Standard 1: Setting a widely shared vision for learning
An education leader promotes the success of every student by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by all stakeholders.
Vision Development
The vision development process begins with a clear idea of what characterizes a successful school (Hackmann, Schmitt-Oliver, & Tracy 2002 pg. 43). Once this research has been completed a school must develop a school improvement process. This plan allows for school leaders to implement necessary changes to create a successful school and hold teachers, students, and other stakeholders accountable. The next step in the process is to bring together community members, students, and staff in order to come up with a shared vision of purpose. These groups can be divided into two groups comprising the “internal public” and the “external public” (Hackmann, Schmitt-Oliver, & Tracy 2002 pg. 44). These groups meet to examine data about where the school is at currently, and what they want to become. The groups give their input into the creation of the school mission and vision, and help to formulate goals that will guide the school to success. Lastly, this vision is publicly displayed, and used in shaping what the school will become.
I was involved in this process a few years ago, and it was interesting to be a part of it. Our administrators met with groups of students, parents, community members, teachers, and other staff. We all gave our input into the creation of a new school mission, vision, and goals. Along the way many drafts were created and revised until our document was complete. Now we review it often, and use our mission, vision, and goals in determining what direction to take our school. I like the quote from our text that states, “Vision unites the leader and the followers to achieve common, agreed-upon ends and provides the strong sense of commitment, purpose, and direction necessary to achieve quality outcomes” (Hackmann, Schmitt-Oliver, & Tracy 2002 pg. 46).
There are many things that I will do to articulate our schools vision within my school. The vision is already posted, but I will work on more prominently posting it within each classroom. I am working on a plan to create a slogan and symbol of our schools mission and vision that will help everyone buy into who we want to become. Once this is established we are going to ask each homeroom (we call it Viking) class to come up with a 3 to 5 minute skit that demonstrates our mission and vision. These will be performed in a school assembly. These skits will help our students and staff to internalize who we are and who we want to become. Also, as a school leader I must take each opportunity I can to model our mission and vision, and focus the direction of our staff and students so we are all striving to achieve it. I love the quote “In practice, a good leader becomes both the defender of, and the cheerleader for, the school’s vision” (Hackmann, Schmitt-Oliver, & Tracy 2002 pg. 47). I will be a passionate leader that gets the mission and vision into the heart of all we do. We can’t reach our goals unless we are focused on what we are becoming.
Hackmann, D.G., Schmitt-Oliver, D.M., & Tracy, J.C. (2002). The standards-based administrative internship. Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
My Reflections with Standard 1:
My first activity involving standard 1 was to meet with my principal and discuss my ideas and plans on how to develop, articulate, and implement our vision within our school. I met with him several times, and based on what we discussed, and the assignments he gave me, I did research, and planned a way to infuse the vision within our school. My plan was to help instill our mission and vision within our staff and students by interacting with our mission, vision, and core values. I planned on having each Viking class (a 30 minute period) create a skit based around our mission, vision, and core values, that would demonstrate who we are and who we want to become. I created a document that would be sent out to the teachers, and met with Mr. Gunderson to discuss it. My ideas were shot down, and what I learned is that we need to be careful as administrators about what we ask our teachers to do. I was also told that we will be revising our mission statement soon, and we had a discussion about how important it is for teachers to buy in first. I totally agree with this, and will strive to plan out my ideas well, and be ready to stick to my decisions when I am an administrator. I must be willing to stand for what we believe in, and continually model our mission and vision to my staff. I truly believe that what is missing currently in my school is discussion and implementation about how we will live our mission and vision on a daily basis. I would like to see this come from our administration, and am still trying to make this happen.
My second activity that correlates to standard 1 is an assignment I was given to head a committee that is creating a mentoring and induction program for our school. I have some preliminary drafts of these documents, and it really is a lot of work to create good programs. I learned just how important it is for new teacher induction programs to help teachers feel prepared, and special as they begin at a new school. There is so much that a new teacher needs to know, and in the past our district hasn’t taken any special time with new teachers to orient them. For me that was ok, because I’m not afraid to ask questions, but a lot of our new staff has felt lost. For the induction piece we wrote out a list of everything a new teacher needs to know and receive training about before they start. Then we categorized all this information, and decided who would be in charge of disseminating the information. Most of the items fall upon the building principal, but there is also a lot that falls onto the tech/computer guy, and the central office staff.
The mentoring piece is still in its beginning stages, but we have written down our ideas, and researched some of what other districts are doing. We feel that a mentoring program should last at least 2 or three years, and should be specific enough that a mentor knows their expectations, and has specific items that must be completed. We also feel a mentor should receive a stipend to compensate them for their extra time and effort. Our next step is to write down our purpose for our mentoring program, and then work through the details of our plan. Lastly, we will create the documents that will be used to administer the plans.
