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Mike Schmoker
Table of Contents | Reviews | About the Author
In his 2011 ASCD best seller Focus: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning, author Mike Schmoker described a fresh approach to K–12 teaching built on three core elements: a focused and coherent curriculum; soundly structured lessons; and purposeful reading and writing, or authentic literacy. Now, in Leading with Focus, he shows administrators, principals, and other education leaders how to apply his model to the work of running schools and districts. In this companion to his previous book, Schmoker offers
All students deserve to learn in schools where educators eschew distractions and superfluous activities to concentrate on what's most important. To that end, this book is an essential resource for leaders ready to streamline their practice and focus their efforts on radically improving student learning.
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Product No: 116024
ISBN-13: 978-1-4166-2136-2
Availability: January 2016
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"Mike Schmoker embraces applied simplicity and aligns the process from building leader to teachers to students. An empowering read for all."
—JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director, National Association of Secondary School Principals
"Why are so many of our schools failing? And why are school leaders so frustrated in their attempts to improve them? No one has ever explained this with as much passion and clarity as Mike Schmoker in Leading With Focus. Prepare to be upset, in a good way, as he describes how we have traditionally underestimated the vital importance of leadership that focuses on the three most proven, fundamental areas of schooling: having coherent, proven curriculum in place, making sure each student understands and succeeds on every lesson and—astonishingly—giving students significantly more time to read and write in class."
—Jay Mathews, Washington Post education columnist
"Mike Schmoker reminds us that effective leadership is not about miracle programs, silver bullets, or superheroes; it is about doing less, but doing it better. School leaders facing the pressures of countless initiatives, mandates, policies, and regulations will welcome his formula of simple, focused leadership. In this book, Schmoker speaks directly to school leaders, not just about what to do, but HOW to do it with specific strategies and real examples, and demonstrates that effective leadership can transform schools."
—Sue Szachowicz, senior fellow, International Center for Leadership in Education; retired principal, Brockton High School, Massachusetts
MIKE SCHMOKER is a former administrator, English teacher, and football coach. He has written six books and dozens of articles for educational journals, newspapers, and Time magazine. His is the author of the best seller Focus: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning (2011) and Results Now (2006), a finalist for the Association of Education Publishers' Book of the Year award.
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