Seven Correlates
1. Clear and Focused Mission: In effective schools, the mission is clear and all programs and instructional strategies focus on its accomplishment.
2. Opportunity to Learn/Time on Task: In effective schools, every student is given adequate opportunity to master the required material, and those who struggle are given more time as needed.
3. Instructional Leadership: In effective schools, a strong leader with vision has tremendous impact on student achievement.
4. Frequent Monitoring of Student Progress: In effective schools, monitoring is more than annual standardised testing – it is the on going review of student work, accompanied by timely feedback.
5. High Expectations: In effective schools, a climate of high expectations includes the core belief that all students can learn, and that the teacher has the capacity to teach all students.
6. Positive home-school Relations: In effective schools, active parent involvement yields improved student attitudes toward school, higher self-esteem, and increased achievement.
7. Safe and Orderly Environment: In effective schools, discipline, classroom management, and character education help create a climate that is both safe and conducive to effective teaching and learning.
A Quote to Ponder
“Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you in, and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way toward the shore.... and you waited with beating heart for something to happen? I was like that ship before my education began, only I was without compass.... and had no way of knowing how near the harbour was. “Light! give me light!” was the wordless cry of my soul, and the light of love shone on me in that very hour.”
- Helen Keller
