In order to get the most out of the rest of this book, try to do the following…
1. Identify a change – personal, professional, or organizational – that you’d like to see and/or make happen.
Be specific!
2. Identify some vital behaviors that would lead to that change.
Make sure they’re behaviors, not outcomes!
Can you even identify what these specific, high-leverage behaviors are? From research? From positive deviance (in your setting or others)?
This is one of the biggest struggles in K-12 education. As Elmore, Christensen, and others have stated, there is little agreement about what constitutes ‘best practice’ for particular educational issues. Or, if there is, educator knowledge of those practices is rare (e.g., how many of you had heard of Dr. Ethna Reid?). Do you even know what are the best practices / vital behaviors for your change initiative?
3. Identify some recovery behaviors for your change initiative.
What should happen when you get off track?
4. Identify a setting in which you can test your results.
Where (and with whom) can you test your vital behaviors (and recovery behaviors) to see if they’re truly ‘vital?’
I encourage you to try and answer these four questions. They’re the starting point for the rest of the book and, if you wish, the first components of an action plan to address the issue that you’ve identified (more on this at the end of our book club!). Post your responses here as a reply!
