We are a progressive and high achieving school system.  Our schools are in fairly good shape with resources (material, technical, and human).   What then is needed to take us from very good to great?

Results Fieldbook:  Practical Strategies from Dramatically Improved Schools (Schmoker, 2001), “Teaching at Risk:  A Call to Action” (The Teaching Commission, 2004), and Breaking Ranks, II (National Association of Secondary School Principals, 2004) all promote collaborative and professional adult learning as a cornerstone  for improving education.  Specific forms of such collaborative adult learning include learning community, community of practice action research, and lesson study.

A recurring retreat theme for us has been "learning communities."  The May 2004 issue of Educational Leadership is devoted to building meaningful learning communities. Scherer offers this perspective on the issue:  "Building a community of learners is essential to any school reform effort. Only by involving all stakeholders and respecting differences can we give birth to new ideas. Only by reclaiming time to think together can we slow the frantic pace that so often leaves us spinning into powerlessness. And lest 'community' be seen as a soft extra that would be nice if we weren't so busy teaching students, our authors make clear that community involvement—both the professional kind described by Richard DuFour and the family and place-based kind described by Joyce L. Epstein and Karen Clark Salinas—is the only route to lasting student learning."

How do we empower a “best groups” model to address our school and systemic challenges that relate to the aim of high student achievement?  

The timeline for this protracted study is as follows:

May 18:	launch "focus web" as an initiative hub, repository, and workplace; point to research and resources
May 21:	first discussion question
June 2-3:	administrative retreat (Royal Pavillion)
June 4-14: