One of the biggest roadblocks to addressing instructional rigor in schools is the resistance to change that is displayed by teachers, students, parents, and other building and district leaders. Every person deals differently with change. Some are more accepting, others more resistant. No change is successful if the people being asked to change don't see its need. Change in schools must be based on improving students' educational experience, and the school culture must include a collective commitment to improvement and a parallel commitment to supporting people who take risks and make changes. The school community must not accept failure as an option. Every student must be expected to learn, and the staff must be committed to supporting students in their learning. In this article, the authors discuss how to respond to change and understand the resistance. They describe some ways to deal with resistance to change and overcome resistance. One way to help overcome resistance when working to improve the rigor of one's school is to have a clear, concrete objective and explain this goal to teachers and parents.