September 2023 MBR The Education Shelf

The Education Shelf

Build Reading Fluency, second edition
Timothy Rasinski, author
Chase Young, author
Shell Education Publishing
c/o Teacher Created Materials
https://www.teachercreatedmaterials.com
9798765903216, $39.99, PB, 164pp

https://www.amazon.com/Build-Reading-Fluency-Practice-Performance/dp/B0BXTS89DM

Synopsis: With the publication of "Build Reading Fluency: Practice and Performance with Reader's Theater and More" by Timothy Rasinski and Chase Young, classroom teachers and home schooling parents will discoveriscover innovative ways to incorporate fluency practice into reading instruction!

This professional resource provides teachers and parents with engaging and practical strategies for bringing fluency instruction into daily reading routines. Written by fluency expert Timothy Rasinski and literacy and reader's theater expert Chase Young, "Build Reader Fluency" offers instructional strategies to help teachers and parents understand fluency and how to teach it.

With step-by-step strategies, detailed lessons, and ideas for improving fluency, this meaningful guide allows teachers and parents to provide purposeful reading opportunities for their students.

Now classroom teachers and home schooling parents can help every student become a confident and fluent reader with this professional, accessible resource!

Critique: Expertly written, impressively organized, and thoroughly 'user friendly' in presentation, "Build Reading Fluency: Practice and Performance with Reader's Theater and More" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, school district, and academic library Reading Skill Development instructional resource collections.

Editorial Note #1: Timothy Rasinski,(http://timrasinski.com) is the author of numerous best-selling books, articles, and curriculum programs on literacy education. He is a professor of literacy education at Kent State University where he previously directed the university's award-winning reading clinic (Camp Read-A-Lot). A former elementary and middle school classroom teacher and reading specialist, Dr. Rasinski is well known for his work on word study and reading fluency.

Editorial Note #2: Chase Young, PhD, former elementary teacher and literacy coach and co-author of Artfully Teaching the Science of Reading. He is a professor in the School of Teaching and Learning at Sam Houston State University. He is also an editor of Literacy Research and Instruction, a founding editor of the Journal of Teacher Action Research, and formerly the Silverman Endowed Chair in Literacy at Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi where he was selected as one of Corpus Christi's 40 Under 40 for his work with young readers in the community. (http://www.thebestclass.org/professional-development.html)

50 Strategies for Integrating AI into the Classroom
Donnie Piercey
Shell Education Publishing
c/o Teacher Created Materials
https://www.teachercreatedmaterials.com
9798765947104, $21.99, PB, 96pp

https://www.amazon.com/50-Strategies-Integrating-into-Classroom/dp/B0C5G74W4N

Synopsis: With the publication of "50 Strategies for Integrating AI into the Classroom" by AI education specialist Donnie Piercey, teachers can learn how to harness the power of AI in their classroom! This professional resource includes 50 easy-to-implement strategies for using AI technology as a tool for teaching.

"50 Strategies for Integrating AI into the Classroom" will save teachers valuable time with activities that boost literacy, content knowledge, and student engagement using AI tools. Written by a teacher who specializes in using technology in his own classroom, this is a professional instructional reference and curriculum builder that introduces artificial intelligence and the many ways it can help educators.

These quick, accessible strategies for using AI academically and creatively can be used in any K-12 classroom. From sample prompts for AI to activities that support community building and fun, help teachers save valuable time and implement creative strategies with the tools in this unique resource!

Critique: Given the attention currently being focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI), "50 Strategies for Integrating AI into the Classroom" is informative, timely, accessibly organized and thoroughly 'teacher friendly' in presentation. While also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $13.19), "50 Strategies for Integrating AI into the Classroom" is a unique and highly recommended addition to personal, professional, school district, college and university library Artificial Intelligence & Education collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note: Donnie Piercey (https://resources.mrpiercey.com/bio) is the 2021 Kentucky Teacher of the Year and teaches fifth grade in Lexington, Kentucky. After graduating from Asbury College and earning his master's from Auburn Montgomery, he has been teaching in Kentucky since 2007. Donnie specializes in using technology to promote student inquiry, learning, and engagement.

A Research Agenda for Leadership Learning and Development through Higher Education
Susan R. Kornives & Julie E. Owen, editors
Edward Elgar Publishing
9 Dewey Court, Northampton, MA 01060-3815
www.e-elgar.com
9781800887770, $170.00 HC / $40.00 ebook, 334pp

https://www.amazon.com/Research-Leadership-Learning-Development-Education/dp/1800887779

Synopsis: Bringing together enlightening contributions from experienced scholars of leadership education along with a team of early career critical scholars, "A Research Agenda for Leadership Learning and Development through Higher Education" examines essential dimensions of leadership education processes and outcomes and interrogates the knowledge bases that shape these dimensions. It explores higher educational contexts, different types of leadership learners, key program design elements and pedagogies, and classic and critical research methodologies.

Each chapter adopts a critical analysis approach to scrutinize existing research and identify key challenges, gaps, and tensions in the field of leadership learning and development. Providing a rationale for centering the future of leadership education in social justice, the book ultimately challenges the reader to prioritize innovation, inclusion, and equity in their research and practice going forward.

"A Research Agenda for Leadership Learning and Development through Higher Education" will prove to be an essential resource for leadership educators and practitioners interested in advancing equity and social justice outcomes in their program delivery. Its overview of the cutting edge of research will also be foundational in introductory graduate leadership education programs.

