Why this blog? Engaging with Excellence

After spending the last several years working directly with schools and communities serving low-income and mostly students of color in Boston, Miami, and now the Inland Empire, I have observed an interesting phenomenon in our public schools. I call it a Excellence Paradox and is the subject of a forthcoming book. I call it a paradox for several reasons. For instance, while schools and communities are often working tirelessly to meet the needs of students, there are very few times when I've seen schools or communities come together to stop, recognize, celebrate, and learn from excellence. In fact, many schools and communities, especially those who have significantly struggled to meet achievement "targets" as defined by seriously questionable policy mandates, have struggled and continue to struggle to engage in conversations about excellence. This is due, in part, to the larger policy climate that punishes schools communities for not meeting targets, and hardly ever asks if these schools and communities have ever been given an equitable opportunity to meet these targets. But, this is not the purpose of this blog. Conversely, I'm working on ways to counter the Excellence Paradox by directly engaging schools and communities in efforts via Excellence Campaigns. The PRAXIS Project has been engaging stakeholders in processes to define excellence, recognize it, celebrate it, and most importantly learn from it. Several projects are underway across the Inland Empire. This blog aims to explore the extent to which Excellence Campaigns can reach beyond schools. This effort has been inspired by my recent involvement with the Inland Empire Economic Partnership (IEEP) as a member of the Regional Leadership Academy (RLA). The RLA is a group of 20 local leaders who are committed to improving the economic and general quality of life for people across the Inland Empire (San Bernardino and Riverside Counties). I'm particularly interested in bridging education with the many sectors that directly influence it (housing, employment and workforce development, environmental issues, health, and many others). This year-long RLA specifically provides opportunities for us to meet local, regional, and statewide leaders and policymakers and learn from other regions across California. My goal this year is to engage my RLA colleagues, IE community stakeholders, and my larger network across the U.S. to explore ways to respond to the many challenges facing our communities through an excellence lens.