Wednesday, November 18, 2009

A Reader Writes... (Gant Wisdom 1 - Part 8)

In response to the post “Gant Wisdom 1- Part 5,” a reader writes:

“Wow! That is where I want to be, I'm just not there yet. I think I have one hole in the dike plugged and another one springs a leak!”

SC Response
You’re closer than you think. Schools like yours (ultra high performing Title 1 campuses) are a lot like a non-BCS conference football team. You don’t have the best athletes year in and year out, but with a solid system and expert coaching you kids are always competitive. Then with the right break at the right time, during any given year you are in the hunt for a national championship. In other words, your campus is aggressive and scrappy (two of my favorite adjectives). It is due to that scrappiness and aggression that true instructional innovation generally comes from campuses such as yours (even in your own district, what was the last useful innovation that came from a high SES campus). You, your staff and your students don’t have the luxury of standing pat.

So keep plugging away; your campus is already one of the elite in your district. Your focus keeps your campus in the position to capitalize on the one break that will elevate it to the ranks of world class, at least until the next school year starts.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

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