Passion and principle

October 2008

Franklin CampbellJones, author and cultural proficiency expert, says, “Get ethical before you get technical” (personal communication, 2005). School improvement without will and moral purpose — without a genuine commitment to all students — is an empty exercise in compliance that, in our experience, can do more harm than good. We have seen educators use data to “more accurately” track students, further widening the opportunity-to-learn gap. In response to achievement gaps, one school mandated lunchtime tutoring for all black students, regardless of whether or not they failed the state test (Confrey & Makar, 2005). Avoiding these and other data-based disasters is not a technical matter. It is an ethical matter that begins with will, passion, and determination. As you look to move your schools away from