60 tools that can be used in every grade and subject, designed to help teachers reach higher levels of expertise with differentiation instruction for student learning.

Engage students with a rich curriculum that strengthens their capacity as learners and thinkers! Every learner is somewhere on a path toward expertise in a content area. This resource promotes a model for developing high-quality curriculum that moves learners along the continuum toward expertise and provides sample units and rubrics to help implement differentiated curriculum. Teachers can use four curriculum parallels that incorporate Ascending Intellectual Demand to: Determine current student performance levels Appropriately challenge all students in each subject area Extend the abilities of students who perform at advanced levels Provide learning activities that elevate analytical, critical, and creative thinking

Try going a week without hearing a call for a massive overhaul of our educational system. Parents, students, educators, bureaucrats, pundits . . . everyone says "something" must be done. But what? And who should do it? In this environment, school leaders must build bridges for change. As the system now stands, many students spend great portions of their lives feeling inferior if they struggle, invisible if they already know the material, problematic if they're not a child of the dominant culture, and perverse if they question the school agenda. This book explores how school leaders can develop responsive, personalized, and differentiated classrooms. Differentiation is simply a teacher attending to the learning needs of a particular student or small group of students, rather than teaching a class as though all individuals in it were basically alike. Expert educators teach individuals the most important things in the most effective ways. No single approach works with all students. Classrooms function best when teachers and students join to develop multiple avenues to learning. Until every student is growing and successful, our own growth is unfinished. The authors show how school leaders can encourage and support growth in our classrooms.

Teacher Evaluation in Music: A Guide for Music Teachers in the U. S. aims to help music teachers navigate the controversial terrain of teacher evaluation. Rather than entering the debate on policy divorced from practice, this book is intended as a pragmatic approach to help music teachers to thrive within teacher evaluation systems and as a way to improve practice. Using Shulman's concept of content knowledge, general pedagogical knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge, this book strives to help music teachers find a balance between advocating for themselves and their programs and for using teacher evaluation to improve their teaching. The book covers history of policy and law of teacher evaluation and the competing uses of teacher evaluation to rate teachers or as a professional development tool. The descriptions of policies, laws, and competing uses are approached in a way to help music teachers use teacher evaluation for their benefit to grow as professionals. This book has chapters devoted to giving detailed and specific strategies in key areas that research has suggested music teachers struggle to implement: questioning, literacy, differentiated instruction, and assessment. Complimenting these key areas are sample lesson plans which apply the strategies of questioning, differentiation, literacy, and assessment discussed in each chapter. These lessons serve as a resource and guide for teachers to develop their own lessons and improve their practice. The final chapter gives guidance on how music teachers may talk to administrators and evaluators to make teacher evaluation productive. Through these detailed descriptions of understanding teacher evaluation, talking to evaluators, and improving practice, music teachers may not just survive but thrive in these systems of accountability.

Consultant and former teacher Glass helps K-5 teachers make sense of the new Common Core State Standards in English language arts (ELA) and presents numerous classroom activities, differentiation ideas, and rubrics. She introduces a process for developing a unit of study using the ELA Common Core Standards, and includes a template with each key component explained in detail. There is also a lesson design template and sample lessons using the template. The website provides reproducibles for classroom use. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

"This guide provides clear, intelligent support for teachers and administrators to explore the possibilities that the Parallel Curriculum Model brings to educators and students, and to translate those possibilities into action in the classroom." —Carol Ann Tomlinson, William Clay Parish Jr. Professor of Education University of Virginia "In my experience teaching graduate students about the Parallel Curriculum Model, I am always looking for a variety of ways to expose them to the intent of each parallel. This guide is an invaluable resource in helping us talk about and practice the model. The varied examples and practical lessons offer fantastic building blocks to use in my work with teachers!" —Jennifer Beasley, Educational Consultant University of Virginia Extend the abilities of teachers and students alike with focused training on sophisticated curriculum design! Complementing the best-selling second edition of The Parallel Curriculum, this all-inclusive facilitator′s guide is an indispensable resource for anyone planning, designing, or conducting curriculum development training on the Parallel Curriculum Model. This easy-to-use workbook offers step-by-step instructions aligned with the content of the core book. Staff developers will learn how to support training sessions to help educators design and implement curriculum along four parallels. Ideal for facilitating book study groups, seminars, and professional development events, the book provides: A complete training program of 53 workshops, including 12 workshops per curriculum parallel Scripts, agendas, activities, sample classroom scenarios, handouts, and transparencies Tools, resources, and strategies for designing curriculum across the four parallels Staff Development Guide for the Parallel Curriculum is an essential handbook for leading professional training that results in enhanced teacher expertise and a multidimensional, high-quality curriculum that challenges all learners.

Your blueprint for skilled Common Core literacy alignment! Learn to artfully navigate Common Core - or any state/province - standards with concrete, step-by-step instruction from master teacher and curriculum specialist, Kathy Tuchman Glass. Confidently map a unit of study aligned to Common Core’s rigorous, evidence-based writing and reading requirements. Dive into in-depth analyses of informational text with supporting essential questions. Glass walks you through the entire process with manageable chunks that eliminate overwhelm. Chapters include thorough explanations, step-by-step exercises, and detailed templates, assessments, charts, tips, and prompts centered around key CCCS concepts for grades 6–12. Teachers, curriculum committees, grade level teams, and professional development leaders will learn to: Challenge and engage students in all content areas using the CCCS ELA framework Use existing curriculum and materials to design new, CCCS-aligned units of study Identify mandatory CCCS ELA essential understandings for informational text, evidence-based writing and other critical competencies Conduct resource-rich workshops and professional development This all-in-one instructional guide, with a companion website for extra help, improves your professional capacity to create, revise, or critique quality-driven units and lessons aligned to the ELA Common Core. Get this essential blueprint to building high quality 6–12 grade-level curriculum for skilled CCCS literacy-aligned success! "Like them or hate them, the Common Core Standards represent one of the most significant opportunities for improvement schools have faced in decades. This book will be a great help to anyone engaged in the act of translating the Common Core into actual teaching practices." --Jim Knight, Author of High-Impact Instruction

More than 45 tools and activities that make it easier for professional development leaders to show teachers and administrators how to successfully implement and maintain differentiated instruction.