Chapter 1: Improving Student Achievement: Reforms that Work

The hardest job I ever had was that first year of teaching when I was scrambling just one lesson ahead of my science and geography students, anxious about the parent conference with the owners of the dog that ate Harriet’s homework and excited about my team’s basketball game that night. Teachers and principals, we celebrate your excellence and your contribution and welcome you to the session.

In our audience today, we have most of the 50 chief state school officers, those state superintendents, commissioners, and directors who carry the torch for education excellence working with legislators, governors, and the professional community to advance educational excellence and opportunity. We say a warm welcome and thank you for your courageous leadership. I had the pleasure of serving as Kentucky commissioner of education in the 1990s and many of you are longtime friends. Indeed, I am proud to consider myself a “recovering chief state school officer.”