School Improvement requires a new consciousness. An elderly learned educator told me a few years ago that since all of us have experienced the educational system we think we know and understand it and its and problems… and can solve them. Most of these same people have no real experience in a court room, ER or as a CPA and therefore do not feel that same familiarity with the profession or its problems and do not attempt to solve them collectively on a grand-scale.

What is the new consciousness needed for school improvement?

We need to talk to our teachers and school administration staff. We need to know what their day-to-day needs are to do their job – to serve our students. Each person involved in the day-to-day process of operating our schools, from the school Student Record’s Clerk to the Gym Coach, need to be considered, consulted and consulted on an ongoing basis.

School improvement does not take place in the offices of our state legislators, through university research studies or federal mandates. We need to begin our school improvement process on the campus of each individual school, talking to the staff and forming our improvement plans from their collective needs.

The Link to Teachers' Success...

Dr. Kathleen Salzano, Ed.D.

There’s conversation in education about closing the achievement between students from low-income families and students that aren’t. This conversation is admirable and long overdue. It’s a conversation that acknowledges that our educators and school systems aren’t responsible for everything that’s wrong with the diminishing student achievement in public education.

What does this conversation about closing the achievement gap between students of low-income families and those from high-income families have to do with school improvement?