Jerry Bamburg

Jerry Bamburg, professor of educational administration and director of the Center for Effective Schools at the University of Washington-Seattle, discusses the benefits of a clearly defined school vision. Excerpted from the 1994 NCREL monograph, Raising Expectations to Improve Student Learning.

"Schools, like any organization, function best when staff have a clear idea about what is important. The schools that have been most successful in addressing and increasing the academic achievement of their students have benefited from a clarity of purpose that is grounded in a shared set of core values and beliefs. Primary among the beliefs that school staff must share, are high expectations for all students and for themselves. Such beliefs are not the personal domain of the principal."

This Critical Issue summary was researched and written by Kent Peterson, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Date posted: 1995