Is it time to rethink our traditional education system? — Spotlight on Dr. Luis Cruz
“Never let a crisis go to waste” — Winston Churchill
Get ready to be inspired and to be challenged to think outside the box. Dr. Cruz is an engaging speaker that will leave you with a lot to think about and ponder. Here are a few highlights from our conversation. Enjoy!
Luis F. Cruz has been a public-school teacher and administrator at the elementary, middle and high school levels for over 30 years. While principal of a large comprehensive high school in Southern California, Luis learned and implemented the PLC process and as a result, together with a hard-working faculty and staff, was able to catapult the school’s graduation rate from 72% to 92% in 6 years. Today, Luis is a sought after educational consultant and author who works with educators throughout the United States and Canada teaching the intricacies of Transformational Leadership, the PLC Process and the RTI Processes to name a few of the ingredients that allow schools to continually raise student achievement.
Revolutionaries are needed to design the system
We have the right people just not the right system. For those schools that understand that schools cannot continue to be the traditional school setting that many of us grew up with, instead, we’re going to have to focus on this idea that all kids can and will learn at high levels. Those schools are really grappling with what it means to change a system or as I often refer to it as redesigning a system that wasn’t created for our new definition of all. Our new definition of all really includes kids that are struggling economically, that come from families that are struggling economically, students of color, students that have an IEP, the system wasn’t designed for them to be ultimately successful. But we have to make sure that we redesign that system, so that these kids can be successful. For schools that really understand that and are grappling day in and day out with changing the policies, practices and procedures that these kids deserve, success is something that they’re going to be continuously experiencing, because of that insight, and because of the commitment to redesign that system.
Winston Churchill — “Never let a crisis go to waste”
This pandemic has done one thing, it has revealed very clearly the fact that we continue to live in a country that is great in so many ways, but at the same time, is also filled with inequity when it comes to the children that we serve, and the populations that we serve. Poverty is real. And poverty has serious circumstances when it comes to whether or not children are going to benefit from the public school system that they are part of or not.
Tackling the digital divide — breaking the cycle of poverty
The inequity that we find in the digital divide became apparent, many parents did not have the technology, the Wi Fi, even the support at home from parents that could stay home or who could afford to stay at home. We have now revealed even more clearly the fact that we live in a great country, but in a country that is filled with inequity. And that if we do not as a profession, commit to closing those inequities, we will continue to have the ill effects that come from these inequities, which is more children that begin another generation in this cycle of poverty. More children who are going to be dependent on the government for help, because they were not able to grasp from the public school system, the kind of independence that many kids that do not come from economically disadvantaged homes have.
To hear the rest of the interview with Dr. Cruz, join us for the second Learning For Life Virtual Summit, March 31st and April 1st. Please take a moment to click this link to sign up for your FREE ticket to the Learning For Life Summit. Can’t wait to see you there!
“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”
― Frederick Douglass
The joy is in the journey!
Blessings and Peace,
Mary
