A Culture of Quality
A Reflection on Practice
New Third Edition Now Available with Updated Preface by Ron Berger
“IT’S BEEN TWENTY-FIVE YEARS since I wrote this small book. Some parts of my life have not changed at all. I still live on top of a hill overlooking a farm, in a small house I built with my family, hand-crafted out of local wood and stone. I still live in the tiny rural town where I was a public school teacher for decades. Almost every adult in my town is my former student.
I am still immensely proud of my students. My nurse is my former student. My plumber is my former student.
The volunteer fire department members are my former students. The test scores they got in sixth grade no longer matter to me, but I care deeply about their commitment to quality, courage, and compassion.
My life depends on them.
And even if you don’t live in a small town, this is true for you as well: your life depends on the high standards and kindness of the people who take care of you and your community, all of whom are someone’s former students. It’s a good reminder about what really matters in education.”
-Ron Berger, from the new Preface to A Culture of Quality
In A Culture of Quality, Ron Berger writes about the importance of comprehensive school culture in effective schools that shepherd students to success. This slim book is frequently used as a common read to provide inspiration and provocation to school communities.
A Culture of Quality highlights a focus on high-quality student work as an essential tool for improving teaching and learning. You can see hundreds of models of high-quality student work at Models of Excellence: The Center for High-Quality Student Work.
