On the eve of receiving a fourth Blue Ribbon Award in spring 2002, staff at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Ill., met with a U.S. Department of Education representative for an exit interview. He told the joint faculty, staff, and administrative committee he had discovered our school community had one primary fear for the school’s future. Every group he had encountered — parents, teachers, administrators, staff, and community — echoed the same thoughts: Would our school continue to embrace change? Would we continue to get better? Would we strive to improve? Collectively, our fear was we might stagnate. We might settle for being just “good.” We might rest on our record and achievements. And we might stop seeking to improve student learning. Then