Simplicity, Clarity, and Priority

Simplicity, Clarity, and Priority

Chapter 1 begins to lay the foundation of the book  Focus to help schools create a climate and culture conducive to implementing changes that will result in increased student achievement.  Simplicity is the answer for any organization wanting to make improvements according to Schmoker.  The chapter addresses many of the reasons schools today fail to make significant student achievement gains in the public schools.  Basically, schools are trying to do too much and much too quickly. 

Schmoker talks about “first things first”.  All schools, according to Schmoker, should focus on three elements with “simplicity and diligence” until they are implemented and understood by everyone in every subject area.  The first thing that schools must focus on is “what we teach”.  Curriculum should be clearly defined, coherent, and topics and concepts that are actually taught.  The second area that schools need to pay attention to is “how we teach’.  This is simply teaching with sound pedagogy that teachers have known for centuries.  Incorporating some of these basic aspects of good teaching  will  increase student learning.  The last aspect that schools must address before doing any other initiatives is “authentic literacy”.  Authentic literacy must be incorporated into every subject area.  According to Schmoker, “authentic literacy is the spine that holds everything together”.  We must have our students engaged in meaningful reading, writing, listening, speaking, and viewing activities. 

Simplicity is the key to any school wanting to make significant changes.  Schmoker parallels it to a football team who does not have the basic skills of blocking and tackling but the coach decides to implement a new offensive system that is very complex.  In reality what the players need are an understanding of the basic skills necessary to play the game.  Our schools are trying to do the same without some fundamental understandings and skills of basic teaching and learning.