Blog Archive for October 2017

There’s no shortage of innovative ideas in our education system. When it comes to the success of our students, everyone from educators to state policy makers is working tirelessly on new ways to improve our schools. But why do some new ideas stick and others don’t? Too often, well-intended policies unravel as they hit the ground. We want to change that. We know making large-scale improvements that are effective and sustainable is hard. It requires a thoughtful and structured process. So we've developed a step-by-step process that lays out six essential elements to manage improvement efforts.

Before any school improvement effort gets underway, those leading the process need to identify the problem they're looking to address. At the surface level, this is as simple as defining who is involved, who will be impacted, and why there is a need to fix or improve the system. But the process can be far more complex. Failing to include teachers' voices or look at the underlying reasons for this problem can lead to an ineffective effort.