If we are to prepare current students for success in the 21st Century, their academic and personal development goals must be distinguished by both rigor and relevance. Additionally, their goal accomplishment must be facilitated by adults who engage students in supportive relationships.

Lower levels of Goal Focus will not produce the passion necessary to trigger Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships—the 3-Rs of the 21st Century. Only the highest levels of Goal Focus will provide the impetus for the motivation and the commitment for us to make the choices that will give our students the best opportunity for success in a highly competitive, global environment. The 3-Rs are the focal criteria for the “what about” for Goal Focus—the curriculum and instruction to prepare all students for the future.

In this book Fairman and McLean place powerful emphasis on why we do things, not simply how we do them. It is leaders’ responsibility to provide the focus and the emphasis on the organizational “true north” for their members. That is what uniquely defines us as an organization, connects what we are doing with why we are doing it, and provides relevance and significance for our efforts. Rigorous and relevant academic achievement goals are tied to four key criteria. Effective goals must address Core academic learning, Stretch learning, Student engagement, and Personal skill development.

The level of staff commitment to academic achievement goals that meet these criteria will be directly related to the level of staff involvement in the processes for their development and implementation. In Enhancing Goal Focus the authors have given us a conceptual framework within which to develop higher commitment to goals. This framework provides a sound conceptual basis for identifying challenges to increasing Goal Focus and for collaboratively developing best practices to address those challenges.