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School Reform Overview School Reform Overview
Three critical commitments is explained in detail in Dr. Marzano's Vision Document:Three Critical Commitments. Below, you'll find a brief introduction to these foundational concepts.
District and school leaders must ensure that specific interventions are enacted in every classroom in every school. Research and theory point to at least three critical interventions that should occur in every classroom and in every school throughout a district. These three interventions might be thought of as critical "commitments" that must be made to students by district and school leaders.
While making these commitments might appear to be a straightforward endeavor, it is not simple because it requires that certain actions occur in every classroom. Almost by definition this goes against the historical culture of districts and schools, which might be characterized as "loosely coupled" (i.e., individual schools within a district and individual teachers within a school operate in total autonomy and isolation).
Over decades, districts and schools have shown little interest in becoming "tightly coupled" organizations in which student achievement is the superordinate goal supported by uniform yet flexible behaviors in the classroom (Marzano & Waters, District Leadership That Works). It should be stated that until districts and schools become tightly coupled regarding student achievement, they cannot be thought of as serious about school reform.
Dr. Marzano describes these three critical commitments, which together represent a serious commitment to reform:
| Commitment 1: | Develop a System of Individual Student Feedback at the District, School, and Classroom Levels. See details. |
| Commitment 2: | Ensure Effective Teaching in Every Classroom. See details. |
| Commitment 3: | Build Background Knowledge for All Students. See details. |