Building a Culture of Achievement

We are proud of our accomplishments at Brooke, and we constantly seek to improve our teaching because we know our best is yet to come. This school year, we are focused on building a culture that encourages all students to proudly identify as high achievers. Inspired by Young, Gifted, and Black by Theresa Perry, Claude Steele, Asa Hilliard III, our vision for a culture of achievement relies on:

“A leveling culture, a culture of achievement that extends to all of its members and a strong sense of group membership, where the expectation that everyone achieve is explicit and is regularly communicated in public and group settings.”

At Brooke, a culture of achievement begins with productive, positive classrooms where great teachers nurture and hold every single scholar to high expectations. Our schools have benefited from our focus on culture of achievement, so we are eager to share resources that anchor our work in hopes that they also inspire you:

• If you have 2 mins, check out the snapshot below to see more examples of our cultures of achievement on Instagram
• If you have 15 minutes, watch Alex Bernadotte’s Ted Talk, What do we really mean when we say college isn’t for everyone?
• If you have 20 minutes, read the article Race and the Schooling of Black Americans by Claude Steele
• And if you are really interested, pick up a copy of Young, Gifted, and Black by Theresa Perry, Claude Steele, and Asa Hilliard III

What Comes Next?

Happily, beginning the year with an intentional focus on culture quickly created positive change across our network. This momentum allowed us to focus most of our energy on our mission: ensuring our teaching is academically rigorous and prepares our students for college success.

This fall, our whole school read “The Opportunity Myth” from the New Teacher Project. This study looked at thousands of teachers across the country and found that, on average, teachers held kids to grade level expectations only 26% of the time. Worse, in the best classrooms, teachers held kids to grade level expectations only 52% of the time! That data shows kids are twice as capable as what society expects of them even in our best public schools…

As we do the hard work great teaching requires and raise the bar for Brooke students, we’re excited to have you alongside us. To schedule a visit to see our cultures of achievement in action, please contact Chief Development Officer, Hagar Berlin (hberlin@ebrooke.org).