Dear Friends,It has been an exciting three days of refreshing discourse.The  opportinuity to speak candidly and passionately about the future of our children should  lead  us to reflect on our practices and make adjustments where necessary. We hope that the dialogue will continue as we build this professional learning community.From today's discussion we gleaned the following ideas:1. The need to track students' progess and use data  in a more deliberate/ systematic way to inform programme planning and implementation.2.Competent caring teachers, those who teach with  heart and mind, can significantly impact their students' achievements.3. The importance of attending to factors other than the cognitive.4. The need to find creative ways of funding programmes to acquire resources  for students'  literacy growth.5.The value of helping teachers to develop programmes aimed at empowering  parents to assist their children.Thank you all.Jennifer, Maureen and NoveletteUSAID/Jamaica Basic Education Project