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The "Handbook on Innovations in Learning", published in 2014, responded to a call by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to "leverage the innovation and ingenuity this nation is known for to create programs and projects that every school can implement to succeed." In December 2015, passage of the "Every Student Succeeds Act" (ESSA) presented new opportunities and greater flexibility in efforts to personalize learning for all children. This "Handbook on Personalized Learning for States, Districts, and Schools" provides insight and guidance on maximizing that new flexibility. This volume suggests how teachers can enhance personalized learning by cultivating relationships with students and their families to better understand a child's learning and motivation. Personalized learning also encourages the development of students' metacognitive, social, and emotional competencies, thereby fostering students' self-direction in their own education, one aimed at mastery of knowledge and skills and readiness for career and college. Chapters address topics across the landscape of personalized learning, including co-designing instruction and learning pathways with students; variation in the time, place, and pace of learning, including flipped and blended classrooms; and using technology to manage and analyze the learning process. The chapters include Action Principles to guide states, districts, and schools in personalizing learning. The "Handbook" is presented in five parts. Part 1: Personal Competencies as Propellants of Learning, contains the following: (1) Competencies and Personalized Learning (Sam Redding); (2) Converging Qualities of Personal Competencies (T. V. Joe Layng); and (3) Proceed with Caution: Measuring that "Something Other" in Students (Allison Crean Davis). Part 2: Students at the Center of Personalized Learning, contains: (1) Co-designing Instruction with Students (Melinda S. Sota); (2) Flipped Learning as a Path to Personalization (Melinda S. Sota); (3) Empowering Students as Partners in Learning (Kathleen Dempsey, Andrea D. Beesley, Tedra Fazendeiro Clark, and Anne Tweed; and (4) Homeschooling: The Ultimate Personalized Environment (William Jeynes). Part 3: Teaching and Technology in Support of Personalized Learning, contains: (1) Personalizing Curriculum: Curriculum Curation and Creation (Karen L. Mahon); (2) Choose Your Level: Using Games and Gamification to Create Personalized Instruction (Karl M. Kapp); (3) Personalizing Learning through Precision Measurement (Janet S. Twyman); and (4) Using Learning Analytics in Personalized Learning (Ryan Baker). Part 4: The Personalized Learning Community: Teachers, Students, and Families, contains: (1) Preparing Educators to Engage Parents and Families (Erin McNamara Horvat); (2) Relationships in Personalized Learning: Teacher, Student, and Family (Patricia A. Edwards); (3) Teacher-Student Relationships and Personalized Learning: Implications of Person and Contextual Variables (Ronald D. Taylor and Azeb Gebre); and (4) Personalizing Professional Development for Teachers (Catherine C. Schifter). Part 5: Descriptive Studies of Specific Instructional Applications, includes: (1) Using Universal Design for Learning to Personalize an Evidence-Based Practice for Students with Disabilities (Sara Cothren Cook, Kavita Rao, and Brian G. Cook); (2) Next-Generation Teachers in Linguistically Diverse Classrooms (Tamara Sniad); (3) On Personalized Learning in the Context of the Common Core Literacy Standards: A Sociocultural Perspective (Frank J. Sullivan, Jr.); and (4) Social Studies and Personalized Learning: Emerging Promising Practices From the Field (Christine Woyshner). A section about the authors is included. Individual chapters contain references. [For the "Handbook on Innovations in Learning," see ED558056. Also see: "Connect: Making Learning Personal" Issue 7 at ED568179; Issue 8 at ED568180; and Issue 9 at ED568181 ]

This publication explores the role of the state education agency (SEA) in school turnaround efforts. An emphasis is placed on practical application of research and best practices related to the SEA's critical leadership role in driving and supporting successful school turnaround efforts. The publication is organized around the four goals of WestEd's Center on School Turnaround: (1) Create a pro-turnaround statutory and regulatory environment; (2) Administer and manage turnaround efforts effectively; (3) Provide targeted and timely technical assistance to local education agencies and schools; and (4) Advocate and lead to build support for local turnaround efforts. Written by leading researchers and practitioners actively engaged in the work, each chapter includes: (1) A brief literature review; (2) Examples from SEAs and/or concrete examples of proposed SEA practices; and (3) Action principles for the SEA. Following the Foreword (Bryan