My Student-Centered Vision Statement

My Student-Centered Vision Statement 

Introduction 

Kaplan & Owens (2015) asserts that effective principals are instructional leaders who are
able to influence all members of the organization towards teaching and instruction. As a
transformational leader, influencing others begins by being able to model the behaviors that we
expect to see in order to create change, which entails the capacity to carry out an effective
student-centered vision for instruction and learning (Kaplan & Owens, 2015). This page
provides an overview of my student-centered vision statement for teaching and learning, how I plan to lead and promote my student-centered vision as an administrator, and my final conclusions.

Student-Centered Vision 

My student-centered vision statement of teaching and learning is to, cultivate an
educational environment that provides safety, support and success for all students. Through the
collaborative efforts of students, families and the community, professional development at all
levels will address the importance of learning and understanding cultural competence & cultural
sensitivity, while teaching and working with diverse student populations. This entails
implementing multi-tiered systems of support to prevent hate crimes, violence, racial
discrimination, gender discrimination and bullying in order to maintain the safety and well-being
of all students. In addition, every student will be supported and provided with the opportunity to
participate in evidenced-based practices, culturally & linguistically diverse curriculums, and
student support services to support the academics, attendance, learning, behavior and social-
emotional well-being of all students. The success of every student will be accomplished by
fostering diverse and innovative pathways to enhance learning for every student in their efforts
of becoming college and career ready, and productive citizens of society as they transition into
their communities.

Animoto Link to Vision Statement: https://animoto.com/play/yAAvJbZSrIrKK6cY6HfWaw


First, the safety of every student is paramount. According to Marzano (2003), safety and
orderly environment is a school based factor that has an impact on student achievement and is a
component rooted in instructional leadership. Within this context, I have considered the
importance of addressing safety and orderly environment within the scope of protecting all
students from discrimination, violence, and hate crimes. According to the Student Safety &
Violence Prevention Act of 2000, school districts have a legal responsibility under state and
federal anti-discrimination laws to keep every student safe from racial discrimination, gender
discrimination and even hate crimes such as bullying (California Safe Schools Coalition, 2018).
San Juan Unified School District serves a diverse population of students from various cultural
and socio-economic backgrounds. As a leader, it is the principal’s responsibility to control such
factors that affects a school’s teaching and learning (Kaplan & Owens, 2015).
Listed below is a snapshot of the demographic data of the student population of San Juan
Unified School District (San Juan Unified School District, 2018):
Figure 1.
 
Second, in order to ensure the well-being of every student, it’s important to implement
effective systems of support that addresses the whole needs of the student (Cole, 2008). Effective
systems of student support for example, could entail incorporating the professional expertise of
various disciplines or implementing programs to address the physical, behavior, socio-emotional,
as well as the academic, learning and attendance of every student. Other venues of support may
consist of implementing a visual arts program in efforts to promote a more inclusive and
democratic learning environment (Cerveny, 2001). Allocating such resources in order to support
teaching and student learning, is another important aspect that the school principal controls in
order to ensure quality instruction and that every student is provided equal access to learning
(Kaplan & Owens, 2015).

Third, the collaboration of students, parents, the community and other vested
stakeholders, has an impact on the educational and learning success of every student. It is
imperative for school principals to create inclusive schools with a diverse workforce in order to
enhance the teaching and learning of every student (Kaplan & Owens, 2015). Collaboration also
entails working together to ensure that culturally relevant curriculums and instructional materials
are present as well as the presence of teachers, staff and leaders of diverse backgrounds who
reflect the cultural & linguistic needs of every student (Cole, 2008).  Effective collaboration
projects a strong voice to the instruction and learning needs of every student, and creates various
avenues of moral and fiscal support in order to successfully prepare every student for a college
and career of their choice, and as they strive towards re-entering back into the community and
function as productive citizens of society (California Department of Education, 2019).

How I Intend to Lead by Example 

As a transformational leader, I plan to promote my student-centered vision by sharing it
with students, parents, teachers, colleagues and administration. Sharing the vision would be done
by utilizing creative outlets to communicate the vision and to seek opportunities to obtain
feedback from others. According to Kotter (2012), “creating a vision is a process that typically
starts with an initial statement from a single individual, reflecting on both his or her dreams and
real marketplace needs.” 

