“One of these things is not like the other; one of these things is not the same.”

Taking that song, made popular on the PBS children’s show “Sesame Street,” to heart may prove to be the key to improving the Natchez-Adams School District.

It’s a lesson that school board member Benny Wright and others considered last week as they looked at the latest round of statewide testing.

Results of the statewide testing showed an overall slight improvement over last year’s scores. That’s great and evidence that we’re making some improvements.

But Wright and others are smart to look at the different schools in the district and ask, “How can McLaurin Elementary pull itself up to be graded as a ‘successful’ district while others remain ‘at risk of failing?’”

It’s an excellent question and perhaps that’s what we need to do — examine closely the level of work and determination that the administrators at McLaurin put in to improve their results.

The district should apply those changes at every other school, and if the staff isn’t equipped or wiling to make the changes happen, then let’s find some folks who can.

It’s a simple concept: To improve, we first identify those who are succeeding and then we emulate them.

In the end, we want all of our local schools to look like each other — the look of success.