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"A brand that stands for what all brands stand for stands for nothing much." At the first RF conference Peter McConville and Tom Sabo ran a really interesting activity where we looked at schools' mission statements from across Vermont. As a part of this activity they asked if individuals could recall their own. Not many (if any) could. It is too bad really. Coming from a corporate background myself, I understand the power of an organization having a common and driving statement of intent. To me what was striking, and unfortunate, was that it wouldn't be at all challenging to get fairly close if you just said something about students who strive to become life-long learners who are global citizens that give back to their community. Maybe it is just me, but I think that a mission statement should be as unique as the schools, communities, and individuals that are striving to fulfill that mission. It should be a mantra, a way to identify what is truly important to your school, a means of sharing your school's common sense of purpose, to communicate your school's common sense of direction to fulfill that purpose. My sense is that a mission statement should be the keystone for the very unique work that we do in our schools, it should be more akin to Dan Pink's My Sentence. But, read though most and you'll find that they seem interchangeable and ambiguous. I think that it may be better to not have one at all if it doesn't really share the message of what your individual school is about and what it specifically strives to be. Does your school's mission statement really share your school's mission?

Jason Thanks for posting this. Question - how do I copy this post over to another Diigo group I am working with? Jim

Mission statements are pretty generic... NEASC is moving away from asking schools for mission statements but instead for statements of core values and beliefs about learning in the hope of getting more school specific statements.

In Vermont, we have a particular interest in the rural poor. However, many colleges focus on the urban poor.

Via Alison Bromage, Vermont Adult Learning "Finland and South Korea top the charts in a new global education ranking. But with very different philosophies. We're looking at what the US - ranked number 17 - can learn."

As school choice evolves in Vermont having a PR strategy and "brand" recognition will be a necessity. If a school doesn't define its brand...it will be defined for it. What is yours?

"While that sounds like a lot to manage, a good PR program can help you gain support for your district initiatives in some key ways: *Taxpayer support: ... *Demonstrate economic impact: ... *Ensure public engagement: ..."

Districts must manage their own PR and push out information through channels it can control, such as websites, direct mail, social media and email." "Social media has enabled anyone to become a 'citizen journalist' with the ability to sway public opinion - regardless of accuracy or intent," said Nichols. "Not only do we need to embrace these new technologies and opportunities, but we must master them to ensure that we can successfully operate our PR programs in all situations." Kleinz adds that today's mobile technology means that school districts must be prepared to respond immediately in a crisis to help manage the situation and ensure that the community receives accurate and timely information."

Tony Wagner's entire keynote address from the September 27th Rowland Foundation Conference on School Transformation at the University of Vermont. I will also be posting short clips in the coming weeks. If you have a recommendation please let me know. jfinley@rnesu.org

Here's a brief description of a 3-credit UVM course to be offered this summer with links to the 2nd Annual Rowland Conference on School Transformation. This intensive, one-week institute will bring together leaders of school transformation in Vermont schools and connect current transformation initiatives from around the state with the latest research. You can choose the time and location by enrolling at UVM's Summer U here (choose EDLP from the drop-down menu): http://learn.uvm.edu/courselistsummer/index.php EDLP 380 (61346) Jun. 18-22 at Rutland H.S. with Adam Rosenberg EDLP 380 (61348) Jul. 30-Aug.3 at UVM with Mike Martin

"Above any other measure, a person's level of grittiness will reveal their ability to execute ideas and sustain long-term goals."

If we are preparing students for success in college and career we must develop in them a skill set which includes perseverance and grit. While not as high in Vermont, "25 percent of students at four-year institutions fail to return for their sophomore year, a number that grows to 47 percent for students at two-year institutions." From the local and national pieces that I have looked at the reasoning for this is equally shared among these areas: Lack of Academic Preparedness; Lack of Sense of Purpose and Goals; Lack of Grit. We can't just educate students and expect them to be successful. We must also share Why and How. jf

"In today's global economy, countries need high-quality education systems that will teach their citizens the skills necessary to meet the challenges of tomorrow. This series of videos, produced jointly by the OECD and the Pearson Foundation, highlights initiatives being taken by education authorities around the world to help school students do better."

Isn't just a Finnish Phenomenon. Pieces are happening Globally. What can Vermont suss out and glean from these?

"What happens with this is that time is the variable and learning is the constant," said Kristine Kirkaldy of Vergennes Union High School. This fall's freshman class is piloting new performance-based graduation requirements-- shifting the focus for earning a diploma from a traditional report card and hours logged in a classroom to one that includes a 4-year, cross-curriculum portfolio. "You will have a portfolio into which you have placed pieces of evidence showing your growth and learning in the various areas that were asking," Kirkaldy said.

"Ever since Finland, a nation of about 5.5 million that does not start formal education until age 7 and scorns homework and testing until well into the teenage years, scored at the top of a well-respected international test in 2001 in math, science and reading, it has been an object of fascination among American educators and policy makers."

"Critics say that Finland is an irrelevant laboratory for the United States. It has a tiny economy, a low poverty rate, a homogenous population - 5 percent are foreign-born -..." Perhaps irrelevant for the US as a whole, but what about for Vermont?

