You are here

The Architecture of School Improvement
Share

The Architecture of School Improvement
Lessons Learned



July 2013 | 136 pages | Corwin
The book will be an analog to the volume Corwin published in 2011, Essential Lessons for School Leaders. Specifically, there will be between 100 and 125 lessons, each of which will be highlighted on a separate page. For example: prevention trumps remediationcontext always matters. School improvement is about layering small gains. Most of these will be framed as laws, as was the case in the Lessons for Leaders volume. One difference is that this book will begin with a 13-page fable, ôThe Mournful Tale of the Death of Mr. School Improvement,' in which many of these laws fail to play out. Murphy may also generate a closing fable where lessons are seen not in breach but in practice.
 
The DNA of School Improvement
 
Preface
 
About the Author
 
Tales of School Improvement
The Mournful Tale of the Death of Mr. School Improvement

 
The Case of the Remarkable Reappearance of Mr. School Improvement

 
The Return of Mr. School Improvement

 
 
Framework for School Improvement
 
Essential Lessons
 
Epilogue
 
References
 
Index

"There are many books that provide quick-fix lists of a few strategies to promote comprehensive, large scale change in schools. Professor Murphy has taken a different approach that acknowledges the complexity of creating lasting improvements. Using both humor and his deep understanding of the research and practice of school leadership, he provides us with a memorable fable and short summaries of the lessons that any leader must keep in mind if they hope to make an enduring difference. In doing so, he reminds us of the importance of “steady work” as a mantra for changing schools. This little book should be mandatory reading for all students of school reform, irrespective of their position and their experience."

Karen Seahore Louis, Regents Professor
University of Minnesota

"This is a refreshingly accessible treatment of a serious subject, the means and mysteries of improving education in our schools. Murphy’s long-term engagement with research and practice in school improvement shines through in his willingness to grapple with the dilemmas that confront the best-intentioned efforts to bring about change in schools. The book affords us with insights drawn from the experience of one of America’s leading
education scholars of the past several decades."

Philip Hallinger, Joseph Lau Professor of Leadership and Change
Hong Kong Institute of Education

"Indicting, elucidating, and inspiring. Wrapped in an engaging, satirical, CSI-like investigation of the death and reincarnation (again!) of Mr. School Improvement, Murphy’s proverbs ring true to the best of our knowledge from decades of research and toil in the school improvement vineyard. This book will challenge and guide those who take school improvement seriously—teachers, principals, superintendents, designers and consultants, captains of the school improvement industry, civic leaders, policy makers, and researchers alike. I will keep this volume within short reach and refer to it often. I strongly recommend it to all who aspire to better understand, lead, and succeed at this most important work."

Mark A. Smylie, Professor of Education
University of Illinois at Chicago

Sample Materials & Chapters

Front Matter

Chapter One


For instructors

This book is not available as an inspection copy. For more information contact your local sales representative.

Purchasing options

Please select a format:

ISBN: 9781452268224
£17.99

SAGE Knowledge is the ultimate social sciences digital library for students, researchers, and faculty. Hosting more than 4,400 titles, it includes an expansive range of SAGE eBook and eReference content, including scholarly monographs, reference works, handbooks, series, professional development titles, and more.

The platform allows researchers to cross-search and seamlessly access a wide breadth of must-have SAGE book and reference content from one source.

SAGE Knowledge brings together high-quality content from across our imprints, including CQ Press and Corwin titles.