"The time is right and the need is profound for learner-centered practices in schools. McCombs and Miller describe the tools available and how a school can use them to make substantial changes that increase student performance."
-Jean W. Pierce, Professor of Educational Psychology
Northern Illinois University

A new leadership paradigm for increasing collaboration and boosting achievement!

In today's educational environment, school leaders must find new ways to create a positive school climate for staff and students while helping them meet rigorous testing and accountability requirements.

The School Leader's Guide to Learner-Centered Education introduces a transformative leadership model for creating and sustaining a learner-centered school environment. Using core principles of educational psychology, the authors examine how educators can support student growth, development, and achievement by focusing on key factors such as cognition, metacognition, motivation, affect, and individual differences. Numerous reflective exercises, assessment tools, and real-life success stories help readers:

• Provide moral leadership for creating school change
• Incorporate learning standards without sacrificing student engagement
• Form learner-centered support groups that utilize networking and technology
• Prepare students for the challenges of global citizenship
• Promote success for diverse populations and marginalized groups

Designed to meet the needs of a rapidly evolving world, this new leadership paradigm provides school principals, superintendents, and district leaders with the means to engage all members of the educational community in a lifelong process of growth, improvement, and empowerment.

About the Author
Barbara L. McCombs directs the Human Motivation, Learning, and Development Center at the University of Denver. The center focuses on the professional development of educators, personal and organizational change, systemic educational reform, and school violence prevention. McCombs' current research is directed at new leadership models for redesigning outdated views of schooling and learning. This research has led to her international and national recognition in areas that include transformational teacher development approaches, motivating hard-to-reach students, and the use of technology as a primary tool for empowering youth and facilitating relevant learning. The author has begun a series of books published by Corwin Press. Learner-Centered Classroom Practices and Assessments: Maximizing Student Motivation, Learning, and Achievement (2006) was co-authored with Lynda Miller and written for teachers. Her second book in the series, written for school administrators and other school leaders, was also co-authored with Lynda Miller and is titled A School Leader's Guide to Creating Learner-Centered Education: From Complexity to Simplicity (2008). McCombs is the primary author of Learner-Centered Psychological Principles (LCPs): Guidelines for School Redesign and Reform. She has developed research-validated learner-centered models of teaching and learning based on the LCPs. Through collaborations with colleagues at the University of Bristol in England, she developed an online version of her Assessment of Learner-Centered Practices (ALCP) teacher and student surveys. These surveys have been validated with over 35,000 students and their teachers in Grades K-3, 4-8, 9-12, and college level. The ALCP surveys are being used in numerous national and international K-12 schools as well as colleges. Lynda Miller began her professional career as a junior high school English teacher in Westminster, Colorado. Her interest in language and cognitive development led her to graduate studies, which culminated in a PhD in language development and disorders and learning disabilities. She has held teaching positions at the University of Colorado, the University of Montana, and the University of Texas at Austin, where she pursued her research on cognition, learning styles, and intelligence. Her research and teaching focused on identifying and describing students' learning strengths and abilities, and on translating that information into instructional strategies designed to support students' developing skills as motivated, self-responsible learners. Miller is the author of numerous publications on a variety of topics, the majority of which focus on the learner and learning as the essential features of successful instruction.

Reviews
"This book is for any school that promotes book studies for professional development or that is looking for ways to reach the student in a personal manner." -- Jean L. Krsak, Faculty, CalStateTEACH
"The time is right and the need is profound for learner-centered practices in schools. McCombs and Miller describe the tools available and how a school can use them to make substantial changes that increase student performance." -- Jean W. Pierce, Professor of Educational Psychology



Book Information
ISBN 9781412960175
Author Barbara L. McCombs
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint Corwin Press Inc
Publisher SAGE Publications Inc
Weight(grams) 590g