This month the theme of The Principal’s Office is “Promoting the success of all students by advocating, nurturing, and sustaining a school culture and instructional program conducive to student learning.” This is an excerpt taken from the ISLLC Standard 2. There are many avenues to fostering success for all students. Paraphrasing a statement by Ron Edmonds in the 1980s, “We already know all we need to know about how to teach all children. It’s a matter of if we have the conviction to do it.”

The Principal’s Office would like to acknowledge the recent death of a teacher, psychologist, historian, and the Fuller E. Callaway Professor of Urban Education at Georgia State University, Dr. Asa Hilliard, an educator who exemplified sustaining a school culture conducive to learning for all students. Dr. Hilliard began his educational career in the Denver Public Schools. He was sought out by countless school districts, government agencies, public advocacy organizations, and private businesses to critique standardized testing and provide advice on curriculum to meet the needs of culturally diverse students, with particular emphasis on content for African American students. He was the author of over 200 research studies, academic papers, books and articles on assessment, African history and culture, and culturally responsive curriculum and instruction.

One eulogy states that one of the best ways that we can honor this giant of a scholar and educator is to act upon the charge that he gave us during his 2007 W.E.B Dubois Distinguished Lecture. During his lecture, he challenged us to “identify the right research questions” and to stop “getting behind the latest dog and pony show.” He also reminded us that “We can’t know our children if we don’t know ourselves.” Dr. Hilliard will be missed but his legacy will live on as we continue the work that he so loved.