Strength in Numbers: Closing Achievement Gaps through Collaboration

In this half hour documentary, follow principal, Dr. Nancy Lubeski, in her search to improve the lives of her students.

2 years ago, Wexford Montessori Academy’s Principal, Dr. Nancy Lubeski, received sobering news. Her school had been designated as a high achievement gap school by the state of Michigan, which meant that it had one of the largest gaps between its top and bottom 30% of students. To help her students who were struggling, Dr. Lubeski got involved with a networked improvement community (NIC). Once in the NIC, she finally found the support she’d been searching for. She would work shoulder to shoulder with other principals, intermediate school district representatives, Michigan Department of Education personnel, and researchers from Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Midwest who were all united in one goal–to close the large achievement gaps in their schools and districts. Together, they would discover that the path to closing the achievement gap, though difficult, could become clearer through collaboration.