Up

Teach for
Excellence
All students deserve equitable access
to an engaging and rigorous curriculum.
Carol Ann Tomlinson and Edwin Lou Javius

W
ithin the lifetime of a signifi- integration a given, many of our students still have
cant segment of the popula- separate and drastically unequal learning experi-
tion, schools in the United ences (Darling-Hammond, 2010).
States operated under the Many of our schools are over­whelming­ly
banner of “separate but equal” attended by low-income and racially and linguis-
opportunity. In time, and at considerable cost, tically diverse students, whereas nearby schools
we came to grips with the reality that separate is are largely attended by students from more afflu-
seldom equal. But half a century later, and with ent and privileged backgrounds (Kozol, 2005).
Another kind of separateness exists within schools.
It’s frequently the case that students attend classes
that correlate highly with learners’ race and socio-
economic status, with less privileged students in
lower learning groups or tracks and more privi-
leged students in more advanced ones (Darling-
Hammond, 2010).
The logic behind separating students by what
educators perceive to be their ability is that it
enables teachers to provide students with the kind
of instruction they need. Teachers can remediate
students who perform at a lower level of pro-
ficiency and accelerate those who perform at a
higher level. All too often, however, students in
lower-level classrooms receive a level of educa-
tion that ensures they will remain at the tail end
of the learning spectrum. High-end students
may (or may not) experience rich and challeng-
© SUSIE FITZHUGH

ing learning opportunities, and students in the

middle too often encounter uninspired learning
experiences that may not be crippling but are

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 brain is incredibly malleable and that
individuals can nearly always out­
perform our expectations for them.
The sorting mechanisms often used in
school are not only poor predictors of
success in life, but also poor measures
of what a young person can accom-
plish, given the right context (Dweck,
2007). Virtually all students would
benefit from the kind of curriculum
and instruction we have often reserved
for advanced learners—that is, curricu-
lum and instruction designed to engage
students, with a focus on meaning
making, problem solving, logical think-
ing, and transfer of learning (National
Research Council, 1999).
In addition, the demographic reality
is that low-income students of color
and English language learners will soon
become the majority of students in
our schools (Center for Public Educa-
tion, 2007; Gray & Fleischman, 2004).
Given that low-level classes are largely
made up of students from these groups
and that students in such classes fare
poorly in terms of academic achieve-
ment, the societal cost of continuing to
support sorting students is likely to be
high (Darling-Hammond, 2006).
Finally, Americans tend to be justly
proud of the democratic ideals that
© Stefanie felix

represent this nation. We nourish those

ideals when we invest in systems that
enable each individual to achieve his
seldom energizing. No group comes to students in higher-level classes typi- or her best (Gardner, 1961). In con-
know, understand, and value the others. cally experiencing better teachers, cur- trast, we undercut those ideals when
Schools in which this arrangement is the riculum, and achievement levels than the systems we create contribute to a
norm often display an “us versus them” peers in lower-level classes (Carbonaro widening gap between those who have
attitude that either defines the school & Gamoran, 2003). Further, when privilege and those who do not (Fullan,
environment or dwells just below the lower-performing students experience 2001).
surface of daily exchanges. curriculum and instruction focused Too few students—including those
on meaning and understanding, they who excel academically—regularly
Difficult to Defend increase their skills at least as much as have education experiences that stimu-
Research finds that sorting, this 21st their higher-achieving peers do (Edu- late and stretch them. Teaching up is
century version of school segregation, cational Research Service, 1992). one key approach that teachers can
correlates strongly with student race These findings are even more prob- use to regularly make such experiences
and economic status and predicts and lematic when combined with our cur- available to all students, regardless of
contributes to student outcomes, with rent understanding that the human their backgrounds and starting points.

