Solving Academic and Behavior Problems

<p><strong>If you are a teacher looking for a proven way to help and inspire more students a coach searching for more effective practices to support teachers or a school leader working to create positive systemwide change then this book is for you. It is a book of wish <em>craft</em>--a way to craft or to make real our most important wishes for our students.<br />--From the foreword by Harvey F. Silver</strong></p><p>How many times have you been stumped by a student's failure to learn? You tried everything in your tool kit but nothing worked. Now what if there were a process that would help you pinpoint the student's specific need and design an action plan to swiftly remedy the problem? In <em>Solving Academic and Behavior Problems</em> Margaret Searle and Marilyn Swartz offer just that.</p><p>This process based on the positive psychology of appreciative inquiry builds on what <em>is</em> working with students to address what is <em>not</em> working. It's a system of support that helps general education teachers partner with specialists and parents to learn new ways to enrich academic social-emotional and behavioral growth through structured conversations and a series of productive meetings of 30 minutes or less.</p><p>Using more than 25 video clips Searle and Swartz walk you through the six basic steps of the appreciative inquiry problem-solving process:<br />1. Connect with team members and stakeholders.<br />2. Review the meeting focus/concern.<br />3. Share a story that details when you successfully addressed the concern.<br />4. Establish a goal using a concise DATA framework.<br />5. Design an action plan.<br />6. Commit to an action.</p><p>The authors also outline how to use <em>five whys</em> to uncover hidden barriers to student achievement when learning isn't improving.</p><p>Each chapter contains links to online video examples activities reflection questions scenarios handy tools and tips from practitioners. A great resource to strengthen RTI and MTSS plans and invaluable to teachers support staff and administrators alike <em>Solving Academic and Behavior Problems</em> provides the kind of insights and guidance that expand and sharpen educators' capacity to help all students learn.</p>