Vision

Driven Leadership Project

Part II Written Application of Knowledge

Andrea Clark
E00105800
EDLD 620
February 20, 2012

Part 1: My Vision of Learning for My School

Main Vision: To create a school that is student-centered wherein every decision is
based on what is best for the students.
My Role:

Be the instructional leader of the school, to ensure that staff is always

striving for new and innovative ideas to help all students learn.

Be the type of leader that earns respect and trust by working hard to be
approachable, honest, optimistic, and by bringing a sense of consistency,
unity and rigor throughout the school.

Strive to foster positive relationships with staff members and encourage

them to always look for better ways and pursue different avenues to ensure a
quality education for all students.

Facilitate and encourage the roles of everyone achieve the main vision.

Staffs Role:

To be facilitators of learning and challenge ALL students to achieve their

personal and educational goals.

Utilize staff decision making to develop a school system that works to

develop curriculum that is appropriate and least restrictive for all students.

Create a community of learners, one in which collaboration, empathy,

adaptability, and encouragements are the driving forces behind the school,
student's and staff's growth.

Communities Role:

Involve the community in the learning process to help promote growth

throughout the school district.

Utilize community members and community partnerships to provide unique

learning opportunities for students

Students Role:

Create a school environment where everyone is respected, feels secure, and

has the resources available to identify and achieve their personal and
educational goals.

Take an active role in the learning community by utilizing all available

learning opportunities and searching out new sources of information.

Part 2: A Plan to Achieve the Schools Vision


After the vision was refined, I realized that I was going to have to utilize a
variety of methods to ensure that the vision was the driving force behind all
decisions being made at my school. The first step would be to work with all
stakeholders to develop a plan to ensure that a sense of shared ownership was felt
by all staff members. I would begin by having a staff meeting before the first day of
school. During this meeting I would have the staff form small groups to discuss the
vision and how we could best implement all aspects of the vision. The groups would
write their ideas on sticky notes to be posted on a large group board. After the small
group discussion, I would have the whole group get back together to discuss the
best aspects developed by each group. We would group all of the ideas posted on

the board into similar categories, discard some ideas, and refine other ideas. After
the group came to a shared consensus about the outcome of the discussion, I would
have the staff form small committees to monitor the progress of each component of
the vision. Each committee would have a leader that would report out at each staff
meeting as to how the vision was working and any changes that might need to be
made. If the group determined that a change needed to be made in the best interest
of the students, we would determine how best to make the change and how to
communicate the change to all stakeholders. By having everyone have a role in the
process, implementation, and continued monitoring of the vision, hopefully all staff
would have a shared investment in the success of the vision.

To ensure that the vision was sustainable, I would use small group

discussions, the requirement that all groups and myself report out at each staff
meeting, and email to keep in contact with the group leaders. I would encourage
the small groups to discuss their chosen portion of the vision at department
meetings, other committee meetings, in passing, or other times they may come in
contact with each other. I would also model the behavior by inquiring about how
the day was going and asking about different parts of the vision throughout the
school year. I would also plan time during several staff meetings for the small
groups to meet to discuss the progress and have time to make any changes that
might need to occur. I would also continually stress the importance of keeping the
vision in the forefront of our minds when making decisions concerning the students.
I would remind the staff that increasing student achievement and keeping the best

interest of our students at the forefront would benefit all stakeholders in the long
term.

The strategies I would use to communicate my vision with staff and

community members would be through email, newsletters, school bulletin boards,

staff meetings, community meetings, and the schools website. I would email with
the staff and parent groups to stay in contact with how the vision was being viewed
and utilize to drive decision-making. I would also establish contacts within the
community to help ensure that the vision was being communicated outside of the
school setting. This might include civic groups, business owner groups, parent
groups, or government groups. I would attend meetings to see how the vision might
be utilized within the community. I would try to tie the schools vision to the vision
of community organizations to further the opportunities of all stakeholders.
Partnerships could be formed with community groups to provide opportunities for
students to receive an education outside of the school walls.

Throughout the school year, I would monitor the behaviors of the small

groups to ensure that the ideals developed in the vision were being used to drive
decision-making. I would have each group keep an informal log of conversations,
revisions being made to the vision, suggestions for refining the vision for the
following school year, and any other pertinent information regarding the
implementation of the vision. I would also look for staff making decisions that
would directly increase the rigor of the curriculum and staff working collaboratively
to develop lessons that could reach across the curriculum and provide connections
for the students. Within the community, I would look for increased participation of

parents and community members within the school system. This could include
attendance at PTA or PTO meetings, athletic booster meetings, school board
meetings, sporting events, science fairs, student performances, etc. I would also
evaluate the programs that were developed to involve the community in the
education of the students. This could include the number of work-study
opportunities, internships, volunteer opportunities, or mentoring possibilities. I
would also look at the number of volunteer hours logged by students that were
involved in groups that require volunteer hours, such as National Honor Society,
specific academic courses, athletic teams, or scholarship programs. I would strive to
increase the number of opportunities as the school year progressed.

I would use the data to evaluate the progress of the implementation of the

vision and how to better support the vision. I would talk to the staff about how they
felt the vision was being implemented and any resources that could be provided to
help everyone understand the process more completely. I would look for
professional development for the staff in areas that they felt they were not strong
enough in. This could include meetings with community members to illustrate how
partnerships could be formed with departments or individual classes to help
strength the curriculum or provide guest speakers to provide a connection to the
business world. It could be with the PTO or PTA to understand their needs and how
to best utilize their resources within the school. I would consider starting a book
study group using a book that was decided on by the staff to help further our
understanding of a particular topic. The books could include: The Skin that We
Speak, RTI from all Sides, Rigor is NOT a Four Letter Word, Classroom Motivation

from A to Z: How to Engage Students in Learning, or A Match on Dry Grass:

Community Organizing as a Catalyst for School Reform. I would also try to develop a
group of individuals from all school buildings to try and develop a shared vision that
could be spread throughout the district. By having a shared vision, all schools would
operate under the same mentality, which is making all decisions with the best
interest of the students at heart.

Part 3: Assessment of Family and Community Involvement in Vision

The current status of family and community involvement is in the beginning

stages. There is a definitive place for family and community in the vision, but a great
deal of work still needs to be done to further define their role. I will need to work
with parent and community groups to further define their role and how to best
utilize the resources that they could provide to the students. I would also need to
conduct further research about the number and types of opportunities that may
exist that are not being used. I could also ask parents about any opportunities that
they could provide for our students. Many parents are very interested in being part
of the student day. This could include hall monitoring, reading buddies, lunch
buddies, or teacher helpers. Providing education that reachs beyond the school
walls is essential for increase student achievement and success beyond their school
years.

Conclusion

I really enjoyed completing this assignment. It made be analyze the

importance of vision and the need to develop the vision with the staff to ensure that
student achievement is the driving force behind the educational system.