One of the characteristics of effective schools in that the school community shares common beliefs and commitments about the priorities in the school, Researchers talk about this as coherence and a shared culture that is reflected in coherent school wide strategies to enhance student learning. In racially and ethnically diverse schools that foster high student achievement, issues related race and ethnicity are front and center, teachers of different races and ethnicities collaborate to address the needs of all students, there are high expectations and relevant support for student learning, teachers explicitly foster positive intergroup relations, and teachers make extra efforts, with support from school administrators, to know their students well.
