So, I've been writing recently about the importance of clearly articulated vision statements for learning teams, right?  Well, here's what I've put together for my group.

Check it out and give me some feedback.  Have I touched on key elements of accomplished vision statements?  Does my vision for student learning resonate with yours?  What do you like?  What did I leave out?

Here's what I've written:

If
our learning team is going to be successful at creating a collaborative
community, ensuring high student achievement and valuing the unique
needs of each learner, we must articulate what each of those terms
looks like in action.  Without a shared vision serving as a standard
for collective decision making, it will be impossible to meet the high
expectations defined by our mission statement.  The following vision
statement is designed to serve as a living guide for all stakeholders
interested in seeing our students succeed:

Curriculum

A
team committed to ensuring high student achievement and valuing the
unique needs of each learner provides all students with a strong,
fundamental education focused on the standards defined by the State of North Carolina's Standard Course of Study.
While clear emphasis is placed on core academic subjects, a strong
commitment to educating the whole child is also evident in the
development of top-quality art, music, drama, foreign language and
other elective experiences for students.  Finally, a team committed to
ensuring high student achievement recognizes and respects the changing nature of the learning and work environment in the 21st Century. 

On such a team, the curriculum:

1. Focuses on a handful of essential outcomes identified after a careful examination of student performance measures. 
2. Provides integrated learning experiences, enabling students to make connections between different subject areas.
3. Encourages student-centered exploration of content rather than teacher-driven presentations.
4. Allows students to engage in study of topics of deep personal interest.
5. Remains consistent across classrooms.
6. Incorporates right-brained lessons that emphasize design, play, story, symphony, empathy and meaning.
7. Equally values non-tested learning that has been recognized as valuable by the community.   
8. Introduces students to tools for managing and evaluating information.
9. Structures
   frequent opportunities for students to create, communicate and
   collaborate with others, both in and beyond their communities.

Teachers

Research---including the results of the North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Survey---has shown time and again that the single greatest determinant in the
success or failure of students is the quality of classroom
teachers.  Pairing a deep understanding of their content and the
characteristics of the students that they serve, accomplished educators
tailor learning experiences and environments that both ensure student
success and value the unique needs of every learner. 

To maximize the human capacity in a schoolhouse, exemplary teachers:

1. Believe that all students can learn and accept responsibility for results.
2. Join as participating members of collaborative teams that share knowledge about high-quality instruction.
3. Analyze data to identify and amplify effective practices.
4. Demonstrate a commitment to constant professional growth by researching, reading and reflecting on learning.
5. Use their school's mission, vision and values statements as guideposts for every decision. 
6. Consider,
   confront and/or abandon practices that appear to be inconsistent with
   their school's mission, vision and values statements.

Attention to Individual Students

Decision-making
on a middle school learning team that is committed to ensuring high
student achievement and valuing the unique needs of every learner is
driven by the distinguishing characteristics of preteen learners.
Still developing physically, cognitively and emotionally, middle grades
students present more classroom diversity than their elementary and
high school counterparts.  Struggling with organization, task
completion, consistency and a developing identity, the students of most
middle school classrooms will face moments of great challenge at some
point during their sixth, seventh or eighth grade school years.   

These differences are recognized and respected on exemplary middle school learning teams where:

1. Multiple opportunities to master academic content are offered.
2. Structured feedback about content mastery AND productive work behaviors are provided to both parents and students.
3. Ongoing support is offered for students struggling with social interactions and personal development.
4. A range of extracurricular experiences are developed that provide every child with a place to belong.
5. Celebrations of student success are frequent and take many forms.    

Students

While
still developing physically, cognitively, socially and emotionally,
students can---and should---play a valuable role in ensuring their own
success.  With the support of their teachers, students on exemplary
middle school learning teams:

1. Begin to accept responsibility for their own learning. 
2. Identify and pursue areas of deep personal interest. 
3. Actively track their own academic progress, identifying areas of strength and weakness.
4. Seek out connections between the content that they are studying in school. 
5. Understand
   their role as a co-learner in a classroom and respect the different
   personalities, opinions and abilities of their peers. 
6. Allow their own thinking to be challenged and actively challenge the thinking of their classmates.

Parents and Community Members

Perhaps
the saddest reality in schools today is that parents and community
members are often marginalized.  While schools expect constant support
from the communities that they serve, there are few formalized
opportunities for parents and volunteers to be actively engaged in
efforts to ensure high student achievement and to value the unique
needs of every learner. 

Exemplary middle school learning teams recognize the power of parents and community partners by:

1. Regularly communicating with parents about the academic, social and emotional successes and struggles of students.
2. Establishing meaningful volunteer opportunities that support the academic, social and emotional development of students.
3. Engaging parents and community members in conversations about school programs.
4. Developing
   community orientation programs that introduce interested citizens to
   the content and curriculum of the middle grades classroom.
5. Eliciting support and guidance for school programs from local businesses. 

(Image credit:  DPW-20070805-203502-NIKON_D200-105 by Digiphotoworks, licensed Creative Commons:  Attribution)