Vision+and+Mission+directions

The creation of a vision to define, shape, implement and evaluate student learning is the first ELCC/ISLLC standard for school leaders. That standard stipulates: A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision for learning that is shared and supported by the community. This ISLLC standard has three components. They are:
 * ABOUT THE CREATION OF A VISION AND A MISSION STATEMENT FOR SCHOOL SYSTEM MANAGEMENT**

1. The school leader has created a vision of success that includes all students and that is consistently integrated throughout the school (district) program, in fact, it is embedded and aligned in all educational programs, plans, activities and actions; 2. The school leader has communicated this vision throughout the school year and in a variety of ways, and that the communication supports the success of all students, and the communication has included representatives of all appropriate members of the community in the development of the vision and that they shared in all the decision-making processes; 3. The school leader has utilized a variety of sources of data for all students, obtained both in and outside the school, in the development of a vision that is fair and equitable to all, and collects such data on a continuing basis in order to make decisions that promote the success of all students. The leader makes such data public and provides opportunities for appropriate stakeholders to analyze and review the information. The school leader ensures that such data are accurate and complete.

A //__vision statement__// is “a clear picture or written statement of what the strategic planners expect their community, society, and organization to look like, deliver, and accomplish at some future point of time” (Kaufman & Herman, 1991, p. 110). This has been identified as an “ideal vision” or state of affairs which may not yet exist. When applied to a school system, the “ideal vision” is about the kind of organization the stakeholders (including educators) desire in the future. It would pertain to what kinds of schools do parents want, students, taxpayers, board members, and educators? What is not only a good place to work, but a productive place in respect to the resources the larger community provides? Here ar**e** some examples:

= What Parents May Want as Stakeholders = 1. A place where my child feels safe and where he/she will learn the basic skills to become an independent, critical learner in the future; 2. A place where my child can acquire a sense of accomplishment, exhibit creativity and have his/her learning enhanced, where he/she acquires a love of learning and understand that it is a life long process.

= What Taxpayers May Want as Stakeholders = 1. The school district should use its resources to advance the greatest good for the greatest number at the lowest possible cost; 2. The school district should produce graduates who are literate and employable in the world of work or in future educational endeavors, and who are good citizens who participate in our democratic way of life by voting and paying their share of the tax burden; 3. The school district should put into place processes and procedures that ensure accountability by identifying persons, places, and/or programs that are not fulfilling their identified objectives and purposes. Poor performing persons or programs should be changed or eliminated and replaced with higher performing persons and programs in a systematic way; 4. It should be possible for the citizen and taxpayer to understand the documents produced by school district leaders as they relate to performance so that it becomes clear how the organization is using the resources provided to it and assures taxpayers that their monetary support is being well spent;

= What Educators May Want as Stakeholders = 1. A good place to work where the climate is open to creativity and is not oppressive, but respectful and diligent in its concern for the mental and physical well being of all of its employees; 2. A job which is doable, defined well-enough to be manageable, but still challenging and open (flexible) and which encourages personal and professional growth; 3. A place to work which values the opinions and ideas of all of its employees; 4. A place to work which places the well being of children as its centerpiece of accountability instead of to bureaucratic strictures or regulations in which students must “fit in”. The system should “fit” the student and not the other way around.

= What Students May Want as Clients of the System = 1. A helpful and respectful place where each one is treated with dignity no matter where they live or who they are in the community, and where no student is “written off” as being unable to learn; 2. A teaching work force that is patient, respectful and has high aspirations and expectations for student success and is committed to caring about students and their development and learning first and foremost as human beings and not as cogs in bureaucratic wheels; 3. A place where discipline is functional (fits the individual and the situation), is not oppressive nor mean-spirited, and not concerned with the mundane or heavy-handed mindless conformity for its own sake.

__ Some General Characteristics of a //vision statement// __ 1. It should include more of the //whats// than the //hows// 2. It should not be based on the assumption that stability and control are the most desirable attributes of the bureaucratic system. It must be open enough to enable persons at a variety of levels to be creative and engage in problem solving. A vision statement should allow for “emergent leadership, “ that is leadership which can take advantage of unique and unanticipated opportunities which could not be predicted in advance; 3. While it should be the result of many varying perspectives, the process of “involvement” should not create a straight jacket nor drive out all diverse perspectives. A vision should allow room for negotiations regarding processes to be employed and even results to be obtained. 4. A vision is expected not to be terribly specific. It should be supported by data trends and by affective (“feeling”) information. Feelings and intuition are part of creating a vision. A mission statement, on-the-other-hand, is much more specific.

= Some Questions Which Should Be Approachable in Assessing a Vision Statement = // 1. //// Is it reasonably clear what the school system is to become? (Note: to be “clear,” such information could be logically derived from the vision). // // 2. //// Is it clear by what means leaders could attain the vision? // // 3. //// Is it clear what interests have been represented and which ones may not be represented in the vision? // // 4. //// Is there “room” for creativity of personnel at varying levels to attain the vision? // 5. // How would an external observer __know__ if the vision had been attained? What evidence could be accumulated over time to verify the realization of the vision? //

//__ Criteria to Assess the Quality of a District Mission Statement __// // 1. //// Delineates the broad, overall destination of the district and the intended results to be obtained when the destination is reached (reduced crime rate, etc.). Answers the question in organizational terms, “Where are we going?”; // // 2. //// Includes the performance or measurable criteria for assessing the results. These criteria answer the question, “How will we know when we get there?”; // // 3. //// Often suggests measurable targets such as 99%, etc. //