Too often we're searching for silver bullets to solve the problems in education.
- Let's buy this program and it will fix our math scores.
- Let's do this initiative, or maybe that one.
- PLC is the answer.
- School choice is the answer.
- Merit pay is the answer.
- Teacher evaluation is the answer.
- Data teams are the way to go.
Perhaps we need to stop searching for the silver bullets and instead build lasers. Through comprehensive needs analysis we must determine a focus around which to build our improvement model. We call this establishing our rocks. By focusing everything through the lens of our rocks we establish a laser focus that drives us forward.
In this era of heightened talk of gun safety, let's put away the bullets and start building those lasers.