"What can you do to achieve excellence as an educator and inspire it in your students and staff every single day? In this outstanding book, Jimmy Casas answers that question with refreshing honesty and insight. Reflecting on experiences from his long career as a classroom teacher and school administrator, he shows you the what, why, and how of investing in yourself, your students, and your staff so that, together, you all can move beyond compliance to flourishing- something desperately needed in schools today.”

|| Manny Scott || Original Freedom Writer, Author, Speaker

“Stop. Right. Now. should be required reading for all educators and administrators wanting to make a difference in the lives of students. Casas and Zoul will challenge your thinking, enhance your teaching, and impact the way you lead with these 39 STOPS to Making Schools Better. Each STOP is paired with insight and direction on how to do better. What a rare and powerful combination of inspiration and practical application! This book should be in the hands of every educator and administrator in your district. Clear your to-do list; these are the 39 tasks needed to revolutionize education.”

|| Kelly Croy || Director of Innovation & Instruction at Port Clinton City Schools

“For all those committed to improving student performance, Culturize is a must read! The International Center for Leadership in Education’s ongoing studies of the nation’s most rapidly improving schools have found that the single most important lesson we have learned is that “culture trumps strategy.” The culture in these schools is anchored first and foremost on students, not simply on standards. School improvement begins by creating relationships. These relationships enable us to determine what is relevant to each student. Relevance then enables us to achieve academic rigor with our students. In Culturize, Jimmy Casas tells us how to set this in motion. It should be a handbook for all educators.” 

|| Dr. Bill Dagget || Founder and Chairman, International Center for Leadership in Education

“Few books on education leadership are as mindful of their intended audience as this one is. Clear, convincing, and ceaselessly practical, Start. Right. Now. is soon to be a favored text in schools of education leadership. The collective brain trust among Casas, Whitaker, and Zoul is a national treasure to be referenced for years to come. Deeply professional and far from indifferent, the authors provide insight and principles for teachers and their leaders to confront professional hypocrisy, demonstrate deep knowledge in their daily practice, analyze and reflect on the effectiveness of actions, then revise practices based on those reflections. Tightly written, research infused, and including the voices of many of my favorite rising heroes in education, Casas, Whitaker, and Zoul answer the hard questions of education leadership, including how to do lead both formally and informally, the dynamic, fluid nature of excellence, the synergy between teaching and leading, responding to the “no time” issue, planning for the future while attending to the present, and answering the plea, “show me what it looks like,” definitively. The content is so inspiring, in fact, we have no choice but to drop the book and take action in our own schools.” 

|| Rick Wormeli || Author of Fair Isn’t Always Equal, Columnist, and Educator

“The brilliance of this book lies in the stories that illustrate the countless reasons why educators should be connected in online and global–not just local–communities of practice. The Follow 5, Find 5, and Take 5 sections at the end of each chapter are fantastic!”

|| Dr. Scott McLeod || Associate Professor, Educational Leadership, University of Colorado Denver

“Educators are sharing and connecting more than ever–with students, with parents and community members, and with each other. How well we do our jobs has become ever-more dependent on the quality of our connectedness and communications. What Connected Educators Do Differently raises the bar for how these connections need to happen, and for how they can radically improve what we’re doing for students.” 

|| Angela Maiers || nationally-recognized speaker and consultant on 21st century teaching, and coauthor of The Passion-Driven Classroom

“Todd, Jeff, and Jimmy share an insight on more than being a “connected” educator, but on learning and making a difference for the reader and others. Their enthusiasm throughout the book is contagious, but it is their practical and simple steps that they share from both their experience and research that will make a world of difference in your practice, ultimately leading to better learning opportunities for yourself, and your students.”

|| George Couros || internationally-recognized thought leader and a Division Principal of Innovative Teaching and Learning in Alberta, Canada