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 Seven Principles of Teaching Up guidelines, and feedback as well as a students about preferred approaches to
To create classrooms that give students safe learning environment that supports learning, offer varied routes to accom­
equal access to excellence, educators at them as they take their next steps in plishing required goals, and observe
all levels need to focus on seven inter­ growth, no matter what their current which options students select and how
related principles. level of performance is. Through words, those options support learning (or
1. Accept that human differences are actions, and caring, the teacher con­ don’t). Teachers who teach up select
not only normal but also desirable. Each veys to students “I know you have the instructional strategies and approaches
person has something of value to con­ capacity to do what’s required for suc­ in response to what they know of their
tribute to the group, and the group is cess; therefore, I expect much of you. students’ interests and learning prefer­
diminished without that contribution. Because I expect much, I’ll support your ences, rather than beginning with a
Teachers who teach up create a com­ success in every way I can. I’m here to strategy and hoping it works. Teach­
munity of learners in which everyone be your partner in achievement.” ing up is not about hope. It’s about
works together to benefit both individu­ 3. Work to understand students’ cul- purpose­ful instructional planning that
als and the group. These teachers know tures, interests, needs, and perspectives. aims at ensuring high-level success for
that the power of learning is magnified People are shaped by their backgrounds, each student.
when the classroom functions effectively
as a microcosm of a world in which we
want to live. They craft culturally and
economically inclusive classrooms that
The sorting mechanisms used in school are not only
take into account the power of race, poor predictors of success in life, but also poor
culture, and economic status in how
students construct meaning; and they measures of what a young person can accomplish.
support students in making meaning in
multiple ways (Gay, 2000).
2. Develop a growth mind-set. Pro­ and respecting students means respect­ 4. Create a base of rigorous learn-
viding equity of access to excellence ing their backgrounds—including their ing opportunities. Teachers who teach
through teaching up has its roots in a race and culture. Teaching any student up help students form a conceptual
teacher’s mind-set about the capacity of well means striving to understand how understanding of the disciplines, con­
each learner to succeed (Dweck, 2007). that student approaches learning and nect what they learn to their own lives,
It requires doggedly challenging the creating an environment that is respect­ address significant problems using
preconception that high ability dwells ful of and responsive to what each stu­ essential knowledge and skills, collabo­
largely in more privileged students. The dent brings to the classroom. rate with peers, examine varied perspec­
greatest barrier to learning is often not Many of us know the Golden Rule: tives, and create authentic products for
what the student knows, but what the Treat others as you would want to be meaningful audiences. These teachers
teacher expects of the student (Good, treated. In classrooms that work for a develop classrooms that are literacy-rich
1987). wide spectrum of people, the Platinum and that incorporate a wide range of
A teacher with a growth mind-set Rule works better: Treat others as they resources that attend to student interests
creates learning experiences that rein­ want to be treated. This principle relates and support student learning.
force the principle that effort rather than not only to teacher and student interac­ Teachers who teach up also ensure
background is the greatest determinant tions, but also to teacher choices about that students develop the skills of inde­
of success, a notion that can dramati­ curriculum and instruction. pendence, self-direction, collaboration,
cally help students who experience For teachers who teach up, under­ and production that are necessary for
institutional and instructional racism. A standing students’ learning profiles is success. They commend excellence as a
growth mind-set also creates classrooms the driving force behind instructional way of life and demonstrate to learners
that persistently demonstrate to students planning and delivery. A learning pro­ the satisfaction that comes from accept­
and teachers alike that when a student file refers to how individuals learn most ing a challenge and investing one’s
works hard and intelligently, the result efficiently and effectively. How we learn best effort in achieving it. They know
is consistent growth that enables people is shaped by a variety of factors, includ­ that when tasks help students make
to accomplish their goals. ing culture, gender, environmental sense of important ideas, are highly
Teachers who teach up provide preferences, and personal strengths or relevant to students’ life experiences,
students with clear learning targets, weaknesses. Teachers can talk with their and are designed at a moderate level

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 of challenge, students are willing to do “It seems important to me that Anthony explore and apply understandings at
the hard work that is the hallmark of raised the question he posed to you. more expert levels.
excellence. These teachers scaffold each His thinking brought to your attention Teaching up also calls on teachers
student as he or she takes the next step the need to think further about your to use formative assessment data to
toward excellence. solution. The ability to ask a challeng- guide instructional planning, scaffold
For example, a high school teacher ing question at the right time is a good the learning of struggling students, and
began a study of Romeo and Juliet by talent to have.” Elizabeth Cohen (1994) extend learning for advanced students.
having students think of instances in calls that attribution of status. In other words, teaching up requires
books, movies, TV shows, or their own Teaching up means monitoring both high expectations and high
lives when people’s perceptions of oth- student growth so that when students personalization.
ers made it difficult to have certain fall behind, misunderstand, or move For instance, in a middle school sci-
friends, be in love with a particular per- beyond expectations, teachers are ence study of simple machines, the
son, or feel supported in their marriage. primed to take appropriate instruc- teacher made certain to preteach key
In this culturally diverse class, every
student offered examples. They were
fascinated with how often this theme
played out across cultures, and they
eagerly talked about what the examples
had in common. As the teacher contin-
ued to guide them in relating the play
to their own examples, the students
remained highly engaged with a clas-
sic that might otherwise have seemed
remote to them. When students make
cultural and linguistic connections with
content, they display more sophisticated
thinking about essential learning goals
(Gibbons, 2002).
5. Understand that students come to the
classroom with varied points of entry into
a curriculum and move through it at dif-
ferent rates. For intellectual risk-taking
to occur, classrooms need to feel safe to
© Gale Zucker

