Consistency, Connection, and Confidence: What Education Is Missing Right Now

sherrirochel
Jan 31
3 min read

There are a LOT of words in education right now that people absolutely love to throw around.

Project-based learning.

Personalized learning.

Data-driven… well, everything.

Learner-centered.

Standards-based anything.

They sound impressive. They look good in presentations. They make it feel like progress is happening.

But if we’re being honest, they often amount to a whole lot of nothing.

Because here’s the thing — none of those matter if we don’t have consistency.

And right now, that’s the most important word missing from education conversations.

The Problem Isn’t How Students Learn

When I look at education systems today, the biggest problem is not how students learn.

Kids have always learned in different ways. That’s not new. That’s human.

What is new is how wildly different teaching looks from classroom to classroom and grade to grade. In many places, there is no longer a shared way of explaining concepts, no shared academic language, and no shared expectations students can rely on year after year.

Students are being asked to adapt constantly — not just to new content, but to entirely new systems.

That’s exhausting. And it’s unnecessary.

When Precision Disappears, Confusion Takes Over

We’ve moved away from things like rote memory and precision and replaced them with “dumbed down” explanations that avoid proper academic language.

The intention may have been accessibility.

The result has been confusion.

When students don’t hear consistent vocabulary, when definitions shift or are oversimplified, they don’t build mental anchors. Later, when expectations increase, they aren’t struggling because the content is too hard — they’re struggling because no one ever gave them a stable framework to attach it to.

There’s no consistency for students to anchor to.

Why Math Exposes the Cracks

I see this most clearly in math — especially in middle school and junior high.

This is where learning shifts from simple to complex. This is where precision matters more, not less. And when consistent vocabulary and foundations aren’t in place, gaps form FAST.

Foundations get shaky.

And you can’t build a strong house on a shaky foundation.

Inconsistency Quietly Breaks Everything

Inconsistency doesn’t always look dramatic. But it quietly breaks everything underneath the surface.

How can we expect students to grow if expectations constantly change?

How can parents trust the system if communication and grading aren’t consistent?

How can teachers flourish when the goalpost is always moving?

Trust, understanding, and growth all require consistency.

Without it, everyone is working harder — and getting less in return.

This Isn’t a Kid Problem — It’s a System Problem

I’ve seen this from every angle — teacher, parent, consultant, and tutor.

I’ve worked with students who suddenly “get it” just because someone finally connected vocabulary correctly.

I’ve been the parent wondering why one child learned a concept in 3rd grade, another in 4th, and another not until 7th.

That’s not a kid problem.

That’s a system problem.

And systems can be fixed.

The 3 C’s — In This Order

This is why I keep coming back to three C’s:

Consistency → Connection → Confidence

Consistency has to come first.

We have to be consistent in what we teach, how we teach, and when we teach before meaningful connections can even happen.

Once students understand where learning fits in real life — why it matters and how it applies — confidence grows naturally.

Confidence is not something we can force or hype into existence.

It’s something that grows when the system supports students instead of undermining them.

Trying to build confidence without fixing the system first just sets students up to fail.

What Parents and Educators Should Be Watching For

As spring conferences begin, I encourage parents to look beyond grades.

Look at the environment.

Look at expectations.

Look at how learning is explained.

Ask yourself:

Are expectations consistent?
Is vocabulary shared and reinforced?
Are connections being made?
Is confidence growing — or shrinking?

If the answer is no, stay tuned.

In the coming posts, I’ll break down each of these three C’s and share specific questions families and educators can ask to start rebuilding consistency, connection, and confidence — both at school and at home.

Because learning doesn’t stop when the bell rings.

And students deserve systems that actually work.