Douglas Reeves talks about the idea that action drives belief, not the other way around. For example, rather than waiting for teachers to “get on board” before initiating frequent formative assessments, requiring teachers to track progress on just one key skill or learning need will help them see the value of the data they’re receiving and the instructional worth of ongoing progress monitoring. Teachers who had to be dragged kicking and screaming into doing formative assessment now can’t live without it. Another example might be some teachers’ initial reluctance to use e-mail – now it’s indispensable to them.

I’m not an advocate of indiscriminate authoritarian or autocratic methods. That said, it’s hard to see the potential or value of something before you do it but, if the initiative is done well, it’s often easy to see the value of something once you’ve started…