Critique: Informatively enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of a complete listing of the contributors and their credentials, tables, and an index, "A Research Agenda for Leadership Learning and Development through Higher Education" is expertly co-edited by academicians Susan R. Kornives and Julie E. Owen. The fourteen articles comprising "A Research Agenda for Leadership Learning and Development through Higher Education" are deftly organized into four major sections: Context & Framing; Leader & Leadership Development; Leadership Education; Call to Action for Critical & Innovative Research. This seminal compendium is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, college, and university library Education Research collections and supplemental Education Administration curriculum studies lists. The eBook version is priced $40.00; both the eBook and print versions can be ordered from the Edward Elgar Publishing website.

Editorial Note #1: Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary. Adopting a multilevel perspective, this innovative Research Agenda offers a comprehensive and critical overview of research on all aspects of contemporary leadership education.

Editorial Note #2: Susan R. Komives (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Susan-Komives) is Professor Emerita, Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education, College of Education, University of Maryland.

Editorial Note #3: Julie E. Owen (https://integrative.gmu.edu/people/jowen4) is the Associate Professor of Leadership Studies, School of Integrative Studies, George Mason University, USA.

UDL Now!: A Teacher's Guide to Applying Universal Design for Learning, third edition
Katie Novak
Cast, Inc.
https://www.cast.org
9781930583825, $29.99, PB, 196pp

https://www.amazon.com/UDL-Now-Teachers-Applying-Universal/dp/1930583826

Synopsis: Now in an expanded and updated third edition of "UDL Now!: A Teacher's Guide to Applying Universal Design for Learning", Katie Novak (education consultant, an author, an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania) provides practical insights and savvy strategies for helping all learners succeed in a post-pandemic world using the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

This powerful guide for educators covers timely topics including: Supporting UDL within multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS); UDL in the service of equity; Recruiting and engaging learners as UDL partners; How UDL and Differentiated Instruction (DI) work together; The role of student choice and voice; What learning expertise really means; Preparing for standardized assessments the UDL way.

In this third edition of "UDL Now!", Novak presents examples throughout in order to make the content relevant and digestible. She then concludes each individual chapter with reflection questions to help classroom teachers apply key concepts to their work. "UDL Now!" is a fun and effective playbook for great teaching.

Critique: Exceptionally well written, impressively 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation, offering a complete course of instruction in a single 196 page volume, this new third edition of "UDL Now!: A Teacher's Guide to Applying Universal Design for Learning" will have a very special appeal and value to anyone with an interest in Special Education and Inclusive Education. While especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, school district, college, and university library Education Administration collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists, it should be noted that "UDL Now!" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $22.49).

Editorial Note: Katie Novak (www.novakeducation.com), is the founder and director of Novak Education. She is an internationally renowned education consultant, an author, an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and a former assistant superintendent of schools in Massachusetts. Katie has two decades of experience in teaching and administration, has an earned doctorate in curriculum and teaching from Boston University, and has authored or coauthored 10 published books, including Equity by Design: Delivering on the Power and Promise of UDL, and UDL and Blended Learning: Thriving in Flexible Learning Landscapes, Innovate Inside the Box: Empowering Learners Through UDL and the Innovator's Mindset, and UDL Playbook for School and District Leaders. Follow her on Twitter @KatieNovakUDL

The Kid Across the Hall
Reid Saaris
Redwood Press
c/o Stanford University Press
www.sup.org
9781503615274, $28.00, HC, 352pp

https://www.amazon.com/Students-Across-Hall-Inequality-American/dp/1503615278

Synopsis: Growing up, Reid Saaris was confused and disturbed by the radically different opportunities his best friend Jamie received. After a childhood spent together, Jamie and Reid found themselves on opposite sides of a high school hallway that separated kids based on a misunderstanding of their supposed "potential". The gap between the two friends widened as Reid's classes enabled him to pursue an elite college degree across the country studying educational opportunity and teaching.

Then, Reid became a teacher at an under-resourced South Carolina high school where efforts to serve the incredible students were stymied by internal segregation and administrative ambivalence. He was disabused of the Hollywood myth that a good teacher could simply save the day, when each false start with his students forced him to reckon with how much he didn't know. After Reid assigned students a project to create a positive change, they pushed him to figure out how he, too, could make a bigger difference.

While an individual's efforts are no match against entrenched systems, Reid learned firsthand that a community of people powered by data can effect change. This lesson motivated him to found Equal Opportunity Schools (EOS), a nationwide nonprofit dedicated to finding the students who were overlooked, discouraged, or otherwise missing from higher-level classes.

As EOS became more successful, partnering with major philanthropies, universities, and even the White House, Reid grappled with his role as a leader. Only through the efforts of, first, his students in South Carolina, and later his team at EOS, would he come to understand, and begin to overcome, the limitations of his vision.

Informed by extensive new data on educational opportunity in America, The Kid Across the Hall is a powerful story of learning and unlearning; of leading and learning to follow.

Critique: A brilliant and effective blending of personal memoir with educational reformation experience "The Kid Across the Hall: The Fight for Opportunity in Our Schools" by educator Reid Saaris will have immense value for readers with an interest in the educational ramification of income inequality and the role that nonprofit organizations and collective 'front line' leadership can accomplish. While also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99), "The Kid Across the Hall: The Fight for Opportunity in Our Schools" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, school district, college, and university library Contemporary American Biography/Memoir collections and supplemental Teacher Education curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note: Reid Saaris (https://eoschools.org/who/board/reid-saaris) is the founder of Equal Opportunity Schools, a nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that students of all backgrounds have opportunities to succeed at the highest levels. He is an Echoing Green, a Draper Richards Kaplan, and a Stanford Social Innovation Fellow, and has advised federal, state, and local leaders, teachers, philanthropies, companies, and universities on topics like justice, impact, data analysis, communications, and learning. His most challenging and meaningful professional experiences have been as a classroom teacher.

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