The outcomes the school community prioritizes for each and every student.
Elements of Shared Vision for Readiness
These elements serve as guiding principles or visions of what “perfect” or “ideal” outcomes might look like.
“When you’re surrounded by people who share a passionate commitment around a common purpose, anything is possible.”
Howard Schultz
Crowdsource Workshops on Shared Vision for Readiness
Upcoming Crowdsource Workshops
Charting the Course: Defining Your School’s Graduate Profile for Holistic Readiness
Toolkit Resources for Shared Vision for Readiness
Become an IB World School: Primary Years Program
Become an IB World School: Middle Years Program
Become an IB World School: Diploma Program
Become an IB World School: Career-Related Program
Understanding Community Schools
How To Build a Culture of Mind, Heart, and Spirit: 4 Ways Leaders Can Support Their Team & School
Reflection Prompts for School Leaders
- What might be possible ways, even if they were unintentional, that staff, students, and/or families could feel their values and beliefs were not included in a school’s identity?
- What groups do you have in your school that may not feel connected or valued?
- What might be some ways to incorporate the voice of school/community groups who do not feel included to increase their sense of belonging?
- You run into a key stakeholder “in an elevator.” This person asks, “I heard you are working on creating your school identity that tells who you are as a school and what you are all about. Can you tell me more about this?” Prepare and practice an informative and concise response which you can deliver in 60 seconds or less. Try out your ideas by filling in the sentence frames: Our initiative is about… and… It is important because our students… We need to change because… When we are successful… What we need from the staff….from the students…from the families…from all of us together…
Points of Emphasis
- Our education system is still aligned with 20th century skills, especially our accountability models. While reading, writing and math are important, we need to recognize and elevate 21st century outcomes as equal to the traditional goals of the education system.
- Create shared definitions of student outcomes to prepare students and staff for using them in classrooms and beyond – EVERY PERIOD, EVERY DAY, with ALL staff.
- Intentionally reach out and engage students and families whose voices are not normally heard.
- Develop student outcomes that speak to students first and foremost, but that are easy for families to understand and use as well. Use those outcomes to tell stories and create rituals and routines. Connect them to their daily lives.
- Lots of little things can move a mountain. Big Plays, which can take 6-18 months to fully implement, and Key Moves, which can take 3-6 months to fully implement, require significant time, energy, and effort. Little things, actions could have done yesterday or could do tomorrow, require intention and coordination with minimal time and energy.
A Shared Vision for Readiness Must Be Holistic
A shared vision for student readiness defines and communicates the holistic set of skills that ALL students need for success.
Sees the learner as a whole person:
- Emphasizes interpersonal, intrapersonal, and metacognitive skills
- Values social-emotional skills and well-being
- Supports mental and physical health
Connects to instructional core:
- Goes beyond just stating desired student outcomes to provide clarity about the role of teachers and content in achieving success
- Informs the development of structures and conditions to engage in professional development and collaboration
- Results in a more coherent organization that eliminates the silos and multiple identities typically found in public school
Four Keys to College and Career Readiness
Think is about solving problems and addressing issues through versatile and intentional thinking. Examples of Think skills student need include:
- coming up with new ideas
- creative discovery
- innovative solutions
- design thinking
- communication using different methods and adapting to different audiences critical thinking and inquiry.
Know includes content knowledge and skills such as reading, writing, and math. An over-inflated emphasis on Know skills tends to fixate on students’ challenges and weaknesses rather than playing to their strengths. Especially students with disabilities or those whose first language is not English.
Students should be able to answer these questions as they develop Know skills:
- What am I learning that will open doors to future career paths?
- Do I understand the point of what I’m learning and how it fits with what I already know?
- Am I pushing myself to work hard, tackle new challenges, and embrace new ideas?
Act is best expressed as ownership of learning as well as the ability to collaborate. Examples of Act skills are:
- time management
- self direction
- goal setting
- collaboration
- note taking
Go includes elements of student agency– self awareness, self knowledge, and an understanding of who you are in the context of the world around you, including your family and your community. Because of this, Go includes leadership skills, advocacy skills, self-care and healthy habits as well as skills like kindness and empathy.
What are the Four Keys to College and Career Readiness?
Many educators, families, and students are taking a hard look at the current educational system in the United States and finding there is a significant gap between what is and what ought to be if we want our country to succeed in the 21st century.
The Four Keys to College and Career Readiness (the Four Keys) provides a framework and common language to use as we work to close this gap by developing systems that support all students as they prepare for the future.
Based on over a decade of research and 20 years of experience in the public education system, Dr. David T. Conley developed the Four Keys so students, families, and educators can identify and prioritize the skills that are needed to be successful after high school. In it’s simplest form, we refer to the Four Keys as THINK, KNOW, ACT, and GO. In order to prepare students to be lifelong learners, they need the ability to THINK deeply about what they are doing; KNOW contextually why they learn; ACT purposefully to achieve their goals; and GO successfully through life’s transitions.
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This work by Inflexion is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
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