Happy New Year!

It is hard to believe that another year is upon us!   Where does the time go?

This past year has been fraught with challenges to us as educators and educational leaders.   We are well aware of these challenges and how they have impacted us personally and professionally and the culture of our schools.  We have seen the dismissal of collective bargaining rights for public sector professionals in Wisconsin and attempts to do so in other states.  We have seen calls for teacher and administrator accountability linked to student outcomes.  We have seen calls for merit pay or pay for performance that is seen as the magic antidote to transform and improve our schools. 

Some of these things we have heard are relatively new and others are as old as the hills.  These challenges and changes may cause a sense of despair, anger, frustration, and hopelessness.  As the advent of a new year dawns, I believe that there is hope and that there are answers.  I will say it again, there is hope!

To me, this hope lies not in the politicians and policymakers, but rather in us as a collective of educational professionals and support staff.   Yes, we will need to involve politicians and policymakers in the discussion, but I believe that we need to do so once we have documented evidence of increasing outcomes for all students, including our subgroup populations and then sharing that evidence so that real, meaningful change can occur and be shared and scaled-up across all states, districts, and schools in our nation.  Yes, I believe that there is hope and that there is a moral imperative that underlies this hope.

My question to you is, do we have a moral imperative to improve outcomes for our students?  The answer I believe is a resounding yes and this moral imperative also impacts not only our schools but our societies as well.

Embracing a moral imperative to improve outcomes for all students is much more than talking about the moral imperative.  It is talking, but more importantly, it is about action.   It is likely that many will not believe that things can change with out seeing the evidence of change.  That evidence is data that demonstrates objectively that we can change and improve outcomes for all students.

It is my  deeply held belief that we have the knowledge and skills to dramatically improve results for all our students and that we can close the achievement gap that exists in our schools across this nation.   That is the good news.

Of course, we will need a commitment to the moral imperative in order to systematically and systemically implement strategies, policies, and practices  that support our efforts.  Teachers, administrators, professional support personnel, and other support staff require training and support as we move to improve outcomes for all students.  If we are to improve outcomes for all students, we also need to improve the conditions for our teachers and administratorrs.

Over the course of the next several months, I will be addressing this topic in more detail in a series of articles that address what we can do to improve practice and outcomes for all students.  I do not profess to have all the answers, but it is my desire to initiate dialogue and discussion, provoke thought and discourse, and engender collaborative networks to build the individual and, more importantly, the collective capacity to demonstrate what works for all students and the support that we need in order to create this reality.

As we embark on this new year, let's focus on the variables that we can control, variables that will make a difference in the lives of our students and in our own personal professional lives.      

Respectfully,

John H Faust, Executive Director
Midwest Instructional Leadership Council