Supervision: A Guide to Practice (6th Edition)

The first decade of the twenty-first century is proving to be a challenge for schools across America. Resource shortages, high expectations for performance, and the need to adjust to rapidly changing technology all are pressuring schools to change. Never before has school leadership been so important and necessary. Instructional supervision plays a critical role in meeting these challenges. School supervision will continue to be the keystone position in school leadership in the years ahead. Because supervisors represent the interface between the curriculum planned and the instruction experienced by students, their influence on the quality of education continues to be immense. Supervisors making action decisions on a day-today basis will define quality education, and their decisions will shape a new instructional age in this century. This sixth edition seeks to provide readers with an accurate look at supervision in practice in schools. We have retained our previous organization of skills of supervision but have updated all chapters to reflect the new realities. Several chapters have been combined to give readers a broader and more in-depth coverage of teaching and curriculum. Each chapter begins with a short scenario or two to bring the tasks of instructional leadership to life. These scenarios connect the content of the chapter to the real-world needs and problems of schools. In previous editions of this text, we acknowledged the diversity of environments in the practice of supervision by focusing on the skills supervisors need to be successful, rather than on titles or the specific tasks of supervision. We continue that theme in this edition with chapters addressing pedagogy, human development, curriculum development, human relations, evaluation, staff development, and program administration. The role of technology is infused throughout the text. As in previous editions, we believe that the generic contribution of the supervisor in education is the coordination of these various administrative, curricular, and instructional concerns. The supervisor is the linchpin in the leadership team and the key player in improving learning opportunities for students. This edition has many updates. In all chapters case studies and learning activities reflect the changing nature of public education. All bibliographies have been updated to reflect knowledge that will guide us in the new century. Many resources for supervisors are found in Appendix A, and the ISLLC Standards for School Leaders are reprinted in Appendix B.Jon W. Wiles is the author of 'Supervision: A Guide to Practice (6th Edition)', published 2004 under ISBN 9780130462671 and ISBN 0130462675.