students from a full range of cultural,

racial, and economic backgrounds.
Teachers who teach up understand
that some students may feel racially tional action. They guide all students vocabulary to students who found aca-
and culturally isolated in their classes. in working with the “melody line” of demic vocabulary challenging. Students
Therefore, they find multiple ways for the curriculum—the essential knowl- then examined and analyzed several
students to display their insights for the edge, understanding, and skills—while Rube Goldberg contraptions, watched
group. These teachers understand that ensuring ample opportunity for indi- and discussed a video, and read desig-
every student needs “peacock” moments viduals and small groups to work with nated sections from a text. This multi-
of success so classmates accept them as “accompaniments”— that is, scaffolding modal approach ensured that everyone
intellectual contributors. for students who need additional work had a solid baseline of experience with
For instance, a teacher might observe with prerequisites and extending depth concepts they would then explore.
a student in a small-group setting who for students who need to move ahead. Following a formative assessment
is questioning his peers about the solu- For example, some students might on the topic, students worked on one
tion to a math problem they are pursu- need additional work with academic of two tasks. Students who needed
ing because it does not seem correct vocabulary, the cornerstone skills of additional reinforcement of how simple
to him. A teacher who overhears the literacy and numeracy, or self-awareness machines worked went on a guided
exchange might simply say to the group, and self-direction. Other students will tour of the school and speculated which

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 simple machines were involved in their students when and how to help work with the morning’s writers on
mechanisms they came across in their one another as well as how to guide math. She found that working with the
tour, such as an elevator. Later, they their own work effectively. This kind of small groups at key times in the learn-
used print and web sources to confirm flexibility is commonly found in kinder- ing cycle significantly increased the
or revise their projections. Students who garten classrooms—a strong indication achievement of virtually all the students
had already demonstrated solid mastery that it’s within reach of all grade levels. in the class.
of the topic worked in teams to identify An elementary math teacher in one In the same vein, a team of high
a problem at school or in their lives that such classroom regularly used forma- school teachers took turns hosting a
three or more simple machines working tive assessment to chart students’ prog- study room after school on Monday
together could solve; they also used web ress. On the basis of what she learned, through Thursday. They expected
and text sources to confirm or revise she built into her instructional plans students who hadn’t completed their
their projections. opportunities for small-group instruc- homework to attend. They also invited
students who were having difficulty
with course requirements and encour-
aged all students to come if they
wanted additional support. Many stu-
dents did. The sessions, which were
less formal than class, also promoted
sound relation­ships between the teach-
ers and their students and among the
students themselves.
7. Be an analytical practitioner. Teach-
ers who teach up consistently reflect on
classroom procedures, practices, and
pedagogies for evidence that they are
working for each student—and modify
them when they’re not. They are the
students of their students. They are
vigilant about noticing when students
“do right,” and they provide positive
descriptive feedback so students can
© SUSIE FITZHUGH

successfully recall or replicate the skill,

knowledge, or behaviors in question.
They empower students to teach them,
as teachers, what makes students most
6. Create flexible classroom routines and tion in which she could teach in new successful. They share with students
procedures that attend to learner needs. ways concepts that some students found their aspirations for student success.
Teachers who teach up realize that only difficult, extend the thinking of stu- They talk with students about what
classrooms that operate flexibly enough dents who had mastered the concepts, is and isn’t working in the classroom,
to make room for a range of student and help students connect what they and they enlist students’ partnership in
needs can effectively address the differ- were learning to various interest areas. crafting a classroom that maximizes the
ences that are inevitable in any group of Occasionally, she modified the daily growth of each individual and of the
learners. They see that such flexibility is schedule so she could work with a por- group as a whole.
also a prerequisite for complex student tion of the class more intensively. In Consider a group of primary teachers
thinking and student application of those instances, some students might who conducted individual assessments
content (Darling-Hammond, Bransford, work on writing assignments or with of kindergartners’ understanding of
LePage, & Hammerness, 2007). Teach- longer-term projects in the morning symmetrical and asymmetrical figures
ers who teach up carefully select times while the teacher met with a given and then discussed what they observed.
when the class works as a whole, when group on a math topic and guided their They realized that vocabulary played
students work independently, and when work. In the afternoon, students would a large role in the success of students
students work in groups. They teach reverse assignments so that she could who mastered the concept. As a result,

