First Things First: Putting Students Before Standards focuses on improving the pedagogy of stakeholder interaction within the educational community. Reasons many students underperform in our schools and why there is a lack of enthused diversity when it comes to stakeholder and community involvement are also explored. For the most part, student underperformance and deficiencies are usually attributed to one central theme - a heightened need to teach standards better so that high test scores can be achieved. Following traditional protocols such as these has taken more precedence in our districts, schools, and educational community than equitably meeting the diverse individual needs of students and families. The focus on approaches that solely focus on teaching standards and enforcing protocol denies many students access to important resources that contribute to their development.

Additionally, the book spotlights how the bias of bureaucratic expectation (and metrics) has influenced policy and pedagogy in a significant number of districts, schools, and teachers in relation to how they choose to teach students and interact with families. These types of approaches hinder the progress of achievement for many students and diminish the prospect of establishing meaningful school cultures that engage all stakeholders. Ultimately, the book speaks to the simple solution that all rules, programs, policies, and protocols should be prioritized with the intention of bettering the achievement of ALL students instead of bettering the achievement of teaching standards.