Closing the Gap

I decided to focus my lit review from another class on Closing the Achievement Gap. It was a topic that was relevant at my school where we just got back part of our CCRPI score. I'm not a numbers girl. It's hard for me to see ranges, increases, decreases, percentages and then compare in my head. But when I see flags, I'm on it! We had some significant red flags and they were concentrated around our subgroups. We acknowledge as a school the areas we need to address and work on, but how do we make it better?  It wasn't until I started doing my literature review that I realized there's a wealth of information out there on how to improve. One article, How One District is Systemically Closing the Achievement Gap, caught my interest. The premise of the article is that student work needs to be engaging and authentic and teachers need to be highly qualified. In addition, the belief should be there that all students have the ability to succeed. It's more than just presenting the material. There's so much more that goes into making academic gains and I think it starts with the heart! I often miss being in the classroom. I liked finding the connections with students; finding out what the latest and greatest TV show, fad, clothing style, dance, music, etc...was and then weaving it somehow into my lesson. I see teachers now that identify with students, and some that don't. Some teachers make learning relevant and some that just present the material. I'm wondering what we can do as a school, a school system, a state, or even as a country to really bring the achievement gap to the forefront and make an impact on low-achieving students who have the potential to succeed. What do you do at your school to close the gap? What strategies do you use? How do you make connections with students?