Developing the School Community's Vision and Mission
Rationale
During the process of creating the vision and mission for the school, the members of a school community engage in a process of coming to a consensus as to what their beliefs and purposes are as the foundation for their vision and mission. In Baldrige, the term "vision" refers to the desired future state of the school. Schools should have a clear understanding of the essence of the school, where the school is headed, what it intends to be, or how it wishes to be perceived in the future. A clear vision enables schools to develop and implement strategic decisions affecting the future of the school. "A clear vision [also] enables principals to come back to the fundamental beliefs that drive the actions of a school" (National Association of Elementary School Principals [NAESP], 2002, p. 20).
The leadership system is expected to involve all stakeholder groups in creating the vision and mission for the school. The leadership, all staff members, students, and other stakeholders are expected to take responsibility for modeling and reinforcing the vision and mission of the school as well as take actions that will sustain both.
More Information
More information can be found in the Chapter 2 of Building An Organizational Learning System: The Baldrige Principal's Handbook for Guiding the School Improvement Process under the following subsections. These subsections will be available for download in the near future.- A Process for Developing the Vision and Mission for the School
- Sustaining the Vision and Mission of the School
More About Developing the School Culture
- Introduction: Developing the School Culture
- Developing the School Community's Vision and Mission
- Developing the Baldrige Core Values/Best Practices for the School
- Developing a Culture of Shared Leadership, Decision-Making, and Accountability
- Developing a School Learning System (SLS) or Professional Learning Community (PLC)
- Sustaining the Culture and the School Improvement Process
Related Topics in Baldrige for Leadership
- Introduction to the Principal's Handbook
- The Baldrige-guided School/Office Improvement Process
- Developing the School/Office Culture
- The Essentials of Baldrige
- Meeting the Requirements of the Baldrige Categories (Overview)
February 24, 2006 | Maintained by Web Services | Content Manager: Eve Wetten
