From lesson planning to instructional practice to classroom management, teachers must make choices constantly throughout their day. Sometimes these decisions are easy, but there are some decisions that are very difficult. As in other professions, challenging choices arise in education which could be detrimental to one’s teaching career. Therefore, thoughtful decision making must be part of every educator’s daily experience—yet how can current and future teachers be equipped to make the best decisions in their fast-paced profession? In Tough Choices for Teachers: Ethical Case Studies from Today’s Schools and Classrooms, Robert Infantino and Rebecca Wilke help teachers and those working with educators to acquire practical skills to enhance their ethical decision-making processes. By utilizing case studies based on real scenarios the authors have encountered, readers will be able to work through numerous ethical dilemmas that will assist them in honing their approaches to current educational challenges. Who can benefit from reading Tough Choices for Teachers? Teachers—Preservice, New, and Experienced District Leaders Professional Development Providers Professors of Education Student Teacher Supervisors Student Teaching Seminar Facilitators Department Chairs Cooperating Teachers Mentors of Teachers Thinking through the ethical situations described in each chapter will assist teachers in not only improving their own decision making but also in learning specific strategies to pass on to students in today’s schools and classrooms.

Tough Choices or Tough Times, the report of the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, shows how the dynamics of the global economy will lead to a steady decline in the American standard of living if this country does not undertake the first thorough overhaul of its education system in a century. This new revised and expanded version of Tough Choices or Tough Times includes: An updated Introduction A summary of the Commission's proposals Commentaries on the proposals by Denis Doyle, Lawrence Mishel, Michael Petrilli, Diane Ravitch, and Richard Rothstein, with responses from members of the Commission. Tough Choices or Tough Times provides a well-researched analysis of the issues and a compelling set of proposals for changing our system of education.

Unequal By Design critically examines high-stakes standardized testing in order to illuminate what is really at stake for students, teachers, and communities negatively affected by such testing. This thoughtful analysis traces standardized testing’s origins in the Eugenics and Social Efficiency movements of the late 19th and early 20th century through its current use as the central tool for national educational reform via No Child Left Behind. By exploring historical, social, economic, and educational aspects of testing, author Wayne Au demonstrates that these tests are not only premised on the creation of inequality, but that their structures are inextricably intertwined with social inequalities that exist outside of schools.

Tough Choices By: LeDora Knight Tough Choices is intended to present a glimpse of the life of Andrew and Flora, from childhood through marriage and then to the time of their departure from this universe. Get a look at life in the backwoods of Alabama as an elementary school student drops out of school after the fourth grade to become a sharecropper. Initially, he enjoys hanging out with his father all day. But then he grows to resent his father when he is expected to surrender too much of himself to take on his father’s responsibilities. See the progression from sharecropping to serving in the United States Navy as a SeaBee. From there, watch the elementary school dropout fulfill dreams of building a home and educating his children. In the pages that follow, you will see that anything is possible when a team of horses always pull a wagon together in the same direction.

A laser-beam focus on improving instruction to improve learning Saying "teaching matters most" is easy, and seems obvious. Making it the top priority for school leaders and staff is not so easy—in fact, it′s messy. If we want to change how students write, compute, and think, then teachers must change how they teach. They must transform the old "assign-and-assess" model into engaging, compassionate, coherent, and rigorous instruction. The authors show school leaders how to make this happen amidst myriad distractions, initiatives, and interruptions. Unlike other books that stop at evaluating teachers and instruction, this work demonstrates how to grow schools′ instructional capacities with a three-step process that involves: Envisioning what good teaching looks like Measuring the quality of current instruction against this standard Working relentlessly to move the quality of instruction closer and closer to the ideal The authors provide helpful guidance on issues such as hiring, induction, professional development, mentoring, and teacher evaluation. Each chapter offers specific action steps toward building the blueprint for improvement. Also included are frameworks for completing instructional audits in schools, and probes, instruments, and protocols for measuring and tracking the quality of instruction. Leaders will find excellent guidance for spearheading and sustaining a focused and aligned effort to improve the quality of teaching to impact all learners.

This volume focuses on professional ethics and the moral dimensions of inclusive education. Grounded in an examination of international conceptualizations of ethics and inclusion, this book will provide a comprehensive analysis of current understandings of professional ethics in the context of inclusive education.

The Guided Reader to Teaching and Learning draws on extracts from the published work of some of the most influential education writers in recent times to provide insight, guidance and clarity about key issues affecting practitioners at all levels.

"A clear, well-crafted, and convincing account of the account of the complex 'push-pulls' that affect women's life choices about work and motherhood. It therefore fills a unique niche: there are no books like this one that I know of, yet it touches on one of the most fundamental issues addressed by those who are interested in women's studies."—Kristin Luker

Is a widening “skills gap” in science and math education threatening America’s future? That is the seminal question addressed in The U.S. Technology Skills Gap, a comprehensive 104-year review of math and science education in America. Some claim this “skills gap” is “equivalent to a permanent national recession” while others cite how the gap threatens America’s future economic, workforce employability and national security. This much is sure: America’s math and science skills gap is, or should be, an issue of concern for every business and information technology executive in the United States and The U.S Technology Skills Gap is the how-to-get involved guidebook for those executives laying out in a compelling chronologic format: The history of the science and math skills gap in America Explanation of why decades of astute warnings were ignored Inspiring examples of private company efforts to supplement public education A pragmatic 10-step action plan designed to solve the problem And a tantalizing theory of an obscure Japanese physicist that suggests America’s days as the global scientific leader are numbered Engaging and indispensable, The U.S. Technology Skills Gap is essential reading for those eager to see America remain a relevant global power in innovation and invention in the years ahead.

Lately, our nation’s strategy for improving our schools is mostly limited to “getting tough” with teachers. Blaming teachers for poor outcomes, we spend almost all of our energy trying to control teachers’ behavior and school operations. But what if all of this is exactly the opposite of what is needed? What if teachers are the answer and not the problem? What if trusting teachers, and not controlling them, is the key to school success? Examining the experiences of teachers who are already trusted to call the shots, this book answers: What would teachers do if they had the autonomy not just to make classroom decisions, but to collectively—with their colleagues—make the decisions influencing whole school success? Decisions such as school curriculum, how to allocate the school budget, and whom to hire. Teachers with decision-making authority create the schools that many of us profess to want. They individualize learning. Their students are active (not passive) learners who gain academic and life skills. The teachers create school cultures that are the same as those in high-performing organizations. They accept accountability and innovate, and make efficient use of resources. These promising results suggest: it’s time to trust teachers.