Education Disrupted

Failing schools have become the latest academic cottage industry, and they serve as lightning rods for the controversy that continues to surround the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Surprisingly, there are only a handful of books that address the topic of turning around failing schools and even fewer that provide a meaningful discussion on how individual schools should avoid failure from the outset.

This book will help public school educators understand that turnaround efforts are based on sound leadership principles – nothing more, nothing less. It also provides school leaders with the critical skills to turn around failing schools and, more importantly, prevent their schools from failing in the first place.

Individual chapters address topics such as setting institutional priorities, establishing a positive school culture, improving communications, developing classroom leadership, putting the school on a sound financial footing, and using data to guide the school turnaround. In essence, this book serves as a practical guide for instructional and institutional leaders on how to make a "real” difference in the success of our nation's schools.

Les Stein, Ed.D. is a former school principal. He currently works as an educational consultant and as adjunct professor of education for several colleges and universities. He served on active duty in the United States Marine Corps for more than 26 years, retiring as a Colonel.

Alex Stein, Ph.D. is an assistant professor at the Fox School of Business and Management of Temple University. Before his academic career, he served in various managerial and consulting capacities in a number of technology industries. He has written articles for leading journals in the fields of marketing strategy and customer relationship management.

Jessica Stein received her Master of Arts in Leadership, Policy, & Politics (Education Policy) from Teachers College, Columbia University. She currently serves as an adjunct professor of business communications at Temple University. She has worked in the area of data-driven decision-making with the School District of Philadelphia and taught tenth grade English at a Philadelphia charter school.