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 to equity will determine our future. New
they were better positioned to support Every student York: Teachers College Press.
the growth of students who were ini- Darling-Hammond, L., Bransford, J., LePage,
tially less successful by adding vocabu- needs “peacock” P., & Hammerness, K. (2007). Preparing
lary practice to math instruction. teachers for a changing world: What teachers
Or, consider a middle school teacher moments of success should learn and be able to do. San Fran-
who talked often with his students cisco: Jossey-Bass.
about his confidence that they were so classmates accept Dweck, C. (2007). Mindset: The new psychol-
ogy of success. New York: Ballantine.
engineers of their own success. To rein-
force that point, he carefully observed them as intellectual Educational Research Service. (1992). Aca-
demic challenge for the children of poverty:
students during whole-class, small- The summary report (ERS Item #171).
group, and independent work. He’d
contributors. Arlington, VA: Author.
Fullan, M. (2001). The new meaning of educa-
make comments privately to students as
tional change (3rd ed.). New York: Teach-
he moved among them or as he stood at ers College Press.
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room: “Josh, you provided leadership support environment will reveal in time ing: Theory, research and practice. New
today when your group got off task. I what’s hidden. York: Teachers College Press.
Gardner, J. (1961). Excellence: Can we be
wanted you to know it made a differ- Martin Luther King Jr. (1965)
equal and excellent too? New York: Harper
ence.” “Ariela, you stuck with the work reminded us that human beings are and Row.
today when it was tough. Good job!” caught in an inescapable network of Gibbons, P. (2002). Scaffolding language and
“Logan, are you still on track to bring mutuality, tied in a single garment of des- scaffolding learning: Teaching second lan-
in a draft of your paper tomorrow so tiny. Whatever affects one directly affects guage learners in mainstream classrooms.
you’ll have a chance to polish it before all indirectly. I can never be what I ought Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
to be until you are what you ought to be, Good, T. L. (1987). Two decades of research
it’s due next week?” on teacher expectations: Findings and
and you can never be what you ought to
be until I am what I ought to be. This is future directions. Journal of Teacher Edu-
A Challenge Worth Taking the interrelated structure of reality. cation, 38(4), 32–47.
In her provocative book, Wounded by Gray, T., & Fleischman, (2004/2005).
School, Kirsten Olson (2009) concludes That truth has never been more evident Success­ful strategies for English language
learners. Educational Leadership, 62(4),
that perhaps the deepest wounds than it is today. Schools have the still- 84–85.
schools inflict on students are wounds untapped possibility of helping all kinds King, M. L., Jr. (1965). Commencement
of underestimation. We underestimate of learners become what they ought to address for Oberlin College, Oberlin,
students when they come to us with be by developing the skill— and will— Ohio.
skills and experiences that differ from to proliferate classrooms in which equal Kozol, J. (2005). The shame of the nation: The
restoration of apartheid schooling in Amer-
the ones we expected and we conclude access to excellence is a reality for all
ica. New York: Crown.
they’re incapable of complex work. We learners. EL National Research Council. (1999). How
underestimate students when they fall people learn: Brain, mind, school, and expe-
short of expectations because they don’t References rience. Washington, DC: National Acad-
understand the school game and we Carbonaro, W., & Gamoran, A. (2003). The emies Press.
production of achievement inequality in Olson, K. (2009) Wounded by school. New
determine that they lack motivation. high school English. American Educational York: Teachers College Press.
We underestimate them when we allow Research Journal, 39(4), 801–827.
them to shrink silently into the back- Center for Public Education. (2007). The
ground of the action in the classroom. United States of education: The changing Carol Ann Tomlinson is William Clay
We underestimate them, too, when we demographics of the United States and
Parrish Jr. Professor at the Curry School
their schools. Alexandria, VA: Author.
assume they’re doing well in school of Education, University of Virginia. Her
Cohen, E. (1994). Designing groupwork: Strat-
because they earn high grades, and we work with differentiated instruction
egies for the heterogeneous classroom. New
praise them for reaching a performance York: Teachers College Press. focuses on developing classrooms that
Darling-Hammond, L. (2006). Interview provide equity of access to high-quality
level that required no risk or struggle.
with Linda Darling-Hammond. PBS learning opportunities for all students;
Classrooms that teach up function cat3y@virginia.edu. Edwin Lou Javius
Nightly Business Report. Retrieved from
from the premise that student potential is founder of ED­Equity, an organization
www.pbs.org/nbr/site/features/special/
is like an iceberg—most of it is WIP_hammond1 that works to help educators develop an
obscured from view—and that high Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). The flat world equity mind-set as a means of eliminat-
trust, high expectations, and a high- and education: How America’s commitment ing the achievement gap.

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