Indicator 7

The school shall review regularly the mission statement and expectations for student learning using a variety of data to ensure that they reflect student needs, community expectations, the district mission, and state and national standards.

What to Look for:

What process does the school use to collect and review data to ensure that the mission and expectations are current--that they reflect ongoing student needs, community expectations, district philosophy, state standards, and national directions? Has the school been able to bring its own unique flavor to student learning expectations rather than relying entirely on state standards?
 

• the school has established a regular process to review and revise the mission and expectations
• questionnaires, focus group meetings, and informal feedback from parents and students are used to revise the mission and expectations on a regular basis
• periodic forums (e.g., focus groups) are used to solicit feedback from the local business community about the school and its expectations of students
• assessment data from the school (e.g., local assessments which measure student performance on the expectations; standardized testing data; teacher review of student writing quality; dropout rates; attendance rates) are used to review and revise the mission and expectations
• school leaders ensure that regular reviews of state and national standards, national research and study efforts, etc. occur to inform needed revisions in the mission and expectations
• the school's expectations align with the district's learning goals
• the school is able to articulate the connection between the expectations and national and state standards (e.g., NCTM standards in math; the 2061 project in science; the Bradley report in history; the National Standards for Arts Education; state curriculum frameworks)
• prominent national organizations and reports influenced the inclusion of some of the expectations (e.g., NASSP's Breaking Ranks report; the Mid-Continental Regional Lab's Common Learner Outcomes; Expected Proficiencies listed in the SCANS report; Theodore Sizer's Habits of Mind; America's Choice standards; Maine's Promising Futures report)
• when read side by side, the school's mission statement and district's mission statement are consistent