All of life seems so complex in our current society. I am sure that all businesses face the same issues of many complex component parts that need to be addressed all at once and then result in a positive outcome. Since I have been in education 29 years, I really only understand the complex world of education and am not an expert on any other business. But this I do know, in listing all of the various component parts inside of education and then outside of education that impacts the educational process, education of our children often seems to be an overwhelming task.
How do we take this very complex problem and still come up with the positive outcome of all students succeeding? Many of our peers in the arena of research and development over the last 20 years have come to the same conclusion about how to address this issue. The answer is to be highly focused. Focused on what? Focused on high quality teaching and learning. Research shows us that the classroom teacher has the highest effect on the successful learning of the student. When our schools and districts are focused on ensuring that all of the district system has a consistent standard of what quality teaching and learning looks like and how it is being implemented in each classroom, then we have a much higher percentage of student success for all of our students.
