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Unmistakable Impact

A Partnership Approach for Dramatically Improving Instruction

By: Jim Knight

Foreword by Michael Fullan

Award-winning author Jim Knight outlines strategies for becoming an Impact School through targeted, consistent professional learning that is done with teachers, not to teachers.

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Product Details

Grade Level: K-12
ISBN: 9781412994309
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2010
Page Count: 336
Publication date: May 31, 2012

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Description

A focused approach to school improvement that hits the mark

A staggering amount of evidence shows that our schools are not as effective as they should be, and they are working toward improvement. This book simplifies the process for becoming an Impact School through targeted, consistent professional learning that is done with teachers, not to teachers. Award-winning author Jim Knight describes how to translate staff members’ joy of learning into high-leverage practices that achieve dramatic student outcomes. Characteristics of Impact Schools include

A focused, clearly defined improvement plan that takes into account the complexity of teaching and learning relationships
A school culture that encourages enrollment in ongoing professional development
Alignment of purpose and actions among all staff members

Helpful resources include tangible tools and reproducibles for use by principals, workshop leaders, professional learning communities, and instructional coaches. When everyone learns, every student receives excellent instruction every day in every class. Unmistakable Impact provides the roadmap to remarkable results.

Author(s)

Jim Knight

Dr. Jim Knight, Founder and Senior Partner of Instructional Coaching Group (ICG), is also a research associate at the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning. He has spent more than two decades studying professional learning and instructional coaching. Jim earned his PhD in Education from the University of Kansas and has won several university teaching, innovation, and service awards.

The pioneering work Jim and his colleagues have conducted has led to many innovations that are now central to professional development in schools. Jim wrote the first major article about instructional coaching for the Journal of Staff Development, and his book Instructional Coaching (2007) offered the first extended description of instructional coaching. Jim’s book Focus on Teaching (2014) was the first extended description of how video should be used for professional learning. Recently, writing with Ann Hoffman, Michelle Harris, and Sharon Thomas, Jim introduced the idea of instructional playbooks with their book on that topic.

Jim has written several books in addition to those described above, including Unmistakable Impact (2011), High-Impact Instruction (2013), Better Conversations (2015), The Impact Cycle (2018), and The Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching (2021). Knight has also authored articles on instructional coaching and professional learning in publications such as Educational Leadership, The Journal of Staff Development, Principal Leadership, The School Administrator, and Kappan. Jim is also a columnist for Educational Leadership and.

Through ICG, Knight conducts coaching workshops, hosts the Facebook Live Program, “Coaching Conversations,” and provides consulting for coaching programs around the world.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Michael Fullan

Preface

Acknowledgments

About the Author

1. Impact Schools

The Best Jobs

The Failure of the American School System

Unmistakable Impact

Core Concepts of an Impact School

What You Will Find in This Book

To Sum Up

Going Deeper

2. Partnership

Helping Others

Partnership: The Theory Behind Impact Schools

Equality: Professional Learning With Teachers Rather Than Training Done to Teachers

Choice: Teachers Should Have Choice Regarding What and How They Learn

Voice: Professional Learning Should Empower and Respect the Voices of Teachers

Reflection: Reflection Is an Integral Part of Professional Learning

Dialogue: Professional Learning Should Enable Authentic Dialogue

Praxis: Teachers Should Apply Their Learning to Their Real-Life Practice as They Are Learning

Reciprocity: We Should Expect to Get as Much as We Give

To Sum Up

Going Deeper

3. Principals

Leading Schools and the Partnership Principles

Principals as Designers

The Target

The Big Four

Creating the Target

Observing and Monitoring Teacher Progress

Principals as First Learners

Making It All Happen

Getting Support From Central Office

To Sum Up

Going Deeper

4. Instructional Coaching

Partnership

Partnering With Administrators

Workshops and Intensive Learning Teams

Components of Coaching

Who Should Be a Coach

To Sum Up

Going Deeper

5. Workshops That Make an Impact

Take the Partnership Approach

Address the Impact Factors

Use Effective Design

Apply Learning to Real Life

Deliver the Message Powerfully

Connect With the Audience

Walk the Talk

Keep the Energy High

Use Dialogue Architectures

Tell Stories

To Sum Up

Going Deeper

6. Intensive Learning Teams

The Challenge

Partnership Principles

Address Impact Factors

Partnership Facilitation

Intensive Learning Teams

To Sum Up

Going Deeper

7. Partnership Communication

Partnership Principles and Communication

Listening

Good Questions

Finding Common Ground

Controlling Difficult Emotions

Love Your Partners

To Sum Up

Going Deeper

Final Thoughts

Resource A: Impact Toolkit

Administrator Resources

Big Four Observation Tools

Teacher Progress Map (TPM) Resources

Coach Resources: What Coaches Do

Additional Tools

Intensive Learning Teams

Resource B: Research

Research on Coaching

Research on Workshops

Research on Intensive Learning Teams

References and Further Readings

Index

Reviews

"Unmistakable Impact exemplifies everything Jim Knight advocates: a clear focus, respect for educators’ significant contributions, and the value that well-designed professional learning contributes to school improvement efforts."

Dennis Sparks, Former Executive Director
Learning Forward

"A must read for anyone who cares about learning, this book is from the heart. Knight uses his own experiences to describe processes and strategies for impacting student and adult learning in today’s schools."

Sandee Crowther, President
Phi Delta Kappa International

“Jim Knight's work has had a tremendous impact on the quality of our professional development practices that that are job-embedded and meet the REAL needs of our teachers. He is a consummate relationship builder who models how to establish the types of relationships necessary for second-order change to occur."

Carolyn J. Teigland, Associate Superintendent for Education Services
Cecil County Public Schools, Elkton, MD

"Jim Knight outlines a clear path to success for educators to make sense out of the complex nature of external mandates, competing initiatives and prevailing traditional models found within many schools and districts around the nation."

Ken Geisick, Superintendent
Riverbank Unified School District, CA

"Unmistakable Impact takes us deeper into the realm of grounded school improvement—a great contribution to the field."

Michael Fullan, Professor and Author
University of Toronto, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Centre for Teacher Development

“Jim Knight helps us to understand how learning can be infectious, energizing, and humanizing as he eloquently delineates the steps involved in creating an impact school. I suggest buying this book for all principals who want to strengthen their schools. I believe that Unmistakable Impact will be a resource they return to time and again."

Stephanie Hirsh, Executive Director
Learning Forward, Dallas, TX

"The book introduces the reader to the theoretical framework, strategies, structure and findings from qualitative studies on instructional coaching to explain how partnership learning supports effective instruction and student achivement."

Susan Farber, University of Cincinnati
Education Review

Other Titles in: Staff Development & Professional Learning | Instructional Leadership

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