What three things would you do to improve student achievement in Utah?

I agree with John O’Connor and the book Turning Average Instruction into Great Instruction.  He states it best in his article Three Simple Steps to Improving Student Achievement.

1. 1. Build a common understanding of GREAT Instruction.
1. a. Guided by the curriculum
2. b. Rigorous with research-based strategies
3. c. Engaging and exciting
4. d. Assessed continuously to guild instruction and 
5. e. Tailored through flexible groups

IF we are going to radically improve student achievement, then we must acknowledge that GREAT instruction has non-negotiable elements that must be seen in every classroom.

1. 2. Change Teacher Practices. Once we accept that improving student achievement relies on the instruction that occurs in classrooms, then we must realize that school improvement is completely reliant on our ability, as leaders, to improve the practices of our teachers.  We must develop the support, coaching, feedback, momentum, and direction needed for teachers to consistently improve their practices.

1. 3. Quite Doing Stuff that Doesn’t Help. Unfortunately, we are often distracted. We need to quite creating activities for ourselves and teachers that not only don’t improve teacher practices, but actually distract us from that mission. We must challenge ourselves to toss out those activities that are having little to no impact on student learning.

These three steps to improving student achievement are straight forward and simple.  Unfortunately, that does not make them easy.