These school districts embraced the six principles outlined in blanksteins 2004 book failure is not an option including 1 the establishment of a common school mission and vision with shared. Eric ed495520 failure is not an option tm six principles that guide student achievement in high performing schools corwin press 2004 jun 21 the author builds upon a foundation which identifies courageous school leadership and the professional learning community as the center of effective school reform. Building on a foundation that identifies courageous school leadership and the professional learning community as the center of effective school reform this powerful new book by alan m blankstein offers six guiding principles for creating and sustaining high performing schools common mission vision values and goals systems for prevention and intervention collaborativ. Failure is not an option six principles that guide student achievement in high performing schools item preview remove circle share or embed this item embed embed for . Principle 1 mission vision and goals effective mission statements 1 are clear 2 are specific 3 are measurable 4 provide for failure principle 2 ensure achievement for all students schools that succeed with the toughest students develop 1 beliefs 2 behavior 3