Nuance

At the end of his book Nuance, Michael Fullan shares his concern that readers will miss the nuance in the leadership approach he outlines and misinterpret it as a simple three-step process. Nuanced thinking is required to understand nuance. Nonetheless, this is a valuable book for those having to grapple with the complexities of today’s world. This is a guide for leaders who are unwilling to settle for surface-level change. Fullan describes what is required to lead within complex environments. He illustrates his process with case studies of leaders who lead with nuance. Though Fullan focuses primarily on the education arena, nuanced leadership is applicable to any sector of society.

Using Rubrics for Performance-Based Assessment

Todd Stanley has written a practical, thorough guide for creating rubrics to evaluate student work entitled Using Rubrics for Performance-Based Assessment. His instructions are clear and to the point. He provides examples of effective and ineffective rubrics. He shares how to assess hard-to-measure skills such as collaboration, curiosity, initiative, and more. He describes how to write rubrics and how to assess their reliability and validity. He discusses how to use rubrics to grade student performance. Those teaching at any level, including higher education, will benefit from this guide.