Failure Is Not an Option: Six Principles That Guide Student Achievement in High-Performing Schools by Alan M. Blankstein, Michael Fullan

Synopsis

"Failure Is Not an Option is a deeply passionate call to arms, combined with the wherewithal to take systematic, continuous, and effective action. A must read for all those interested in reform because it is simultaneously inspiring and practical."
From the Foreword by Michael Fullan, Dean
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto

"This is a practical, well formatted book that is intellectually solid, emotionally inspiring, and practically accessible."
Andy Hargreaves, Thomas More Brennan Chair in Education
Lynch School of Education, Boston College

"Both inspirational and eminently practical, Failure Is Not an Option can serve as a handbook for both strategic planning and classroom-by-classroom reworking. Any administrator who truly wishes to change his or her school can use this book as a manual from which to design every aspect of the change process."
Robert W. Cole, Educational writer and consultant
Louisville, KY

"This book speaks to the spark of caring, generosity, and greatness in every child and provides caring adults with ideas and tools to unleash this potential. It leaves no part of the child behind, and leaves no adult on the sidelines."
Maurice J. Elias, Professor of Psychology
Rutgers University, New Jersey

Building on a foundation that identifies courageous school leadership and the professional learning community as the center of effective school reform, this powerful newbook by Alan M. Blankstein offers six guiding principles for creating and sustaining high-performing schools:

1. Common mission, vision, values, and goals

2. Systems for prevention and intervention

3. Collaborative teaming for teaching and learning

4. Data driven decision making and continuous improvement

5. Active engagement from family and community

6. Building sustainable leadership capacity

Covering theory into practice, applications that include case studies and vignettes, and techniques for addressing difficult issues, the book also provides valuable dual perspectives on the critical issues: how implementation looks when it's done right as well as when things go wrong. Failure Is Not an Option is sure to be the state-of-the-art resource that school leaders reach for when, in Michael Fullan's words, they need "practical applications to perplexing problems."

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Biography

Alan M. Blankstein is Founder and President of the HOPE Foundation, a not-for-profit organization whose Honorary Chair is Nobel Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The HOPE Foundation (Harnessing Optimism and Potential through Education) is dedicated to supporting educational leaders over time in creating school cultures where failure is not an option for any student. HOPE has a decade-long track record of sustaining student success in districts throughout North America.

The HOPE Foundation launched the professional learning communities movement in educational circles, first by bringing W. Edwards Deming and his work to light in a series of Shaping America's Future forums and PBS video conferences from 1988 -- 1992. Now, The HOPE Foundation provides some 20 conferences annually as well as long-term support for thousands of educational leaders throughout North America and other parts of the world through leadership academies and intensive on-site school change efforts.

A former "high risk" youth, Alan began his career in education as a music teacher and has worked in youth-serving organizations since 1983, including the March of Dimes, Phi Delta Kappa, and the National Educational Service (now Solution Tree) which he founded in 1987 and directed for 12 years.

Alan is author of the best-selling book Failure Is Not an Option™: Six Principles That Guide Student Achievement in High-Performing Schools, which has been awarded"Book of the Year" by the National Staff Development Council. Currently, Alan is Senior Editor along with Paul Houston of the eight-volume The Soul of Educational Leadership series. Alan also co-authored the Reaching Today's Youth curriculum with Rick Dufour and has published articles in Educational Leadership, The School Administrator, Executive Educator, High School Magazine, Reaching Today's Youth, and Inside the Workshop. Alan has also provided keynote presentations and workshops for virtually every major educational organization.

Alan is on the Harvard International Principals Centers advisory board, served as Board member for Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health, is Co-Chair of Indiana University's Neal Marshall Black Culture Center's Community Network and advisor to the Faculty and Staff for Student Excellence (FASE) mentoring program. He is also an advisory board member for the Forum on Race, Equity, and Human Understanding with the Monroe County Schools in Indiana, and served on the Board of Trustees for the Jewish Child Care Agency (JCCA), in which he was once a youth in residence.