I know that many of you are already involved with K-12 cooperative projects. I thank you for that work, and I encourage you to continue it. There is nothing more important than improving public school student achievement. That's a tall order. I am a big supporter of creative thinking.
Researchers have to take risks and be willing to fail in order to find what works.
Of course, when I talk about looking for new ways to do things, I am not talking about changing for the sake of change. I am talking about finding creative ways to meet our most pressing needs and to do things even better than before. Also, I know that people like to say that faculty members resist change, but I know better. I have met and talked with many of you in the past 18 months. I know you are out there helping students, challenging accepted wisdom, and finding new and better ways to do things.