Learn & Serve Grants Mission Statements The vital role of vision appears in every book on educational and organizational excellence. - Michael Fullan Why do schools ignore their own mission statements? Much of what is found in mission statements is so general that it's virtually impossible for people to know what success looks like. This leads people to conclude that they are feel-good sentiments that are not serious statements of intent. They don't link desired results or philosophical stances with specific teaching and assessment practices. This leave the statements void of any practical implications for what people actually do on a day-by-day basis. Mission statements are generally too long and too complicated. They are overwhelming. Often many people in a school had no part in writing the mission statement and don't have any personal connection to it. Life in schools discourages people from having reflective, ongoing dialogues about their mission statement. Recommendations Examine statements sentence by sentence and word by word. Cull out or clarify sentiments that may sound good but are just not something for which you can hold yourselves accountable. Make sure your statement includes specific beliefs about instructional practices. Provide people with ongoing ways to help them think deeply about what is meant by your mission statement and to plan how they are going to incorporate this vision into their daily practices. Check to see if your mission statement guides student assessment (including their report cards), staff development, teacher evaluation, hiring practices, teacher mentoring, communication with parents, and so on. Effective principals are strong advocates of their school's mission statement. They make sure that it is used to inform peoples' actions including their own. Whenever possible, they use the language of the mission statement in dealing with teachers, parents, students, and community members. Implement an information-gathering system that will shed light on how people are doing in understanding and using your school's mission statement. A cycle of learning needs to be put in place that ensures that people in groups and as individuals: a. translate your statements into actions, b. link their actions to effects they are having on student learning, c. reflect on what they have learned, d. share what they have learned with the entire school community, e. plan their next steps. ABC SCHOOL We expect our students to use their academic and social skills to seek and generate information that enables them to be contributing members of and problem solvers in our democratic society. We believe students learn to be such citizens when they 1) are active in their own learning both as individuals and in groups, 2) seek meaning and understanding beyond simple facts, 3) connect their learning across content areas, and 4) apply what they know and are able to do in our community. To inform and continuously improve our efforts, we will create ways for students to publicly demonstrate their level of mastery of our expectations.