A Connected School: Achieving, Caring & Safe
by E. Perry Good, Jeff Grumley, and Shelley Roy
$ 15.00
ISBN# 978-0-944337-45-5
A Connected School shows you how to create a school climate that fosters achievement, caring, and safety for students, school staff, and the community. The book will introduce readers to Perceptual Control Theory in order to help educators interact with students in ways that facilitate students' internal motivation.
We increase achievement by connecting to others, creating a safe and caring environment, and by teaching in ways that foster students' innate desire to learn. The role of the "Connected School" educator is to help students understand how they can become "disciplined within" and create opportunities to do this in a noncoercive setting.
After our staff was immersed in the concepts of "A Connected School" we saw a 47% reduction in referrals. The following year, we attained 100% of the 'No Child Left Behind' targets (annual measurable objectives) for 2002-2003. - Sandra Hunter, Principal, Kennedy Learning Center, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, North Carolina
As an intermediate education agency of 72,000 students, we needed research-based content for professional development to improve the school climate across general and special education. It needed to be realistic, positive, and integrated with school discipline. Learning "Connected School" concepts has been a wise investment over the past six years. More than 800 general and special education teachers, principals, and support staff have been trained in urban, suburban, and rural districts. The principles and strategies are being actively implemented and are providing a positive and safe learning environment for students and educators. - Ed Redalen, Director of Educational Services, and Tricia Elmer, Director of Special Education, Area Education Agency 267, IA
contents
Foreword ... ix
Overview ... 1
Perceptual Control Theory ... 11
Caring ... 39
Safety ... 71
Achievement ... 107
Conclusion ... 141
Appendix: The Beliefs Bash ... 147
Get the Picture ... 167
Bibliography ... 179
excerpt
From the Foreword:
A Connected School is about gaining a better understanding of and connecting to those elements that almost everyone can agree are important for school success. It is not about how to reform the educational system. It is not about a new learning theory. It is not about what is right or wrong with schools. In this book, we unite elements that educators use to succeed into a cohesive, inter-related whole, and tie them to a conceptual framework of how people behave.

