Challenge Success

Challenge Success is a non-profit school reform organization founded in 2003 at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education. Based on the seminal research of Dr. Denise Pope, Challenge Success promotes that there are many ways to find success in life. We must value children for their unique identities and assets rather than focus on achievement, status, and other external measures of success to which our society is accustomed. 

Challenge Success works with teams of educators, parents, and students at partner schools to identify problems and implement best practices and policies in areas such as curriculum, assessment, homework, school schedules, and a healthy school climate. They support parents by providing the tools to help their children regain their balance, strengthen their sense of self, increase their motivation and critical-thinking skills, and learn how to deal effectively with the inevitable challenges of life. Lastly, they conduct, collect, and synthesize research, so that the public can make informed decisions that will enable all children to thrive. Challenge Success has worked with over 750 schools and surveyed over 350,000 students in 20 years.

Challenge Success believes society is too focused on grades, test scores, and performance, leaving little time for kids to develop the necessary skills to become resilient, ethical, and motivated learners. They partner with schools, families, and communities to embrace a broad definition of success and to implement research-based strategies that promote student well-being and engagement. After all, success is measured throughout throughout a lifetime, not at the end of a semester. Dawson embraces this broad definition of success and aspires to help students find a healthy balance between academic, social, and physical development that is developmentally appropriate. 

Read about the examples of changes that Challenge Success schools have implemented.