By Illie Massey, School Improvement Representative
Early in my work with urban schools, I visited a building that had been labeled “low performing” for years. The hallways were quiet, student work was minimal, and much of the instruction I observed centered on remediation. In one classroom, a teacher shared, almost apologetically, that she avoided grade level texts because “the students just aren’t ready for that.” However in conversations with students, I heard curiosity, humor, and insight. They wanted to engage. What they lacked was not motivation or ability, but consistent access to rigorous learning experiences rooted in belief.
Moments like that stayed with me. They reflect a pattern many districts are actively working to disrupt: when expectations are lowered, often with good intentions, students are unintentionally denied access to the very opportunities that lead to growth. This is why high expectations should be not just a classroom practice, they should be a districtwide equity priority. Ensuring that all students have access to grade level content, meaningful discussion, and intellectual challenge is foundational to improving outcomes in urban schools.
Dr. L. S. Desautels’ work on academic press reinforces this idea. Desautels emphasizes that high performing schools create a shared expectation that learning will be challenging and worthwhile, and that students will be supported in meeting those challenges. Academic press is not about pushing students without support, it’s about coherence, clarity, and consistency in expectations across classrooms and schools. When districts align curriculum, instruction, and professional learning around this belief, students experience school as a place where their thinking is valued and stretched.
At the same time, high expectations alone are not enough. How those expectations are communicated matters deeply. In many urban schools, accountability pressures can unintentionally shift focus toward compliance, control, or surface level performance. This is where joy becomes essential, not optional. Dr. Gholdy Muhammad (2020, 2023) reminds us that learning should cultivate not only skills and intellect, but also identity, criticality, and joy. Joy affirms students’ humanity and creates conditions where they are more willing to take risks, persist through challenge, and see themselves as scholars.
Joy, however, is not the absence of rigor. In fact, classrooms that center joy often demonstrate the highest levels of engagement and intellectual work. Students debate, question, create, and connect learning to their lived experiences. This aligns closely with district priorities around culturally responsive instruction and student voice. When students see themselves reflected in the learning, and feel respected and challenged, achievement follows.
Dr. Bettina Love (2019) pushes this idea further by naming joy as a form of resistance. In her work on abolitionist teaching, Love argues that schools must move beyond helping students merely survive inequitable systems and instead create conditions where they can truly thrive. From this lens, joy is not frivolous, it is transformative. High expectations grounded in care and cultural responsiveness communicate a powerful message: You deserve challenge, creativity, and intellectual freedom.
Across the schools I support, the most sustainable improvement occurs when district priorities are aligned around a shared vision: rigorous instruction, equitable access, culturally responsive practices, and positive school culture. High expectations anchored in joy support all of these goals. Teachers plan with intention. Students engage more deeply. School cultures shift from compliance driven to purpose driven.
Reflecting on my experiences, I am reminded that high expectations are not about perfection or pressure. They are about belief, belief that students can think deeply, contribute meaningfully, and grow without sacrificing their identity or joy. When districts commit to this balance, high expectations become more than a strategy; they become a promise to students about what school can and should be.
Leader Call to Action: Turning Belief Into Practice
As district and school leaders, we play a critical role in shaping the expectations students experience every day. High expectations are not sustained through vision statements alone; they are realized through the instructional decisions, professional learning structures, and cultural messages we consistently reinforce.
To move this work forward, leaders are encouraged to:
- Examine expectations in practice, not just intent. Engage in classroom walkthroughs and team conversations that ask: Are students regularly engaging with grade-level content? Are tasks cognitively demanding and accessible with support?
- Protect instructional rigor while providing support. Ensure that interventions, MTSS structures, and pacing decisions expand access to grade level learning rather than replace it with remediation.
- Center joy as a leadership priority. Look for evidence of student voice, curiosity, and belonging in classrooms. Celebrate instructional practices that affirm identity and make learning meaningful, not just compliant.
- Align professional learning to belief. Provide ongoing learning opportunities that address implicit bias, culturally responsive instruction, and asset-based approaches to teaching and learning.
- Model the expectations we hold for students. Communicate a clear, consistent message to staff: All students are capable of deep thinking, and it is our responsibility to create the conditions that allow them to thrive.
When leaders align expectations, support, and joy, we send a powerful message across our schools and communities: rigor and humanity are not in conflict, they are inseparable. Our collective commitment to this balance will shape not only academic outcomes, but the lived experiences of students in our urban schools.
References
Desautels, L. S. (2016). Improving student achievement through academic press and instructional coherence. Educational Leadership.
Love, B. L. (2019). We want to do more than survive: Abolitionist teaching and the pursuit of educational freedom. Beacon Press.
Muhammad, G. (2020). Cultivating genius: An equity framework for culturally and historically responsive literacy. Scholastic.
Muhammad, G. (2023). Unearthing joy: A guide to culturally and historically responsive teaching and learning. Scholastic.