Rigorous Schools and Classrooms: Leading the Way 

by Ronald Williamson and Barbara Blackburn
(Eye on Education, 2010)

Reviewed by Renee Moore, NBCT
Guest Blogger

“Rigorous Schools and Classrooms: Leading the Way” is a follow-up to Barbara Blackburn’s 2008 book, “Rigor is Not a Four-Letter Word” (see Karen Molter’s review here), and the books should be studied together. Both authors are former teachers (Williamson is also a former principal) whose educational careers extend from classroom teachers to respected university researchers.

While Blackburn’s first book was aimed at teachers, this book shows school leaders how to navigate an entire school toward a more rigorous culture and ...
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By Cathy Gassenheimer

I attended a wonderful and eclectic wedding this weekend. The invitation and the ceremony were nontraditional, tailored by the bride and groom to make their day special. This morning I was reflecting on the wedding and showing some colleagues the invitation and program. As I did so, I began to see some parallels to the teaching profession. Read More...

By Cathy Gassenheimer

Teaching quality seems to be on everyone’s minds these days. A recent speech by Stanford economist Eric Hanushek raised the ante. He suggests “an investment in education, designed to improve and increase students’ skills, is the best and most effective strategy for stimulating the economic recovery.”

Hanushek argues that student achievement gains cannot be attributed to investments in “per-pupil expenditures, class size, pupil/teacher ratios, whether or not teachers have a master’s degree, years of experience, and teacher certification.”

So what CAN make a difference? Read More...

By Cathy Gassenheimer

Imagine educators having the opportunity to spend an entire day working with colleagues to discuss and clearly identify what effective teaching “looks like.” “Wait a minute,” I can almost hear you say, “Don’t educators already have a clear image of effective teaching?”

Apparently not, according to Tony Wagner and his colleagues at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education.

“Achieving a shared vision of what is good instruction is much more difficult than most people imagine,” contends Wagner Read More...

By Sallie Owen Gowan

When education consultant Jackie A. Walsh, Ph.D, isn’t driving the work of the Alabama Governor’s Commission on Quality Teaching or delivering professional development for the Alabama Best Practices Center, she writes about effective questioning. Her latest effort is “Leading Through Quality Questioning” from Corwin Press, which Jackie co-authored with Beth D. Sattes.

“Questions are more transformative than answers,” according to author and community engagement evangelist Peter Block. With that in mind, Jackie and Beth have put together a practical, nuts-and-bolts book that explains not only why school leaders should work this way – but also how to do it.

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By Cathy Gassenheimer

I just finished reading a thought-provoking article in the February issue of Educational Leadership titled “Start Where Your Students Are,” by Robyn R. Jackson. She posits that to get all students to learn, teachers need to understand their “currency.” She defines currency as “any behavior that students use to acquire the knowledge and skills important to your class.” She gives examples such as students who want approval from the teacher tend to ...
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