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School improvement plans based on a year-long cycle are problematic; this approach often leads to efforts toward improvement being frustrated and goals not being met. Jackson explains why creating a 90-day plan focused on attacking one root problem at a time leads to greater improvement, giving an example of a struggling school she helped improve in this way.

While schools' official vision statements--statements school leaders write telling their own deep vision for what they want their school to be--generally aren't empowering, they could be. A well-crafted vision statement is a powerful tool because it articulates the promise a leader and school staff make to students and provides focus. Drawing on her work with principals, Jackson shows how to write a statement with three essential aspects: passion, specifics for actions, and a commitment to 100% of learners.

The "School Violence Survey" (SVS) was developed as an instrument to investigate students' perceptions of school environment, their experiences and interactions within diverse social groups, and their views on school violence issues including bullying. A total of 806 students across four Midwest high schools and middle schools completed the paper version of the survey while at school. Of those students, 130 also completed the same survey online. The goal of utilizing two formats was to examine the validity of the relationship between the responses on the paper version versus the online version. The results indicated that the online SVS was a psychometrically valid instrument. In addition, an important factor emerged, Group Control, that indicated that as the adult administration and teachers allowed one group of students to maintain the behavior of other groups of students, the likelihood of violent behavior, such as bullying and witnessing students being threatened with weapons, increased. In addition, as the Group Control variable increased, so too did the students feelings that they were less safe at school, and that they were more likely to think of ways to make schools safer. The present study indicated that school environment and climate play a critical role in the development of violent behavior. (Contains 10 tables.)

A teacher establishes red flags--clear and unambiguous warning signals--that enable her to intervene before students fail. Any student who has less than an 80 percent class average or who receives less than 80 percent on a quiz immediately moves into an intervention cycle in which the teacher regularly "checks in" with the student. Interventions include providing a review packet and various instructional supports, requiring student attendance at lunchtime acceleration and remediation sessions, and conferencing with parents. This article addresses how to close the achievement gap for at-risk students through assessment and remedial instruction.

Starting where your students are means understanding how currencies are negotiated and traded in the classroom. Any behavior that students use to acquire the knowledge and skills needed in the classroom functions as currency. Teachers communicate the kinds of currencies they accept in their classrooms, such as getting good grades; students do their best to acquire and trade in the teacher's accepted form of currency. But students also have currencies they value, such as desiring the approval of their friends. By honoring their own and students' currencies, teachers can help all students more successfully access the curriculum. Teachers need to recognize alternative currencies, figure out the "soft skills" students need to succeed, and find a common currency that is satisfactory both to them and their students.

Strategic conversations are a series of targeted, individualized interactions with teachers that are designed to help them significantly improve their instruction. Unlike typical supervisory feedback, strategic conversations move in two directions. Together, the leader and the teacher identify problems and develop solutions to instructional challenges. Such interaction gives teachers the support and structure they need to eventually make their own choices about how they will resolve their instructional challenges and grow as professionals. Strategic conversations rely on four conversational approaches: (1) reflecting; (2) facilitating; (3) coaching; and (4) directing. Each of these approaches yields a different outcome depending on who the teacher is and what the teacher needs. No single conversation will be a magic bullet, but by combining all four approaches and appropriately matching them to the teacher and the situation, the leader can move the teacher toward specific instructional goals. In this article, the author discusses the steps of strategic conversations.

We investigated whether or not leaves of tall-shrub species show lower losses to herbivorous insects in the folded or rolled (FR) stage than in the unfolded or unrolled expanding (UE) stage, and support lower rates of growth and survival of relevant insects. In a season-longfield study on Cornus sanguinea, Euonymus europaeus, Ligustrum vulgare, Prunus spinosa and Rosa canina in SW-Germany we found that rates of area loss were markedly lower on FR than UE leaves, and also loweron fully expanded, mature (M) leaves. The prevalent herbivores were lepidopteran larvae (Croesia bergmanniana, Ectropis bistorta, Yponomeuta padellus). A longitudinal method of recording revealed 2-3 times higher leaf-area losses than discrete sampling toward the end of the season; even the ranking of the shrub species differed between longitudinal and discrete sampling. In a laboratory trial larvae of the polyphagous moth Ectropis bistorta (the commonest herbivore) strongly preferred UE leaves of Rosa canina over FR or M leaves. Also rates of survival, growth and pupal weight were greatest on UE leaves, and lowest on FR leaves. In a field study on eleven shrub species in SE-England we sought to find reasons why FR leaves are less attractive and less nutritious. Leaves in the FR stage had a significantly higher nitrogen concentration than the UE stage, and their water content was similar. Only in five of eleven species were the leaves hairy at the FR stage, and glabrous at the M stage. Specific leaf area was lower in the FR stage than in the UE stage. Avoidance of FR leaves could possibly be caused by difficulties in eating through the edges of double-thickness laminae in folded leaves, gaining access to the leaf edge in rolled leaves, and maintaining attachment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]