Hassel); Introduction to the State Role in School Turnaround: Emerging Best Practice (Lauren Morando Rhim and Sam Redding); and the first chapter, Evolution of School Turnaround (Sam Redding and Lauren Morando Rhim), this volume contains four sections composed of chapters by various authors. Section A: Advocate and Lead--(1) Leveraging the Bully Pulpit: Optimizing the Role of the Chief State School Officer to Drive, Support, and Sustain Turnaround (Lauren Morando Rhim and Sam Redding); and (2) Engaging Local School Boards to Catalyze, Support, and Sustain School Turnaround (Lauren Morando Rhim). Section B: Create a Pro-Turnaround Environment--(1) Successful School Turnarounds through Labor-Management Partnerships: The Role for State Education Agencies (Ken Futernick and Adam Urbanski); (2) Building Human Capital Pipelines: Examining the Role of the State Education Agency (Dennis Woodruff and Cyrillene Clark); and (3) The State's Role in Supporting Data Use to Drive School Turnaround (Daniel Player, Michael Kight, and William Robinson). Section C: Administer and Manage State Turnaround--(1) The State of the State: New SEA Structures for a New Approach to Turnaround (Justin Cohen and Alison Segal); (2) State Approaches to Turnaround in ESEA Flexibility Plans (Carole Perlman and Susan Hanes); (3) Leveraging Technology to Accelerate School Turnaround (Janet S. Twyman); and (4) Evaluating the State Turnaround Strategy (Daniel Aladjem). Section D: Provide Technical Assistance to LEAs and Schools--(1) Engaging State Intermediate Agencies to Support School Turnaround (Eileen Reed and Sally Partridge); (2) Navigating the Market: How State Education Agencies Help Districts Develop Productive Relationships with External Providers (Julie Corbet); (3) Turnaround Communities of Practice: Addressing the Urgency (Kelly Stuart, Julie Duffield, and Sylvie Hale with contributions by Anu Advani and Libby Rognier); (4) Fostering Success for English Learners in Turnaround Schools: What State Education Agencies Need to Know and Be Able to Do (Robert Linquant); (5) Building Rural District Capacity for Turnaround (Sam Redding and Herbert J. Walberg); (6) Big Sky Hope: How Montana's SEA Supports Turnaround in American Indian Schools (Denise Juneau, Mandy Smoker Broaddus, and Deborah Halliday); and (7) Building Leadership Capacity in Native American Schools: The Principal Leadership Academy (Pam Sheley). Individual chapters contain references. Authors' biographies are included.

The "Handbook on Innovations in Learning" focuses on innovations--both methodological and technological--in teaching and learning that promise to surpass standard practice in achieving learning outcomes for students. The experts who have written chapters in this Handbook first identify the underlying principles of learning and then describe novel, balanced approaches, based on these principles, to accelerate learning. The chapters in this Handbook consider best practice from the perspective of topics emerging as priorities in education. Each of the authors presents a concise review of the literature on the topic of the chapter, an explanation of what the topic means in relation to education, and, suggests action principles for states, districts, and schools. The Handbook is structured into four parts. Part 1: Innovation in Learning, presents the following: (1) What Is an Innovation in Learning? (Sam Redding, Janet S. Twyman, and Marilyn Murphy). (2) Stimulating Innovation (or Making Innovation Meaningful Again) (Maureen M. Mirabito and T. V. Joe Layng); (3) Innovation, Implementation Science, and Data-Based Decision Making: Components of Successful Reform (Ronnie Detrich); and (4) The Logic of School Improvement, Turnaround, and Innovation (Sam Redding). Part 2: The Student in Learning Innovation, contains: (1) Innovative Practice in Teaching the English Language Arts: Building Bridges Between Literacy In School and Out (Michael W. Smith); (2) Innovations in Language and Literacy Instruction (Michael L. Kamil); (3) Specialized Innovations for Students with Disabilities (Joseph R. Boyle); and (4) Getting Personal: The Promise of Personalized Learning (Sam Redding). Part 3, Technology in Learning Innovation, contains: (1) Education + Technology + Innovation = Learning? (T. V. Joe Layng and Janet S. Twyman); (2) Games in Learning, Design, and Motivation (Catherine C. Schifter); (3) Advances in Online Learning (Herbert J. Walberg and Janet S. Twyman); and (4) Learning, Schooling, and Data Analytics (Ryan S. J. d. Baker). Part 4, Reports From the Field: Innovation in Practice, includes: (1) Idaho Leads: Applying Learning In and Out of the Classroom to Systems Reform (Lisa Kinnaman); (2) Using Response to Intervention Data to Advance Learning Outcomes (Amanda M. VanDerHeyden); and (3) Innovation in Career and Technical Education Methodology (Mark Williams). A glossary (Robert Sullivan) is included. Individual chapters contain references.

