantor, R. M. (2004) School Reform Elusive Without Ample Resources. Miami Herald, August 26.

Kelleher, Paul, & Levenson, Marya R. (2004) Can School Culture Change The School Administrator Web Edition Retrieved September 21, 2004

Knowledge Loom-What Works in Teaching and Learning

Leadership and Learning Center

Mackin, R. & Silva, P. (2002) Standards of Mind and Heart: Creating the Good High School. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

McBride, W. (1997) Entertaining an Elephant: A Novel About Learning and Letting Go. Pearl Street Press.

MetLife: Survey of the American Teacher

Mid-Continent Regional Educational Laboratory

National Association of Secondary School Principals (1996) Breaking Ranks: Changing an American Institution. The Association.

National Association of Secondary School Principals(Editors) (2004) Breaking Ranks II: Strategies for Leading High School Reform. Reston, VA: NASSP.

National Commission on Excellence in Education. (1983) A Nation at Risk. Washington, D.C.: UPS Government Printing Office.

National Commission on Teaching and America's Future (1996) What Matters Most: Teaching and America's Future. New York, NY: NCTAF

North Central Regional Educational Laboratory

Northwest Regional Education Laboratory

Practical Strategy

Public Education Network Weekly Newsblast

Sammon, G. (2008) Creating and Sustaining Small Learning Communities: Strategies and Tools for Transforming High Schools.Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press

Sammon, G. (2006) Battling the Hamster WheelTM: Strategies for Making High School Reform Work. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press

Silva, P. and Mackin, R. (2002) Standards of Mind and Heart: Creating the Good High School. New York: Teachers College Press

Slavin, R. (1997) Sand, Bricks, and Seeds: School Change Strategies and Readiness for Reform. CSOS Johns Hopkins University. April 1997.

Southern Education Regional Board-High Schools That Work

Ten3 Business e-Coach

Toch, T. (2003) High Schools on a Human Scale: How Small Schools Can Transform American Education. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

Wagner, T. (2003) Making the Grade: Reinventing America's Schools. New York, NY: Falmer Press.

Wheatley, M. (2002) Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc