Everyone says it: “That’s a good school”

And everyone immediately has an idea of what a “good” school is. The details change in each person’s head. We all view it with different colors, different images and different specifics. There may be a different curriculum taught and there may be different shiny toys in front of each student. The furniture may be color coded, organized and clean in one person’s image and it may be entirely flexible and open in another’s. These extras differ, but I believe that there are a few staples that hold true in all visions of what a “good” school is. What are they? What are the essentials that make a school “good”. What are those common denominators? What is truly important when thinking about a school from the perspective of student learning?

This is a question I have thought about for the entirety of my career. I have had the privilege of teaching at three different elementary schools – all varying in style and overall quality. I have had the absolute privilege of teaching at a school that I openly and proudly define as “good.” Working in schools of different status and style has given me the unique perspective of being able to intimately understand what makes a school strong from the view of a teacher.

I have come to believe that, although new tech-initiatives, unique or progressive philosophical leanings or other such differences can surely change the feel of a school and can have positive or negative impacts, they aren’t the crux of what makes a school “good.” There are other factors, other pillars, that truly have a stronger impact. I like to think of these intangibles as the motor that makes the school run and all the fancy initiatives or ideas as the paint job. We tend to notice the paint job at first, but it’s the motor that keeps the school running well.

I’ve come to a conclusion that there are three categories that make up these pillars. The pieces of the puzzle that are integral for a school to function. The pieces that make it possible for the “paint job” components to truly shine.

1. All Members of Staff Care About the Right Thing

2. The Leaders Make Decisions for Students

3. The School Has a Plan For Their Students From the First Year to the Last

Clearly each of these components can focus on vastly different things for their school. In other words, the paint job of each of these schools may be widely different. However, these three components must be there in order for the school to have success. To sum it all up, a school needs to be focused.

All Members of Staff Care About the Right Thing

The staff are the people that interact with and teach the students. They are the fundamental aspect of education. If these people aren’t interacting with the students or teaching them well, maximum learning and growth can not occur. Everything at a school should be geared towards all staff members putting student learning first. Without this hierarchy of decision making taking place, other things will be prioritized over student learning. Every decision and interaction the staff has regarding students should be analyzed through the lens of: How much student learning and growth will take place if I choose Option A over Option B. That, although more difficult than it sounds, must be the essential process of any decision made at a school.

At my current school, the staff is filled with professionals who all place a strong value on student learning. In other words, our hearts are in the right place. We want to have conversations with each other about our practice because we want to do the best we possibly can at the one thing that really matters: educating our students for college or career (for life). We are open to reading about new research and adjusting our practice because we know that’s the best way to improve the outcomes for our students. Although we may be upset about some practices or decisions because they have a negative impact on us, we never let that get in the way of our practice with our students. That MUST come first.

The Leaders Make Decisions for Students

The leaders, such an essential position at a school, must organize themselves around student learning. They must be pointing in the same direction and focusing on what really matters: student learning and trying to make the previous pillar come to life. They must choose their staff and help them develop their ability to care about the right thing. The leaders need to put their staff in the right place in which they can have the highest impact on student learning. They also need to train them on how to make decisions for students.

One of the schools I taught at was a for-profit school. The leader’s decision making was focused through the lens of earning a profit as opposed to student learning. Due to this there were some decisions made that did not have the best impact on student learning. At my current school, there is a stark contrast. The leaders have organized themselves around student learning and due to this have constructed a clear path for the school to focus on providing best practices for their entire student body.

The School Has a Plan For Their Students From the First Year to the Last

The final pillar is the hard work and result of having the first two pillars in place. The school must choose and stick with some strong evidence based practices. There needs to be a plan so that the students can continue to have success in each subsequent year that is built on the previous years. The 2nd grade experience must be aligned with the 3rd grade experience and so on. There must be a plan that is guided by the desired final outcome at the end. These final plans can look massively different from one “good school” to the next, but it is important that the plans are aligned with what we know about best practice and aligned vertically within the student’s education experience.
From what I’ve managed to learn about schools in education in my career as a teacher, this is what I feel like has the most impact on a student. Everything else needs to be adjusted from school to school based on what the data says each school community truly needs to focus on to best serve students. Let’s just make sure that our schools are focused on what really matters: student learning and grow.