Doug Lemov's field notes

Reflections on teaching, literacy, coaching, and practice.

12.11.17 On Increasing ‘Positive Variance’ in Teaching and Curriculum

In their new book The Power of Moments, Chip and Dan Heath describe a principle some high performing organizations use to grow successfully: “Reduce negative variance and increase positive variance.”  This idea is relevant in at least two aspects of running and improving schools. First, one of the strongest ways a school can make a difference…