Introduction
The present paper aims at outlining the mission and vision for the instructional program, including the curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The project will also present an overview of the current vision and the leader’s expectations related to goals and vision in three-five years. The project is based on Al-Safoa K-6 Elementary School, which provides education for 230 students. Twenty-seven instructors are employed here, including general and special education teachers. The demographics of the school are approximately divided as follows: 40% of Asian students, 25% of Hispanic learners, and 25% of African Americans.
The School’s Mission and Vision
The school’s mission is for the community to work together in the direction of providing a sound educational foundation that will support and inspire all students to reach their full academic potential and ensure that all learners study well and that their needs are being met. The leader’s vision is for the school to be a life-long learning community that fosters a positive culture and cooperates with stakeholders to inspire all learners. The school will undertake student-centered decision-making, the highest academic standards, the best practices in education, and leading-edge resources to ensure an equitable education for everyone and guarantee students’ success in society.
The Leader’s Vision for the Instructional Program and Expectations
Effective leaders promote their schools by endorsing visions incorporating the best prospects of teaching and learning. With the help of a carefully crafted vision, the leader can encourage others to strive for ambitious goals. A successful vision is the one that is recognized by all staff members and inspires them to enhance their work at all levels. The leader’s vision for the program incorporates the assumptions related to the curriculum, instruction, and assessment.
Each of these aspects is significant since it involves the planning of the school’s activities in a way that would benefit both learners and teachers. The leader’s vision for the curriculum includes the following aspects. First of all, the curriculum will be developed to align with the Common Knowledge and Career Readiness. Next, the content selected for the curriculum will correspond to students’ backgrounds.
Also, the curriculum will provide students with daily learning targets and essential subject/grade level learning outcomes, which will ensure that learners are mastering the necessary content and developing the crucial skills to meet grade-level benchmarks on their way towards academic success. Finally, the curriculum will address the mastery of academic content that will integrate the acquisition of essential life skills. The leader’s major aspect concerning vision for instruction is that teachers’ instructional practices will be designed to adjust to the needs of all learners through data-driven differentiation. Additionally, educators will employ inquiry-based instruction along with the opportunity for learners’ choice to be considered.
Another important factor is taking into consideration the principle of diversity, which will involve paying attention to each student’s progress and achievement. Also, teachers will use an instructional strategy that engages and motivates students and helps them to engage in learning through collaboration, critical thinking, communication, and creative application of skills and content. Finally, the leader’s vision for assessment presupposes that throughout the learning process, teachers will employ a variety of evaluation methods to measure students’ progress. By doing so, they will gather substantial information providing a holistic picture of students’ achievement.
Another aspect of vision will be the use of ongoing assessments as instruments to design and adapt instruction that ensures quality learning, such as assessments that measure the curriculum, consider all learning styles, and include multiple levels of thinking. Teachers will use portfolios, which constitute a successful assessment tool. With the help of portfolios, it will be easy to collect and sort the data related to learners’ progress.
Debates as a form of observation will be employed to measure students’ progress and omit the announcement of assessment as such, which will not cause any discomfort for students. This way, there will be a friendly and inquiring atmosphere in the classroom, which will simultaneously allow teachers to evaluate students’ knowledge. Pop quizzes will be used to encourage learners to find correct answers as a part of the daily routine. As a result, students will feel less stressed during tests, which will remain an integral component of the assessment system.
As Tomal, Schilling, and Trybus (2013) remark, the most important aspect in the process of attaining the vision is the school’s commitment to change. For the leader to reach teachers’ commitment, it is necessary to create the most favorable conditions for them. Probably the most productive approach will be establishing professional learning communities for educators. Such communities will promote teachers’ personal and collective endeavors, and sharing experience and ideas will make teaching methods more effective. Another approach to achieving the vision will be equipping the school with modern technological devices that will enable effective data collecting and sharing.
One more effective method to attain the vision is arranging seminars for teachers where they will be instructed in student diversity and effective approaches to working in a diversified classroom. Professional development will educate teachers on how to choose appropriate content that meets students’ needs and how to employ varied assessment tools that can help to measure learners’ progress. Understanding the goal of each assessment type can help to ensure that they are used to appropriately add value to improving overall learning outcomes.
When the vision for the curriculum, instruction, and assessment is successfully implemented, the leader expects the school to receive positive outcomes within 3-5 years. In particular, teachers will be engaged in ensuring that students receive instruction that is grounded in the best practice as the written curriculum is translated into the taught curriculum. The elements of instruction, curriculum, and assessment will be enhanced to reach individual differences and interests of learners and to meet their real-world needs. Curriculum, instruction, and assessment will support learning opportunities for all students by addressing their learning needs and improving educational success for all.
Students will realize that they need to attain their daily targets to make it easier for them to reach academic success and will become more responsible and interested in the process of education. Instructions will become concise and clear, which will make it easier for students to understand them. Each learner will see that his or her achievement is noticed, which will make them feel encouraged and strive for success. Teachers will be more motivated and will realize that they can rely on their school in case they need help or support. As a result, it is expected that the school’s academic achievement rates will be increased to a considerable extent.
Reference
Tomal, D. R., Schilling, C. A., & Trybus, M. A. (2013). Leading school change: Maximizing resources for school improvement. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education.