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IT’S ABOUT TIME
entitled to extra time and support. They assert that the real test of a school’s commitment to learning for all students is not the eloquence of its mission statement but rather what happens in the school when students don’t learn.
More Than Time The first key to supporting the learning of all students is to ensure that the schedule provides educators with access to the students who need them most during the school day in a way that never removes a student from essential new instruction. While addressing that key is absolutely critical, it is not sufficient. Educators must also ensure that they use the extra time for learning in the right way and for the right purpose. No one has provided greater clarity on the critical conditions for effective intervention and extension than editors Austin Buffum and Mike Mattos. They have presented a clear and compelling picture of what effective systems of intervention and extension will look like in the real world of schools. We urge you to read carefully the section High Levels of Learning for All (page 5) in their introduction. Then, read the chapters to see how each school has used evidence to ensure that students who struggle receive additional time and support in a way that is timely, directive, diagnostic, tiered, and systematic. In these schools, what happens when students struggle is not left solely to the teacher to whom they are assigned, but rather to teams of teachers who take collective responsibility for students. Students are guaranteed additional time because the entire school responds in a way that provides assistance, again without removing the student from essential new direct instruction or lowering curriculum standards. Furthermore, accompanying the focus on intervention is a commitment to extend the learning for students who are highly proficient. In chapter after chapter, the authors describe how the commitment to help all students learn at high levels has increased the percentage of students moving from proficiency to advanced levels of learning.
Common Themes The editors of this anthology showcase a variety of schools. Despite the differences among them, several common themes emerge as each school’s story unfolds. Linking Systematic Intervention and Enrichment to the PLC at Work Process In every chapter, readers will hear consistent advice: systematic intervention and enrichment must occur in the larger context of a professional learning community (PLC). Unless the three big ideas of a PLC—(1) a commitment to help all students