Dear Colleague:

In the early 1990s, the National Education Association launched a major school improvement effort called Keys to Excellence for Your Schools (KEYS). Over the ensuing years, this researchbased KEYS initiative has served as a catalyst for change in more than 600 public school districts all across America.

Now, your school or school district has chosen to become a partner in this effort to ensure a quality public education for every child. The journey begins with members of a school community taking the landmark KEYS survey. Results of the survey reveal both strengths and shortcomings within a school community. By now, you have received your survey results, and you are ready to move to the next stage.

The toolbox, produced by NEA’s School System Capacity Department, includes the essential things you will need to move forward with an integrated approach to whole system change. The toolbox contains the KEYS 2.0 Action Guide, the KEYS 2.0 Facilitator’s Guide, a videocassette recording, CD-ROM, and additional materials and resources. This Action Guide—the result of five years of additional research and input from users of the original KEYS—provides guidance for analyzing survey results and for initiating the development of an effective school improvement plan. The videocassette and CD-ROM offer information to help participants understand the requirements and commitments needed for embarking on the self-assessment process.

Let me emphasize that staff members of NEA’s School System Capacity Department are available to help you with the KEYS school improvement process. For any school improvement program to succeed, it is vital to engage the entire school community—KEYS is not an exception. This is especially appropriate because NEA members are active within the communities we serve. We are teachers, education support professionals, parents, and citizens. As NEA members, we are everywhere. NEA is promoting KEYS because we believe strongly that school reform should be undertaken with the full participation of professionals on the front line who will be held accountable for its success.

I congratulate you for your efforts to improve teaching and learning in your community. Let us work together to ensure that every public school is as good as America’s best public schools.

Sincerely,

Reg Weaver

President, National Education Association