How many times have you heard the word change in education? Okay, too many to count. Let’s just go with how many times you’ve heard change so far this year. Probably still a lot. It is no secret that change is a constant in education. But are we changing the right components to achieve the results we’re actually looking for?
That is the question co-author Dr. Tony Frontier poses in his book The Five Levers to Improve Learning. In a tongue-in-cheek type example, we say that you don’t improve student achievement by changing the bus routes. Of course we know this, but often times we try to improve learning by pulling levers completely unrelated to the problem.
Tony will take us through the five levers and how they should be properly pulled to bring about change. He also talks about leverage errors, which is the result when we pull one lever expecting change to happen in a different area.
About Tony
An award-winning teacher, engaging presenter, and best-selling author, Tony Frontier works with teachers and school leaders nationally and internationally to help them prioritize efforts to improve student engagement and student learning. With expertise in student engagement, formative assessment, effective instruction, teacher supervision, and strategic planning, Frontier emphasizes a systems approach to build capacity to empower teachers and leaders to improve each student’s schooling experience. He frequently facilitates workshops at international conferences and in schools and districts around the country.
In addition to his work as a consultant, Frontier serves as an assistant professor of doctoral leadership studies at Cardinal Stritch University, where he teaches courses in curriculum development, organizational learning, research methods, and statistics. As a former classroom teacher in Milwaukee Public Schools, an associate high school principal, and the director of curriculum and instruction for the Whitefish Bay School District, Frontier brings a wealth of experience as a classroom teacher, building administrator, and central office administrator to his workshops, writing, and research.
Frontier holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in leadership for the advancement of learning and service and a Master of Science degree in educational leadership from Cardinal Stritch University. He has been recognized by Marquette University as the Outstanding Young Alumnus for the School of Education, was the recipient of the Jack Keane Outstanding Young Educator Award for the State of Wisconsin, was selected as an ASCD emerging leader, and is a past member of the ASCD Leadership Council and a past-president of Wisconsin ASCD.
His publications include coauthoring several ASCD books and is also a frequent contributor to Educational Leadership® magazine. He can be reached at tonyfrontier@gmail.com
Resources from this episode:
- Five Levers to Improve Learning: How to Prioritize for Powerful Results in Your School
- Effective Supervision: Supporting the Art and Science of Teaching
- Making Teachers Better, Not Bitter: Balancing Teacher Evaluation, Supervision, and Reflection for Professional Growth
- Creating Passionate Learners: Today’s Classrooms for Tomorrow’s World