"Dr. Darling-Hammond said. 'Thirty years ago, Finland's education system was a mess. It was quite mediocre, very inequitable. It had a lot of features our system has: very top-down testing, extensive tracking, highly variable teachers, and they managed to reboot the whole system.' "

Here are five resolutions from the article...with my personal take on them.

1. Find a trustworthy mentor. (Regardless of your position or how successful you are there will always be others out there who you can learn from.) 2. Form a leadership development group. (Why not two? One among leaders from multiple schools and another among the leaders and potential leaders within your school.) 3. Volunteer in a civic or service organization. (How have you formed connections between your school and the community in ways that the school isn't the primary beneficiary? How do you know the perceptions and expectations of the community unless you are truly engaged with them?) 4. Work in or travel to one new country. (Or, simply visit schools in your district. Have you visited with the admin and teachers from your sending schools? What could you learn from them? What could you learn from other high schools in Vermont that are similar to yours?) 5. Finally, ask more questions than you answer. (If you think that have all the answers…then you aren't even aware of all the questions.)

Education for Sustainability - A Public Lecture/Learning Series - Spring 2012" ...questions addressed in this lecture series seek to: clarify what we know about educational approaches to learning that can move people to authentically embrace sustainability (what is "education for sustainability"), share best practices and new approaches to engaging with the values and substance of sustainability (updates from the field), and provide opportunities for practitioners and educators to evaluate, integrate, and create new approaches to education for sustainability (learning next steps)."

Series ScheduleFeb 2: Lecture: A conversation with Bill McKibben about educational priorities in the 21st CenturyFeb 9: Panel: New concepts in engaged education for sustainability (Poleman, Kolan, Nordstrom)Feb 16: Lecture: Greg SmithFeb 23: Lecture: Taylor RickettsMar 1: Workshop: Understanding major themes in Education for SustainabilityMar 15: Panel: Student Voices on SustainabilityMar 22: Lecture: TBAMar 29: Lecture: Environmental Contamination (Paul Ligon and Jill Kauffman Johnson)(Tentative) Apr 5: Workshop: Practices that work - concepts and experiences(Tentative) Apr 12: Panel: Spreading Sustainability - A Programmatic Model (UVM Sustainability Fellows)Apr 19: Lecture: Tentative Debra RoweApr 26: Workshop: Sustainability futures - Ideas and collaborations

Important to know. What is your school doing to define its brand? Can you articulate in a sentence or two what your school is all about and has to offer students?As this progresses things may get even more competitive. How many students does your school need to lose to translate to reduction in staff? 10:1? 7:1?Under the progressive possibilities what would losing 35 or 40 students mean to your staffing, programs, and academic offerings?

Under this interpretation, if a school has opted to limit transfers to the fullest extent permitted by law, the 5% or 10 students limit is calculated based on the school's current full 9-12 enrollment, which excludes those who have already transferred, but have not yet graduated. In determining how many transfer slots are available in any given year, the number is the lesser of 5% of the then-enrolled students, or 10. And this standard is cumulative over a four-year period. For example, a high school with 180 presently-enrolled students may limit transfers (during the following year) to 9 students (the lesser of 9 (5% of 180) or 10). In the following year, if enrollment at the school is 171, and if all of the 9 remained in other schools, the transfer limit for students participating for the first time would be 8, for a total of 17.

This Huff Post blog post by Karen Gross, President of Vermont Southern College, explores what's needed for the transition from high school to higher ed.

This was very interesting - and has huge implications for how schools move ahead.

Laura Mina mentioned Maker-Spaces at the last planning meeting. It seemed that there were a few Fellows who had were interested and might have had a few questions. This short NPR piece is timely and includes some time around a BTV Maker Space.

"Maker spaces have become hotbeds of technological innovation and entrepreneurship. Now, governments, universities and big corporations are taking notice - and beginning to invest in them." I personally believe for a number of reasons that every Vermont HS should have a Maker Space. First it is a place to encourage interdisciplinary work centered around elements of PBL. Second, it would allow students to connect with their communities to solve real problems with real solutions. And finally and perhaps most importantly, because it would help move the idea of "Libraries" being places where students go to find Information...to being places to the idea that they are places where students go to Interact & Collaborate around Ideas.

"Given the potential demonstrated by these new models, dismantling the walls that have separated CTE from more traditional programs leading to higher education should be a priority for educators and policymakers. Our goal should be to have all students graduate from high school ready for both college and careers, and be able to choose from a range of appealing higher education and labor market possibilities afterward."

With Act 77 Every school in Vermont has the opportunity (and needs) to consider the benefits of Career and Technical Education (CTE) for Every student.

"...funding to support efforts in the school community to 'make a difference' through the collaboration and involvement of schools and local communities."

"Chance favors the connected mind." Why the Rowland Foundation Group Diigo can be the keystone to school change in Vermont. How do we create a system where we can allow our collective "hunches" to come together to form something bigger than the sum of their parts?

This reminds me so much of the Rowland Foundation! Tremendous potential in our network of educators...provided we can use technology to sustain ongoing collaboration.