This "Handbook" offers a broad definition of family and community engagement, seen through the lens of scholars and practitioners with a wide-ranging set of perspectives on why and how families, communities, and schools collaborate with one another. Taken together, the chapters in this "Handbook" sketch out the components of a theory of change for the family and community engagement field. What is family and community engagement ultimately in service of? What do families know and do differently when this work is successful? What educational policies and practices will help us realize these changes? Following a Foreword (Sam Redding) and introduction (Helen Westmoreland) this handbook is organized into the following sections and chapters: Part I: Framing the Discussion: (1) New Directions for Title I Family Engagement: Lessons From the Past (Oliver C. Moles, Jr. & Arnold F. Fege); (2) The School Community: Working Together for Student Success (Sam Redding); (3) Making Data Matter in Family Engagement (Heather Weiss & M. Elena Lopez); (4) Engaging Families and Communities in School Turnarounds: When Students Can't Wait (Lauren Morando Rhim); (5) Social, Emotional, and Academic Learning: Complementary Goals for School-Family Partnerships (Amy Mart, Linda Dusenbury, & Roger P. Weissberg); and (6) Engaging the Entire Community: The Community Schools' Way (Marty Blank). Part II: Families and Learning: (7) Aspiration and Expectations: Providing Pathways to Tomorrow (William Jeynes); (8) Vignette: Jessica (William Jeynes); (9) Self-Efficacy: Up to the Challenge (Kathleen Hoover-Dempsey); (10) Curriculum of the Home (Herbert J. Walberg); (11) Vignette: Annabelle (Marilyn Murphy); (12) Homework and Study Habits (Lee Shumow); (13) Vignette: Tyler (Lee Shumow); (14) Engaging Families in Reading (Holly Kreider); (15) Vignette: Xiomara (Georganne Morin & Holly Kreider); (16) Reading and Literacy (Diana Hiatt-Michael); (17) Vignette: Alicia and Dan (Diana Hiatt-Michael); and (18) College and Career Readiness (Mary R. Waters & John Mark Williams). Part III: Families and Schools: (19) A Framework for Partnerships (Steven B. Sheldon); (20) Parent Leadership (Anne T. Henderson & Sam Redding); (21) Maximum Homework Impact: Optimizing Time, Purpose, Communication, and Collaboration (Frances Van Voorhis); (22) Differentiating Family Supports (Patricia Edwards); (23) Vignette: Angela (Patricia Edwards); (24) Bridging Language and Culture (Patricia Gándara); (25) Minority Families and Schooling (Susan J. Paik); (26) Association of Poverty With Family Relations and Children's and Adolescents' Socioemotional Adjustment (Ronald Taylor); (27) Vignette: Billy (Sam Redding); (28) Families of Children With Disabilities: Building School-Family Partnerships (Eva Patrikakou); (29) Vignette: Tony (Lori G. Thomas); (30) Linking Schools to Early Childhood (Kate McGilly); (31) Family Engagement in High Schools (Mavis Sanders); (32) Family and Community Engagement in Charter Schools (Brian R. Beabout & Lindsey B. Jakiel); (33) Family Engagement in Rural Schools (Amanda L. Witte & Susan M. Sheridan); (34) Bridging Two Worlds for Native American Families (Pamela Sheley); and (35) Vignette: Marie (Pamela Sheley). Part IV: Suggested Practices: (36) Checklist of Suggested Practices (Sam Redding). An About the Authors section is included. (Individual chapters contain references.)

