Transforming Schools: Creating a Culture of Continuous Improvement

Allison Zmuda, Robert Kuklis, and Everett Kline

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About This Book

How can a school become a place where all members of the staff are learning, growing, and working to increase student achievement? The answer lies in systems thinking and a focus on continuous improvement, two concepts that can transform staff development from something that people merely tolerate to something that they actively pursue to create lasting improvements in teaching and learning.

Each chapter of Transforming Schools: Creating a Culture of Continuous Improvement is grounded in a set of operating principles that provide practical guidance to school leaders. The story of a fictional school brings the ideas to life as the characters--a school principal, teachers, and district-level administrators--experience the shifts in thinking that are necessary to transform a school into a competent system. Through their story, the reader gains a clear understanding of the six steps of continuous improvement:

• Identify core beliefs.
• Create a shared vision.
• Use data to determine gaps between the current reality and the shared vision.
• Identify the innovations that will most likely close the gaps.
• Develop and implement an action plan.
• Endorse collective accountability.

Thoughtful analysis of the fictional dialogue throughout the book gives readers an understanding of the dynamic nature of change, systems thinking, and continuous improvement. And questions at the end of each chapter help readers apply key concepts to their own schools. Whether your school improvement goals are clearly defined or still in development, Transforming Schools will help you tackle the many challenges of the change process.

See the book's table of contents and read excerpts.

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About the Authors

ALLISON ZMUDA is an education consultant for ASCD in Alexandria, Virginia, and Director, Division of Teaching and Learning for the Capitol Region Education Council in Hartford, Connecticut, where she works with staff to design curriculum that is in alignment with state content standards and serves the system's mission. She began her work in education as a high school social studies teacher in Sandy Hook, Connecticut.

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ROBERT KUKLIS is a retired public school administrator who currently teaches a graduate course on curriculum at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut. He also supervises administrative interns at Pace University in White Plains, New York, and student teachers at Teachers College, Columbia University, in New York City. He served as a public school teacher for 18 years, the last 9 as a social studies department chairperson.

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EVERETT KLINE is a member of the ASCD faculty of consultants. Before joining ASCD he worked as a senior staff associate for the Center for Learning, Assessment and School Structure. He began his work in education as a history teacher in the school district of South Orange and Maplewood, New Jersey. During this time, Princeton University honored Kline as a master teacher. In the South Orange/Maplewood district he also served as chair of the high school social studies department and Director of Secondary Education.

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