Guest blogging this week are members of the National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY). Today's post is from Justin Minkel, a 2nd and 3rd grade teacher at Jones Elementary in Northwest Arkansas, the 2007 Arkansas Teacher of the Year, a 2006 Milken Educator, and the author of the forthcoming children's chapter book Clubhouse Clash.

President Clinton once said, "There is nothing wrong with America that can't be cured by what is right with America." The same is true of our nation's schools.

One of the most devastating legacies of No Child Left Behind has been the tendency to see children as a checklist of deficits while ignoring their strengths, interests, and gifts. Many people have come to see teachers the same way. Administrators have been encouraged to focus on where their school or district faculty is falling short, rather than focusing on what skills these teachers could hone and share.

What if every school, district, and state began with its strengths instead of its weaknesses? What if we used what is right with our schools to cure what is wrong?

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http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/rick_hess_straight_up/2013/03/justin...