In this book, Nancy Akhavan details the stories and strategies that enabled her school to move from under-performing status to one in which students achieve and teachers have a whole new understanding of targeted instruction, sensitive assessment, and meaningful curriculum. There is much to appreciate in what she says, from her attention to thinking small and understanding the power of the details, her emphasis on planning and goal-setting, to the seriousness with which she takes the standards and incorporates them into the life of the classroom.

Drawing on the work of the best in the business, Lucy Calkins, David and Yvonne Freeman, and Tony Alvarado, Akhavan made professional development the heartbeat of her school as she helped her faculty understand that their work begins and ends with continuous assessment of their students. Now she helps readers of her book learn:

how child-centered assessment leads to strategic instruction how to best support multilingual learners how to organize for yearlong learning how to think through precise workshop instruction in minilessons how to develop meaningful curriculum around units of study how to create a vibrant school community where standards and accountability stem from regular assessment and examination of instructional practices.

Akhavan provides immediately useful information for any elementary teacher, principal, or curriculum developer. Read her book and understand how to use standards as a way to connect meaningful instruction to students, not as a bar that students have to reach or a barrier to real teaching and learning.