6 Challenges: Are Key For High-performing Schools That Aim To Achieve More

6 challenges: Are key for high-performing schools that aim to achieve more

By Rossi Ray-Taylor, Sharon Baskerville, Shelley Bruder, Elaine Bennett and Karen Schulte

April 2006

A tenet of meaningful change is creating conditions of urgency to act and displeasure with the status quo. For many schools, these conditions are present every day. Looming budget crises, public scorn for inadequate academic performance, and fleeing student populations create the crises that act as catalysts for change. Yet across the country, some schools are hallmarks of high academic performance. These schools display consistently high test performance, and their students are sought by competitive colleges and universities. These schools have bountiful resources, teachers teaching in their college major area of study who receive frequent professional development, who attend national and regional professional conferences, and who read professional journals and research. These schools are successful, with consistently above-average test scores, low dropout rates, high percentages

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