Brenda Emanuel: The Achievement Gap

As we have engaged in collaborative dialogue this past week, I reflect on the valuable insight and new information that I have received during our exchange. I am eager to employ the lessons learned and heuristics that I have gained as an active participant in this conference. During my tenure as school Principal, I am always looking for opportunities to broaden my perspective while honing the skills and abilities of my staff. My continual effort to seek new innovative ways to continue to lead and guide the staff to meet the evolving challenges of our school is essential to future success.

One of the challenges that continue to be one of my areas of concern is the achievement gap. I gleaned something during one of the sessions which was “Excellence and Equity is the key to closing this gap.” Furthermore, we explored the idea that building trust between administrators and teachers is crucial. Administrators should establish a climate where their word represents a bond of trust. Leaders must facilitate a certain level of trust by exhibiting a high level of competence during their administration. Given this concept, one of the ideas from our session that resonated in my mind was the idea that we must set goals and expectations for ourselves as well as for our teachers while providing them with the means and resources to attain and sustain these objectives.

Brenda Emanuel