I dream of being a part of the solution to the problem of racial discrimination and unequal
access to student curriculum, instruction, and services in public education. Every student needs
to be provided with a culturally diverse, culturally competent, and culturally sensitive teaching
and learning environment. American schools are lacking in this area and according to Resmovits
(2014) the following factors demonstrates this dilemma:

“Black students are suspended or expelled at triple the rate of their white peers, according
to the U.S. Education Department’s 2011-2012 Civil Rights Data Collection, a survey
conducted every two years. Five percent of white students were suspended annually,
compared with 16 percent of black students, according to the report. Black girls were
suspended at a rate of 12 percent — far greater than girls of other ethnicities and most
categories of boys. Minority students have less access to experienced teachers. Most
minority students and English language learners are stuck in schools with the newest
teachers. Seven percent of black students attend schools where as many as 20 percent of
teachers fail to meet license and certification requirements. One in four school districts
pay teachers in less-diverse high schools $5,000 more than teachers in schools with
higher black and Latino student enrollment (Resmovits, 2014).”

The above findings assert that discrimination is a contributing factor to lower academic
performance for minority students, and has the propensity to place minority students at greater
risk of dropping out of school (Resmovits, 2014).

I believe that by fostering collaborative relationships in order to address this issue,
American schools can change. Through the efforts of collaboration with parents, students,
teacher and vested stakeholder, and building teams and networks or support, my student-centered
vision will have the ability to influence others into action in order to change and enhance student
learning and instruction.

Conclusion 

In conclusion, I have learned that creating a learning environment for all students calls
for a student-centered vision (Kotter, 2012; Kaplan & Owens, 2015). In addition, I have
discovered that a student-centered vision for the learning and growth of all students are
impossible to implement without considering the important attributes of being a transformational
leader. Transformational leaders create change by shifting the mindset, behavior, culture and
values of an organization in order to have an impact on the external factors that drives change
(social, political, economic, environmental, and technological) (Anderson & Anderson, 2010).

As a transformational leader and future administrator and or school principal, I plan to create
change by promoting social justice- removing barriers of racial discrimination and inequality in
public education. This places a huge responsibility on leaders to consider reviewing their
districts’ student demographic data, in addition to the political, social, economic and cultural
context within their school community (Kaplan & Owens, 2015).

In doing so, leaders are able to discern the needs of their student population and help
change educational policies that presents itself as barriers to student learning and achievement.
Therefore, developing a collective student-centered vision of teaching and learning that focuses
on cultivating an educational environment to provide safety, support and success for all students,
helps facilitate the needed change in 21rst century K-12 public education (Kaplan & Owens,
2014; Resmovits, 2014).


References 

Anderson, D. & Anderson, L. (2010). Beyond change management: How to achieve  
breakthrough results through conscious change leadership. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer.

California Administrator Performance Expectations (2017). 2017 preliminary California  
administrative services credentialing content expectations and performance expectations 
with their alignment to the California professional standards for educational 
administrators. Retrieved from: https://www.ctc.ca.gov/docs/default-source/educator
prep/asc/2017-cape-and-cace.pdf?sfvrsn=2

California Department of Education (2019). Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP).
Retrieved from: https://www.cde.ca.gov/re/lc/

Cerveny, K. (2001). Elliot W. Eisner, the role of the arts in educating the whole child, 
 A Cleveland area presentation. GIA Reader, 12(2). Retrieved from: 
 https://www.giarts.org/article/elliot-w-eisner-role-arts-educating-whole-child

Cole, R.W. (2008). Educating everybody’s children: Diverse teaching strategies for diverse  learners, revised and expanded 2nd edition. Retrieved from:
http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/107003/chapters/Diverse-Teaching-Strategies
for-Diverse-Learners.aspx

Kaplan, L.S. & Owens, W.A. (2015). Introduction to principalship, theory to practice. New
York, New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Kotter, J.P. (2012). Leading change. Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business Review Press

Marzano, R. (2003). What works in schools: Translating research into action. Alexandria, VA:
 ASCD.

Resmovits, J. (2014). American schools are still racist, government report finds. Retrieved
 from: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/21/schools 
 discrimination_n_5002954.html