The vision development process begins with a clear idea of what characterizes a successful school (Hackmann, Schmitt-Oliver, & Tracy 2002 pg. 43). Once this research has been completed a school must develop a school improvement process. This plan allows for school leaders to implement necessary changes to create a successful school and hold teachers, students, and other stakeholders accountable. The next step in the process is to bring together community members, students, and staff in order to come up with a shared vision of purpose. These groups can be divided into two groups comprising the “internal public” and the “external public” (Hackmann, Schmitt-Oliver, & Tracy 2002 pg. 44). These groups meet to examine data about where the school is at currently, and what they want to become. The groups give their input into the creation of the school mission and vision, and help to formulate goals that will guide the school to success. Lastly, this vision is publicly displayed, and used in shaping what the school will become.
I was involved in this process a few years ago, and it was interesting to be a part of it. Our administrators met with groups of students, parents, community members, teachers, and other staff. We all gave our input into the creation of a new school mission, vision, and goals. Along the way many drafts were created and revised until our document was complete. Now we review it often, and use our mission, vision, and goals in determining what direction to take our school. I like the quote from our text that states, “Vision unites the leader and the followers to achieve common, agreed-upon ends and provides the strong sense of commitment, purpose, and direction necessary to achieve quality outcomes” (Hackmann, Schmitt-Oliver, & Tracy 2002 pg. 46).
There are many things that I will do to articulate our schools vision within my school. The vision is already posted, but I will work on more prominently posting it within each classroom. I am working on a plan to create a slogan and symbol of our schools mission and vision that will help everyone buy into who we want to become. Once this is established we are going to ask each homeroom (we call it Viking) class to come up with a 3 to 5 minute skit that demonstrates our mission and vision. These will be performed in a school assembly. These skits will help our students and staff to internalize who we are and who we want to become. Also, as a school leader I must take each opportunity I can to model our mission and vision, and focus the direction of our staff and students so we are all striving to achieve it. I love the quote “In practice, a good leader becomes both the defender of, and the cheerleader for, the school’s vision” (Hackmann, Schmitt-Oliver, & Tracy 2002 pg. 47). I will be a passionate leader that gets the mission and vision into the heart of all we do. We can’t reach our goals unless we are focused on what we are becoming.
Hackmann, D.G., Schmitt-Oliver, D.M., & Tracy, J.C. (2002). The standards-based administrative internship. Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
My Reflections with Standard 1:
My first activity involving standard 1 was to meet with my principal and discuss my ideas and plans on how to develop, articulate, and implement our vision within our school. I met with him several times, and based on what we discussed, and the assignments he gave me, I did research, and planned a way to infuse the vision within our school. My plan was to help instill our mission and vision within our staff and students by interacting with our mission, vision, and core values. I planned on having each Viking class (a 30 minute period) create a skit based around our mission, vision, and core values, that would demonstrate who we are and who we want to become. I created a document that would be sent out to the teachers, and met with Mr. Gunderson to discuss it. My ideas were shot down, and what I learned is that we need to be careful as administrators about what we ask our teachers to do. I was also told that we will be revising our mission statement soon, and we had a discussion about how important it is for teachers to buy in first. I totally agree with this, and will strive to plan out my ideas well, and be ready to stick to my decisions when I am an administrator. I must be willing to stand for what we believe in, and continually model our mission and vision to my staff. I truly believe that what is missing currently in my school is discussion and implementation about how we will live our mission and vision on a daily basis. I would like to see this come from our administration, and am still trying to make this happen.
My second activity that correlates to standard 1 is an assignment I was given to head a committee that is creating a mentoring and induction program for our school. I have some preliminary drafts of these documents, and it really is a lot of work to create good programs. I learned just how important it is for new teacher induction programs to help teachers feel prepared, and special as they begin at a new school. There is so much that a new teacher needs to know, and in the past our district hasn’t taken any special time with new teachers to orient them. For me that was ok, because I’m not afraid to ask questions, but a lot of our new staff has felt lost. For the induction piece we wrote out a list of everything a new teacher needs to know and receive training about before they start. Then we categorized all this information, and decided who would be in charge of disseminating the information. Most of the items fall upon the building principal, but there is also a lot that falls onto the tech/computer guy, and the central office staff.
The mentoring piece is still in its beginning stages, but we have written down our ideas, and researched some of what other districts are doing. We feel that a mentoring program should last at least 2 or three years, and should be specific enough that a mentor knows their expectations, and has specific items that must be completed. We also feel a mentor should receive a stipend to compensate them for their extra time and effort. Our next step is to write down our purpose for our mentoring program, and then work through the details of our plan. Lastly, we will create the documents that will be used to administer the plans.