To reach that goal, each of us must accept greater responsibility for our role in education and be held accountable for the results we achieve. Each of us, too, must have the freedom and the courage to bring flexibility and creativity to teaching and learning. We must take action - together. If we expect our students to succeed, they will. If we expect our students to fail, they will.
All schools can and do make a difference in the quality of children's lives.
No matter what the challenges, we know enough about the nature of the learner and the process of learning to teach all students well. This includes the expectation that students will demonstrate their skills and apply what they have learned with increasing expertise. Our second responsibility is to make sure that what we teach, how we teach it, how we support the learner and how we measure what is learned all reflect those higher expectations. All children can learn. All schools can teach them.