Five Levers to Improve Learning: How to Prioritize for Powerful Results in Your School

by Tony Frontier, James Rickabaugh

Why have decades of school reform had so little measurable effect on student achievement? Why have billions of dollars spent on technology, small-school initiatives, and school-choice options failed to improve our schools? Too often, educators are simply pulling the wrong levers, say Tony Frontier and James Rickabaugh. They explain that the various components of schooling fall into five structure , sample , standards , strategy , and self . Understanding how these five “levers” work--and their relative power--can help unlock the potential for lasting improvements in teaching and learning. The authors show readers that changes to structure and sample (how schools are organized and how students are grouped) will not be effective without changes to standards (expectations for student learning), strategy (instructional strategies to engage students in meaningful learning), and self (the set of beliefs teachers and students have about their capacity to be effective). At the heart of this book is a simple message for teachers, administrators, board members, and education policymakers at all the key to success is not doing more work and making more changes, but doing the right work, and making the right changes.

257 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Alex Valencic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was first introduced to this book in a graduate class on school improvement. The instructor was awful, but the readings we were given were great. Jump ahead a year and I finally decided to give it a thorough read. I've been sharing snippets on Facebook to remember parts that I feel are most relevant to my work as an educator. The conclusion is that we spend too much time on things that don't matter and not enough time on the things that do. I'm hoping to apply the lessons of Five Levers to better leverage structure, sample, standards, strategies, and self to improve teaching and learning.

[Jenny GB · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book aimed at decision makers in schools to try to encourage them to create changes that really make a difference. The book is arranged in ascending order from changes that don't make a big difference in learning outcomes such as changing technology, length of school days, ways students are grouped into classes, etc. which they call structure and sample. Then they move onto things that have a bigger impact, like standards for teaching, and then finally moving onto the most powerful change agents of strategy (teaching strategies) and self (student self- beliefs). They make a good case of how real change comes about and how any of these five aspects of reform could be used well or poorly. I think there's a really important point here for schools that change must be deep and not on the surface otherwise it's worthless. There are too many schools that think if they could do one thing that will make a big difference. At the moment it's getting every student a tablet or laptop, but that doesn't mean much unless that triggers some sort of deeper changes in the students themselves and in the teaching strategies employed by teachers. I could have done without the analogies at the end which got obvious and repetitive, such as the kitchen story. I suppose some people like that sort of thing to help make a point, but it didn't do much for me. Anyway, I think educators and administrators should read this book and think about what types of changes they are making and whether they will be effective or not for students.

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just reread (for maybe the 7th time, not counting the many quick references). Great book. Reminder to focus on what will be best influence on improving student learning.

[Lauren Hegarty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book my masters course on Leading School Improvement. I loved it!! How often can you say that about required reading? This book explains that many schools seek reform by modifying structure (building, scheduling, technology), samples (the different ways students are organized into learning groups), and standards (the curriculum and learning goals) which in and of themselves lead to limited changes in students' learning experiences and achievement. The levers of strategies (teachers' decisions inside the classroom) and self (fixed vs. growth mindset, motivation, engagement, self-efficacy, ownership of learning) on the other hand provide the most torque in driving meaningful changes in student learning. This a must read for all teachers, school leaders, and stakeholders in education so that effort, time, and resources are properly used to make meaningful, lasting change.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy-to-read, application-rich book, perfect for personal or small group PD. I especially enjoyed the overarching kitchen remodeling project analogy.