Breaking the Low-Achieving Mindset

“This is a book that should be on the shelf of every principal and staff developer. It is one of the best stories of successful school improvement currently available. "

Kent D. Petersen,
co-author Shaping School Culture and The Leadership Paradox

“As we realize this leader's vision coming alive, we experience tools for systematic reform that can transform the culture of school communities in any setting."

Leigh Wall,
Principal,
Santa Fe High School, Santa Fe ISD, Texas

“Sue Abplanalp's work as a principal leading change, and as an author reporting that process, is powerful. . . . The clear and concrete language, the crisp articulation of strategies, tools and conditions necessary for improving teaching quality are described vividly so that potential school improvers might use Abplanalp's guide as a means for achieving their own students' successful learning."

Shirley Hord,
author of Taking Charge of Change, co-author of Implementing Change: Patterns, Principles, and Potholes

www.smartlearningcommunity.net
Copyright ©2009

Susan L. Abplanalp, Ph.D.

Forewords by Mary Louise Gomez, Jan O'Neill and Anne Conzemius
Publisher: QLD Learning, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-9801596-8

Purchase the Book

Foreword

Table of Contents

Other publications in the QLD series

Building Shared Responsibility for Student Learning

The Handbook for SMART School Teams

The Power of SMART Goals

Susan L. Abplanalp, Ph.D. Susan L. Abplanalp, Ph.D.

Dr. Susan Abplanalp, Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Schools is a former teacher and principal of 10 years. In her most recent role as a principal in the Madison Metropolitan School District, her school was awarded the Distinguished Title 1 School Award in 2000 and was nominated as a Promising Site in 2001 through the Department of Education because of its successful reform initiatives.

Dr. Abplanalp received her B.S. in Elementary Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership at Edgewood College and Ph.D. in Educational Leadership with a minor in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is currently responsible for 31 elementary schools and 11,000 students in the Madison Metropolitan School District.

Readers will learn-—step by step-—how focused (S.M.A.R.T.) goals, balanced assessment practices, and a culture of collaboration and teamwork changed teachers' instructional practices and dramatically improved student learning.

This book provides a rare first-hand account of how a principal turned a low-performing urban school into an award-winning, high-performing professional learning community. Through Sue Abplanalp's story, you'll learn:

How to unite a school around a common vision
How to use data to dispel myths about why students are underperforming
How staff teams can become a catalyst for change in teaching practices
How to use ongoing, diverse professional development to drive improvements in student achievement
How to work through challenges and frustrations
Skills and methods that build shared leadership
Actions of an effective school leader
S.M.A.R.T. tools and methods that help you with all the above

. . . PLUS much more!