Recommended reading for K12 district leaders

Books on improving teachers, engaging science students, evaluating second languages and teaching media literacy education

Making Teachers Better, Not Bitter: Balancing Evaluation, Supervision, and Reflection for Professional Growth

ASCD

Tony Frontier, an educational consultant and educator, and Paul Mielke, a public school superintendent, use their personal experiences to address the importance of encouraging and supporting PD when assessing teacher competence. The authors provide nearly three dozen step-by-step protocols (and actual school examples) for working with teachers. They discuss each component in terms of purpose, premise, processes, practices and payoffs.

Making Science: Reimagining STEM Education in Middle School and Beyond

Constructing Modern Knowledge Press

This guide from anthropologist-turned-teacher Christa Flores explores the ways new technology and designer mindsets engage students in science. Referencing maker practices, Flores shares project ideas, connections to Next Generation Science Standards, assessment strategies and tips to illustrate an ideal STEM education. The book also includes examples of student work from elementary, middle and high school science classes that showcase how experiments, digital fabrication, making and design can be used to improve

science literacy.

Evaluating Second Language Courses

Information Age Publishing

Evaluating Second Language Courses, written by experts Dale Griffee and Greta Gorsuch, is designed for second-language teachers looking to improve their overall curriculum. The book offers models for second-language course evaluation, needs analyses, formative assessments and sample tests. The authors also share classroom observations, interviews with second-language instructors, sample curriculum and exams, and questionnaires designed to improve instruction.

Media Literacy in the K-12 Classroom, Second Edition

ISTE

Media expert Frank Baker’s update to the original 2012 edition focuses on helping K12 educators better define, understand and teach media literacy. In addition to more than 80 recommended resources, this version includes new insights from educators and experts, as well as media literacy lesson plans, guiding questions, exercises, and checklists for deconstructing media messages. The book also provides advice for teaching students how to avoid bias and stereotyping in their general approach to learning and writing.

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