Rural life is more complex than it is perhaps credited. This edited volume explores several themes that highlight such complexities, particularly in terms of what they imply for rural teaching and learning. These themes include the geographic, demographic, and socioeconomic diversity within and across rural communities; the notion that rurality is not a deficit but rather a context; and the array of novel and interesting ways to build upon rural assets and overcome challenges so that rural students are not afforded fewer educational opportunities simply by virtue of their zip code. More practically, this book offers counsel for readers who may be interested in learning more about rural circumstances so that they can make informed and responsive decisions about policies and programs targeting rural students, educators, and schools.

Commemorating the first 10 years of publication of the School Community Journal, this book presents a collection of articles from those 10 years and reflects its diverse contents. The articles are: (1) "The Community of the School" (Sam Redding); (2) "How My Immigrant Experience Shaped My Work with Families and Schools" (Dorothy Rich); (3) "The Politics of Virtue: A New Compact for Leadership in Schools" (Thomas J. Sergiovanni); (4) "The Impact of Race on School Change Teams" (Alison A. Carr-Chellman); (5) "In Search of the Elusive Magic Bullet: Parental Involvement and Student Outcomes" (Kim O. Yap and Donald Y. Enoki); (6) "Childhood: Our Children's Voices" (Frances K. Kochan); (7) "Our 'Changing' Town, Our 'Changing' School: Is Common Ground about 'Good' Classroom Practices Possible?" (Jean L. Konzal); (8) "Recommendations for Research on the Effectiveness of School, Family, and Community Partnerships" (Nancy Feyl Chavkin); (9) "Building a Learning Community through Teacher Action Research: Honoring Teacher Wisdom in Three Chicago Public Schools" (Norman Weston); (10) "Proactive Thoughts on Creating Safe Schools" (Constance M. Perry); (11) "Community-Based Education" (Christine J. Villani and Douglas Atkins); (12) "Improving Parent Involvement Programs and Practice: A Qualitative Study of Parent Perceptions" (Amy J. L. Baker); (13) "Improving Parent Involvement Programs and Practice: A Qualitative Study of Teacher Perceptions" (Amy J. L. Baker); (14) "The Peabody Family Involvement Initiative: Preparing Preservice Teachers for Family/School Collaboration" (Laurie Katz and Jerold P. Bauch); (15) "Parents' Educational Beliefs: Implications for Parent Participation in School Reforms" (Lee Shumow); (16) "Parent Involvement: The Key to Improved Student Achievement" (Steven R. Hara and Daniel J. Burke); (17) "Family-School Partnerships in Prekindergarten At-Risk Programs: An Exploratory Study" (Brent A. McBride, Ji-Hi Bae, and Thomas R. Range); (18) "Parent Involvement in American Public Schools: A Historic Perspective 1642-2000" (Diana Hiatt-Michael); (19) "Relationship, The Fourth 'R': The Development of a Classroom Community" (Nancy Meltzoff); (20) "Minimal Parental Involvement" (David J. Dwyer and Jeffrey B. Hecht); (21) "Family Programs for Academic Learning" (Herbert J. Walberg and Trudy Wallace); (22) "Connecting Families and Schools through Mediating Structures" (Vivian R. Johnson); (23) "Creating a Community of Readers" (Paul J. Baker and R. Kay Moss); and (24) "Someone's Most Precious Darling: Building the Home-School Connection in Preservice Teacher Education Programs" (Brenda Power and Constance M. Perry). All but one article contain references. (KB)