蜜桃影视

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Ten years ago, I was the superintendent of Tennessee鈥檚 Achievement School District, which aims to improve student learning in the state鈥檚 5% lowest academically performing schools. At the time, I believed that if we removed some constraints our schools were facing from their central offices, educators in those schools would have the flexibility to make instructional, structural and content decisions that better met the needs of students in their classrooms. I thought that school autonomy was the silver bullet for school improvement.

I was wrong 鈥� kind of.

We gave schools more autonomy, but that alone didn鈥檛 improve student outcomes. Our singular focus on governance failed to account for the support educators needed to translate autonomy into effective instruction.

The experience was humbling. I learned that a shift in governance doesn鈥檛 guarantee a shift in focus. It changed the way I think about what it takes for districts and charter management organizations to implement meaningful change.

Student learning is education鈥檚 real purpose

Systems of governance, those who lead them, and the context in which they operate are essential to improving student learning. However, it鈥檚 all too easy to find ourselves more preoccupied with the power of these systems than their purpose. It鈥檚 all too easy to focus on those who hold 鈥渢he power鈥� rather than what they鈥檙e doing with that power. And it鈥檚 all too easy to forget that education鈥檚 purpose is to empower students through learning, not adults through bureaucracy.

We know how to improve student learning. It鈥檚 all about fundamentals; there are no silver bullets or shortcuts. names three elements that contribute to learning: what is taught (the content), how it鈥檚 taught (teachers鈥� knowledge and approach), and how students engage (the ways students interact with the content, the teacher, and peers).

To quote Elmore and colleagues, 鈥渢hat鈥檚 it鈥� 鈥� that鈥檚 it regardless of governance structure, regardless of geography, regardless of district size, even regardless of funding.

No matter the context, if we want to improve student learning, we need to ensure that decisions are centered on the three components of Elmore鈥檚 instructional core 鈥� particularly student engagement.

Content and pedagogy are critical, and each needs additional support; however, each already has momentum. We鈥檝e seen school improvement work center increasingly on high-quality instructional materials. Professional learning and educator prep programs have long recognized that instructional practices can be optimized to benefit students鈥� learning. This work should continue.

We know how to improve student learning. It鈥檚 all about fundamentals; there are no silver bullets or shortcuts.

Students want educators to challenge them

Student engagement has seen the least movement, perhaps because it鈥檚 the least understood. On a recent school visit, one student shared something that illuminates the confusion: 鈥淢r. Smith (a pseudonym) does his 鈥榙oor work鈥� 鈥� says good morning, smiles and gives fist bumps to each of us when we walk into class 鈥� and as soon as he shuts the door and starts the lesson, he flips a switch and acts like he doesn鈥檛 know us. Like he has to play the role of teacher and we have to be the obedient students. It鈥檚 weird.鈥�

Students want authentic engagement beyond upbeat greetings at the classroom door; they want to be engaged in everyday instruction. But it rarely happens.

Uplifting interactions between teachers and students in hallways, advisory groups and special events are fabulous ways to boost school culture. But 鈥� in and of themselves 鈥� they do not strengthen students鈥� ability to substantively engage with academic content.

I invite you to reflect on your own meaningful school experiences. When I reflect on mine, I remember that the teachers who made the biggest difference in my education and life, weren鈥檛 the ones who just uplifted me. They were the ones who challenged me academically 鈥� the ones who invited me to go deeper and farther, to figure out what I thought and communicate it, to apply my own problem-solving methods. That鈥檚 what affirming relationships do.

Students want authentic engagement beyond upbeat greetings at the classroom door; they want to be engaged in everyday instruction. But it rarely happens.

In her book, , Gholdy Muhammad defines affirming relationships as relationships in which each party recognizes and cultivates the unique value the other brings. To borrow a phrase from improv, if uplifting interactions are saying 鈥測es鈥� to students, affirming relationships are saying 鈥測es, and鈥�.鈥�

The 鈥渁nd鈥� builds students鈥� agency. That is the key to engagement with content because it positions students as active contributors to and shapers of their own learning, rather than passive recipients of knowledge.

For example, a teacher could design a unit of instruction around recall of a text about how the water cycle works, or a teacher could design a unit of instruction that positions such a text as a source students use to obtain information in order to figure out what happened to a puddle on the sidewalk that they observed had disappeared.

Each scenario asks students to learn the same content. But, by allowing them opportunities to leverage their own experience and curiosity to drive learning, the latter affirms students.

Unfortunately, most classrooms default to the former.

We鈥檝e been brought up to think of affirmations as accolades of 鈥済ood job, I knew you could do it!鈥� That鈥檚 how we have gotten used to communicating our confidence in students.

In addition to instructional 鈥渁ttagirls,鈥� we should affirm students by trusting and expecting them to bear the majority of the cognitive lift in their learning.

Praising and encouraging students undoubtedly builds overall social-emotional well-being, which is a necessary prerequisite for engagement in academic content. But these methods alone don鈥檛 provide adequate opportunities for students to contribute to their own learning.

In addition to instructional 鈥渁ttagirls,鈥� we should affirm students by trusting and expecting them to bear the majority of the cognitive lift in their learning. That鈥檚 true even when it鈥檚 not easy for them and even when it requires adults to step back and cede some instructional control to student exploration.

Learning to cultivate affirming relationships with students through core content instruction will be new 鈥� and uncomfortable 鈥� for many of us. There are many habits to break and systems to redesign. However, supporting instructional leaders in promoting content-embedded affirming student engagement is essential.

Focus on what works in the classroom

In the coming year, as we continue to grapple with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impending , I suspect that we鈥檒l be told that many things are 鈥渆ssential鈥� in education. Dedicated educators, parents  and community members will propose innumerable solutions that all purport to accelerate learning and have outsized gains on student outcomes.

We should not fall into the silver-bullet trap I did 10 years ago. We should not be distracted by trending debates or catchy headlines. Instead, we should be laser-focused on what we know makes a difference for real students in real classrooms.

For any school or district intervention, in any context across the country, we must be crystal clear about how it will bolster the instructional core 鈥� whether it鈥檚 building leaders鈥� capacity to model affirmation for their teachers or adopting a curriculum that makes space for student voice and choice. Every decision should serve education鈥檚 purpose: empowering students with the knowledge, skills, and confidence they need to be thoughtful, productive, engaged citizens.

We should not be distracted by trending debates or catchy headlines. Instead, we should be laser-focused on what we know makes a difference for real students in real classrooms.

Yes. And鈥�.

We should remember that it is also our purpose to foster students鈥� compassion, respect, and sense of responsibility 鈥� to show our students that exercising one鈥檚 own power need not and should not come at the expense of someone else鈥檚 ability to exercise theirs.

As a country, I can think of nothing more effective we could do toward those purposes than redesigning our education systems and classrooms to prioritize affirming relationships. Students then can have opportunities to engage authentically with the content they鈥檙e asked to master. They then can witness teachers live into their own expertise in a way that invites others鈥� thoughts and perspectives into the room. And they then can begin a life-long practice of 鈥測es, and-ing鈥� each other.

is a nonpartisan quarterly journal from The Bush Institute that operates from the belief that ideas matter. They shape public policies, spur action, and lead to results. Each issue presents compelling essays that address a central question or theme. Along with Bush Institute directors and fellows, The Catalyst convenes leading experts and writers, as well as new and rising voices, to address each topic.

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