Education Experts Offer a Blueprint for Driving Sustainable Improvement in Schools

Bloomington, Ind. (May 22, 2018)—In Leading a High Reliability School, published by Solution Tree, authors Robert J. Marzano, Philip B. Warrick, Cameron L. Rains and Richard DuFour detail how school and district leaders can establish and maintain high reliability schools.

Based on 50 years of educational research, the High Reliability Schools (HRS) framework is designed to help transform schools into organizations that take proactive steps to ensure student success.

The five increasing levels of school reliability include:

1. Safe and Collaborative Culture
2. Effective Teaching in Every Classroom
3. Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum
4. Standards-Referenced Reporting
5. Competency-Based Education

A critical commitment to becoming an HRS is the PLC at Work™ process, which calls on staff to focus on learning, build a collaborative culture, and create a results orientation. In the book’s introduction, the authors explain, “A growing consensus states that leaders can best lead a cultural transformation and create sustainable school improvement by building educators’ capacity to function as members of a PLC. With a strong PLC process in place, principals and teachers put themselves in a great position to implement the other key elements of a high reliability school.”

Based on their work with more than 600 schools, Marzano, Warrick, Rains and DuFour developed a four-step process to help schools attain high reliability status:

1. Create lagging indicators, which are concrete and, in some cases, quantifiable outcomes for which schools can establish minimum acceptable criteria.
2. Collect data on school status regarding lagging indicators.
3. If the school hasn’t met lagging indicator minimum requirements, refocus on actions inherent in associated leading indicators.
4. Continually collect data on lagging indicators and respond accordingly.

“Leading a High Reliability School is a powerful and innovative new tool for instructional leaders,” said Keith Gurley, associate professor of education leadership at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “It is well grounded in relevant theory and high-quality research. But the book’s real treasure is the wealth of guidance and practical, actionable steps leaders can take to improve the quality of classroom instruction and make a measurable and substantial difference in student learning.”

Leading a High Reliability School is now available to order at SolutionTree.com.

About the Authors

Robert J. Marzano, PhD, is the cofounder and chief academic officer of Marzano Research. During his 50 years in the field of education, he has worked with educators as a speaker and trainer and has authored more than 40 books and 300 articles on topics such as instruction, assessment, effective leadership and school intervention.

Philip B. Warrick, EdD, is an associate vice president of Marzano Research. He was an award-winning administrator for nearly 12 years, most recently as principal of Round Rock High School, which serves nearly 3,000 students. Dr. Warrick has been an adjunct professor at Peru State College since 2005.

Cameron L. Rains, EdD, is the assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction for Clark-Pleasant Community School Corporation. In this role, he is part of a team working to ensure that all students in the district learn at high levels. Previously, Dr. Rains served as a teacher, instructional coach, director of elementary education, and director of curriculum and instruction.

Richard DuFour, EdD, was a public school educator for 34 years, serving as a teacher, principal and superintendent. A prolific author and sought-after consultant, Dr. DuFour was recognized as one of the leading authorities on helping school practitioners implement the Professional Learning Communities at Work™ process in their schools and districts.

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