What Brain Research Can Teach About Cutting School Budgets

Karen D. Olsen is author, co-author, and contributing editor of two dozen books focusing on using brain research to create schoolwide change. Her most recent book, What Brain Research Can Teach Us About Cutting School Budgets, is also published by Corwin Press. Her experience includes serving as executive director of the Mid-California Science Improvement Program (MCSIP), a ten-year effort funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation to improve science education using the ITI/HET model. She also served as executive director of the Bay Area Middle School Program, a project to create model middle schools. Olsen was one of the original founders of the California Institute of School Improvement, a non-profit organization designed to support schools and districts in a wide range of school change issues. As program director, she conducted seminars on a range of topics including implications of recent legislation, schoolwide planning and program quality review processes, and the role of mentor teachers as change agents. Addtional experience includes planning and development for the California State Department of Education.

Foreword by Susan Kovalik Preface Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Where to $tart Attitude Is Important Action Items Resources Endnotes Action Summary Checklist 2. Instruction: Tools A Brief Summary Action Items Brain Research Resources Endnotes Action Summary Checklist 3. Instruction: Organization and Use of Time Optimizing Organization and Use of Time Action Items Brain Research Resources Endnotes Action Summary Checklist 4. Staffing Action Items Brain Research Resources Endnotes Action Summary Checklist 5. Professional Development Professional Development Is a Survival Imperative Action Items Brain Research Resources Endnotes Action Summary Checklist 6. The Inseparable Bodybrain Learning Partnership: Movement and Aerobic Exercise Movement to Enhance Learning Action Items Resources Myths Versus Brain Facts Endotes Action Summary Checklist 7. The Inseparable Bodybrain Learning Partnership: Emotion Impact of Emotion as Gatekeeper to Learning and Performance Action Items Resources Endnotes Action Summary Checklist 8. Double-Link Curriculum for Two-Step Learning: Link One A Context for Content Content for Link-One Curriculum Action Task 1: Analyze Your Curriculum for Age Appropriateness Action Task 2: Analyze How Well Your Standards Enhance Pattern Seeking Resources Endnotes Action Summary Checklist 9. Double-Link Curriculum for Two-Step Learning: Link Two Link-Two Content Action Items Resources Endnotes Action Summary Checklist 10. Testing: Does the Emperor Wear Clothes? What Do Tests Test? Standardized Tests Don't Test Learning Where and What to Cut Homegrown Isn't Necessarily Better Action Items Resources Endotes Action Summary Checklist Appendix A: Pattern Seeking Appendix B: Developing Programs Appendix C: Age Appropriateness Glossary List of Figures About the Author References Index

"Karen Olsen has put budget topics into perspective so that school administrators can make decisions based on what is best for children, not what is easiest and most efficient for adults. We used this book in our district with all our principals and it was a powerful guide in helping them see through the fog of mandates, policies, and red tape and get to the priority of students!" -- Terri Patterson, Director of Elementary Education "I'm very pleased to see a book bold enough to assert that the realm of brain research should be applied to wherever human brains are working and whatever challenges we face. Not only can and should brain research inform how and what we teach in the classroom, but it should be brought to bear in boardrooms and the school budgeting process. This book is brilliant and groundbreaking. Every school in America should have a copy in its professional library." -- Linda Jordan, Associate Professor "Olsen addresses a current national issue with a focus on budget deficits and identifying a process for making decisions about budget cuts. This is definitely a different and unusual approach to budget cutting-a compelling contribution to the field." -- Laurie Emery, Principal "The entire nation is struggling with budget cuts, and this book is a very practical guide, a guide that has longevity and can be used time and time again with the same profound results. I would recommend this text as a must-read for anyone affected by budget cuts in education." -- Lyndon Oswald, Principal