Headmaster’s Blog Richard Marotta, Ph.D. December 4, 2009

One of the most often used terms in the world of education is ‘academic excellence.’ No matter what school you look at, public, private or independent, this is the phrase that more than any other emerges from the literature—academic excellence. But what exactly does that mean?<\p>

All schools teach the major academic disciplines. Almost all schools use tests, papers, quizzes, oral exams etc. to assess the performance of their students. Yet the question that remains is just exactly what is academic excellence.<\p>

I do not think that there is a single definition of this term; it probably has a different meaning depending on the school, the student population, the mission and the philosophy of the school. Is academic excellence the fact that a school offers all the areas of academic study? Is it the result of requiring significant amounts of homework? Is it the complexity of the materials being covered? Is it the level of difficulty in the assessment of student progress or, what is sometimes, called mastery of the subject? Is it the frequency and the difficulty of tests? Is one school more academically excellent than another because it assigns two chapters in biology per week as opposed to the school that assigns one chapter?<\p>

The more I think about this subject, the more potential answers and definitions begin to emerge. If I had to offer a single definition, I would suggest that a school’s academic excellence depends upon the level of expected discourse found within the academic area. I think that this level of discourse, i.e. the conversation that takes place between student and teacher, individuals and material, acts as a marker of a school’s excellence. And in order for this to be so, the school must provide an atmosphere which supports, encourages and elevates thinking, not only for students but for all members of the community—faculty, administrators, parents and trustees.<\p>

Critical thinking raises the level of discourse and raising the level of discourse, in my view, raises the academic quality of a school. What matters most is not that the teacher assigns those two chapters per week—that is weight not work; what matter most emerges from the thoughtful discourse with which the community of learners discusses those chapters. The hill upon which Plato taught, asked questions and engaged in the highest conversation with his students should be our model; coincidentally, the word academic comes from a root word meaning hill or garden. How fitting it is for us at Garden to try to recreate the level of discourse from that ancient Greek garden.<\p>

A school achieves academic excellence when its students and teachers are intellectually enhanced by the level of critical thinking and discourse that forms that basis for all academic activity within the community.<\p>

Headmaster’s Blog Richard Marotta, PH.D. November 19, 2009

During the first week of November, I attended the annual Heads of School Conference held at the Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz. More the 114 Heads of independent schools in New York attended for our annual discussion of issues pertaining to independent schools. This year’s conference clearly focused on the current state of education in the face of a not yet fully recovered economy and how financial changes affect our schools. Part of the program included some study results undertaken by ISM (Independent School Management) and presented by Director, Terry L. Moore.

Among the many questions and answers in several parent surveys about reasons for choosing an independent school, one struck me as very appropriate for discussion. Parents look for independent schools in which their child will be safe—physically, socially, intellectually and academically. This is a complex parental response, since all of these levels of ‘safety’ clearly intermingle with each other.

My sense is that physical safety is a sine qua non as a pre-condition for choosing an independent school. After that are the other aspects of safety: academic, social and intellectual. For me the idea of being in an academic environment in which a student’s intellectual safety is nurtured is profoundly important. For students to develop the ability, the skill and the willingness to be critical thinkers, the school has to provide an intellectual context in which ideas are proposed, discussed, investigated, and carefully criticized and then either accepted or rejected within a full range of understanding and seriousness. For a student to propose an idea involves a certain amount of risk taking; how that idea is received and examined determines how successful a school will be in developing critical thinkers.

In my AP English class, I urge my students to be bold thinkers—try out ideas, interpretations, and viewpoints; follow the idea wherever it may lead. Sometimes you will think that the idea has real merit; others you may feel need to be rethought. But my advice is to push the idea however you need in order to discover how truthful it is. There is a line in Spenser’s Faerie Queene that reads, “Be bold, be bold, be not too bold.” I fully support the first two parts of that exhortation. “Be bold, be bold” in your thinking and discover where it may take you.

And for this to happen, a school needs to be open to ideas and critical challenges and encourage, support and nurture thinking. When a school does this, it is truly fulfilling its mission as an intellectual catalyst for the unlimited development of young and daring thinkers.