Why Can't We Get It Right?: Designing High-Quality Professional Development for Standards-Based Schools
“InWhy Can't We Get It Right? Second Edition, Marsha Speck and Caroll Knipe provide a thorough overview of what is known about the nature of professional development that produces high levels of learning and performance for teachers and their students. They admirably achieve their goal of showing how well-designed professional development with a clear focus on improved student learning can make a difference in teaching and student success.”(From the Foreword by Dennis Sparks, Executive Director)"This is indeed a caring and pioneering book. Seldom have I seen or read such a thorough, comprehensive, and theoretically sound text on professional development. I challenge teachers, parents, principals, superintendents, district office personnel, board members, and professors to add this book to (their) professional library, to use it as a text, and to share it with others."(Linda Lambert, Professor Ermeritus 2005-02-01)"Speck and Knipe's book is unique in that it does justice to both the complexity and the central role staff development must play in raising student achievement. The authors discuss professional development in a way that does not sacrifice depth for breadth, sound research for practical application, or comprehensiveness for expediency."(Laura Gschwend, Associate Principal 2005-02-01)Praise for the First Edition:"As a proponent of whole-system change and as a professor of change leaderhip in education, I highly recommend Marsha Speck and Caroll Knipe's book as a valuable guide for improving student, faculty, staff, and whole system learning. Professional development leaders concerned with whole-system improvement will want to have a copy of this book on their shelves."(Journal of Staff Development, Spring 2005 2005-05-02)"From an amazingly true-to-life perspective, this book explains how educational leaders can design, develop, and evaluate truly collaborative professional development . . . This second edition is intended to give supervisors and edge in the 'race for personal efficacy and collective power focused on student achievement.'"(NSTA Recommends, November 2005 2005-11-02)