The First Ingredient

So what are we to do if we truly want to see an increase in student achievement? If you look at some schools, it seems that the teachers and principals continue to keep "kicking the dead horse" in the hopes that somehow, the horse comes back to life, and trots off into the sunset with the teachers and administrators slapping themselves on the back congratulating themselves for a job well done. Unfortunately, there are those in education that believe that their "kicking" will get the horse up and running again. They are the educators who fight change at every opportunity, and they refuse to see the opportunities for the students.

In District Leadership that Works (2009), Marzano and Waters argue that the first step is establishing nonnegotiable goals for achievement. They also argue for nonnegotiable goals for instruction. Setting goals is a noble action but that is only part of the recipe. The foundation that supports the goals is made up of Collaborative goal setting, Board alignment, and Allocation of Resources.

I have argued for several years that the only way to start the journey to increasing student achievement is, to first of all, agree that the "status quo" is not acceptable. Recognizing that there is a problem is the first "ingredient" in the journey to raise student achievement. Kicking the "dead horse" is simply a refusal to accept the truth. Let's accept the fact that we have a problem. Then let's get down to work establishing our nonnegotiable goals.