A mission statement should have a supervision and evaluation process in place. This process is to make sure that all components of the mission are being met. Supervision sets a clear procedure to show how the parts of the mission will be met. The evaluation determines whether or not the procedures have been followed to meet the mission. There were four major components to the mission statement that must be met: 1) students receiving the necessary support for all capabilities, 2) an eager and competent faculty and staff, 3) a challenging curriculum, and 4) the use of authentic assessments.
In order for student to receive all the necessary support from teachers to meet individual needs, counselors, teachers and parents will hold a meeting at the beginning of each semester- one in August (before school) and one in January (at the beginning of the new semester). The counselor will be responsible for bringing any past records or documentation that acknowledges the need for specific resources. The teacher and parents will offer their general observations of the student as far as excessive needs are concerned. To be certain that this is being done, the meetings must be documented with specific remarks from each party and sent to the principal’s office at the end of each meeting. This is to be done every year until the student graduates.
In order to ensure that there is an eager and competent faculty and staff, various measures will be taken. It will begin with the help of human resources. Before hiring a teacher to work at ABC School, he/she must be aware of the expectations of the students, faculty and administration. Faculty and staff will receive small tokens of appreciation at least twice a month. Research has shown that a high staff morale can lead to increases in student achievement (Protheroe, 2006). The appreciation will range from pastries for breakfast to thank you cards in their mailboxes. Once a month different faculty and staff and receive a survey on what they feel are the highlights of the school and what steps can be taken to improve the school and student achievement. Every faculty member will not be required to submit one every month because they may get tired of doing it. In general faculty and staff should receive one every three months. To fulfill the competent aspect, teachers will be required to participate in two professional development sessions throughout the school year- one based on John Dewey’s learning theory and curriculum and another based on their subject matter. Upon hire, each teacher must sign a contract stating they are aware of this requirement. To be certain that the staff remain eager, the leadership committee will read over all surveys and respond to each in a timely manner. Faculty and staff will be required to submit documentation of their attendance in the professional developments to the front office to be filed. Anyone not fulfilling the requirement will be called for a conference.
In order to have a challenging curriculum, teachers will be asked to use Bloom’s taxonomy. Teachers will receive training using this method successfully once a year on campus. With this method, students will go from being able to respond to objective questions that have a specific answer to applying their knowledge to the real world and being able to respond to subjective questions that lead to open ended responses. Teachers will be asked to submit the lesson plans a week before each lesson to the department chair. The department chair will look over the lesson to see that students are being exposed to high order thinking skills. For those lessons that are not meeting the requirement, the department chair may have a small conference with that teacher or sit in for the lesson for observations.
In order to ensure that students are giving authentic assessments, teachers should display student work around the classroom and in the hallways. Teachers will be given a session at the beginning of each school year stating the purpose of authentic assessments and how to use them effectively in the classroom. When teachers have completed the session once, they do not have to attend another one. The principals and department chairs will make observations throughout the year for proof of authentic assessments taking place.
Finally, in order to make sure that all parts of the mission statement are being met, the mission will be posted in vital places throughout the school: front office, every classroom, cafeteria, etc. as reminder of what the expectations of our school are all day.
