Closing School Achievement Gaps

Heather Zavadsky’s recent LA Times article discusses how five school systems across the country have managed to raise achievement using the following strategies.  First, all developed challenging, clear and specific curriculum.  Both teachers and students were aware of academic content that was to be covered as well as academic skills that needed to be addressed for each grade level.  Secondly, districts set no more than six long-term strategic goals that drove practices in every school.  Third, districts developed smart strategies to attract and retain effective teachers to the district (Boston is one of the school systems mentioned and is doing this through network partner Boston Teacher Residency).  Fourth, districts worked with staff to evaluate whether approaches and programs were improving achievement by analyzing data.  This data also helped districts to meet individual student needs.  Lastly, leaders in districts built strong relationships with parents, community organizations, local businesses and other stakeholders that have vested interest in students’ successes.

All interesting methods that have helped raise achievement and can be applied nationwide…

Name:
Email:
Follow up:	Notify me of further remarks on this post.
Your Remarks:
Please enter the word you see in the image below: