Setting a High Bar to Help Students Succeed

In Success Academy Charter Schools, a network of public charter schools in New York City, teachers send the message: We seek to understand our mistakes because they allow us to learn. In their approach, never underestimating students—setting a high bar and then holding them consistently accountable to that standard—means that you believe in them. By comparing exemplary work with developing work on her class projector, third-grade teacher Stephany Neptune normalizes recognizing room for improvement and doing better next time. 

“I don’t think you should back off and let go, because you’re not helping your students,” says Neptune. “When you’re insistent and consistent, that is holding them accountable. Yes, it might take time. It might take patience. But they will get there.”

Network founder Eva Moskowitz believes that setting a high bar gives children something to reach for. “Kids are really capable of a lot more than we’ve given them credit for. And at Success, we try not to make assumptions about age being a determinant of ability or aptitude. We like to see how far the kids can go,“ she says. “I mean, that’s the great thing about school. If you shoot here and the kids don’t get it, then you just… you back it down until they have access to the material. But you don’t want to be teaching things that kids already know and understand. Learning is in the stretch. If you’re not stretching them intellectually, then there’s no learning.“

While this strict approach doesn’t work for every student, families flock to the schools in the network—last year, there were nearly five applicants per available seat. They say that providing students the opportunity to rise to the occasion builds confidence and a lasting sense of pride in their own capabilities.

See all of Edutopia’s coverage of Success Academy Charter Schools to learn more about the network.