There are six elements that address the vision of a school, these are safe haven, development and evaluation of system for instructional culture, delivery and assessment of instruction, support of staff and faculty, personnel and budget and governance.

These elements, if incorporated and used effectively will enable the school to have a vision in which the teaching learning process can be very effective. This paper will address two elements of a vision. These are The Development and Evaluation of System for Instructional Culture and The Delivery and Assessment of Instruction.

Instructional Culture addresses the ways in which teachers and students reach greater heights. According to Barth (2002), “A school’s culture is a complex pattern of norms, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, values, ceremonies, traditions and myths that are deeply ingrained in the very core of the organization”. I agree with this because it is the instructional culture that guides our teachers and enable students to achieve excellence in education. Students are the primary focus in the delivery of education. Some characteristics of instructional culture are, collaboration, focus on student learning, instructional feedback, better professional development and recognition of good and poor quality work. It is evident that teachers want to be part of a school where collaboration among teachers exists, where there are clearly defined goals and where great teaching can be developed. In addition, it is a place where high expectations are set for all students regardless of skills or abilities, where students are recognized as individuals and where learning is personalized for them.

 In this element, teachers look forward for feedback from leaders. When leaders make observations and give prompt feedback to the teachers, they are able to make improvements, which will help them to reach their full, potential. Moreover, teachers need to be provided with professional development sessions that are well planned properly facilitated and are aligned to the changing teaching strategies that would benefit all students.  I think that schools with great instructional culture recognize their teachers for their hard work by offering incentives for success and growth.

Schools can maintain a strong instructional culture by making sure that there is collaboration among stakeholders. Collaboration connects teachers, students and parents. Collaboration among teachers can be done in many ways. The first way is through common planning time, or by implementing common team meeting planning time. Common planning time must be organized properly, for example all science teachers can have common preparation time. This allows them to look at the curriculum, learning goals and essential questions formatted and even looking at student work or exhibitions, together with sharing best teaching practices. So it helps with teaching and learning, pedagogical and curricular issues, professional growth and it benefits students. As mentioned before, there is a need for the curriculum to be more connected to the real world, for it to be more problem solving based; rather than chronological teaching, for asynchronous learning to take place so that teachers can conference with all students and for critical thinking to happen in the classroom rather than teaching toward testing. According to Ted Sizer, few tests are designed to measure critical thinking, “ The fact that most “successful” student can’t stand up to two Socratic questions in a row. And it is common knowledge among professors at even the “best colleges” that students coming into them have serious weaknesses in their ability to think critically or creatively. This will reinforce the vision and mission of the school that address the need for students to be critical thinkers, to have authentic work that shows student ownership and highlights teacher as coach. This is also where the portfolio and rubrics will be used to show ownership and authentic work. Issues that need to be address are scheduling and also relinquishing of instructional time, respecting other's experiences.

A second system that can be in place is an advisory system in place. This addresses the collaboration between students, teachers and parents. This can be  the means of connection between the school and home community. It addresses the needs of students individually and collectively and is worth the investment. According to Makkonen (2004), “ Advisory forges connections amongst students and the school community, creating conditions that facilitate academic success and personal growth.” It improves the relationship between students and teachers increases a sense of trust and belonging, invokes an atmosphere of equality and contributes to well-rounded individuals. I think that advisory if is so personalized; surveying students and parents would be a great way to evaluate whether it is productive.

Another system that can be in placed is where professional development is focused on student work, effective teaching practices and equity. Professional development time should be used as a place where teachers study their own practices, where individual student work is looked at and where new teaching ideas are shared. It should also be a time where teachers are provided with support that will help them better their teaching practice and be able to use what is learned to work with students. It is a place where a system can be put in place for individual student intervention. I do think that there is a need for innovative teaching and learning, where students are challenged and are supported individually by teachers and this I believe can only happen when teachers are provided with worthwhile professional development.  There is always the need for inquiry and through which equality of education can be addressed. Structures need to be in place where groups provide empowerment and support for each other so that these issues that impedes effective teaching and meaningful learning can be looked at. It is a known fact that effective teaching and learning often result from the conditions of “ schooling and society, particular institutionalized racisms and other forms of oppression,”(Davidson, 2009). Professional development, should allow for shared views, shared perspectives, and also to have meaningful interactions. Therefore, it is imperative that professional development be evaluated. According to Guskey (2000), “Some educators understand the importance of evaluation for event-driven professional development activities, such as workshops and seminars, but forget the wide range of less formal, ongoing, job-embedded professional development activities—study groups, action research, collaborative planning, curriculum development, structured observations, peer coaching, mentoring, and so on. But regardless of its form, professional development should be a purposeful endeavor. Through evaluation, you can determine whether these activities are achieving their purposes.” He highlighted five levels of evaluating professional development addressing different levels. The first level is participants’ reaction, was it time well spent, did the materials make sense, and were they planned in meaningful ways. The second level is based on participants learning, was any new knowledge or skilled learnt. The third and forth levels addresses whether the learned program or initiative can be implemented in the classroom and how effective it would be for students. The fifth level addresses student-learning outcomes and in this evaluation the question that needs to be asked dis how did or how would this professional development benefit the students.

The final system that I will discuss is where by teachers are given feedback and opportunities to take on leadership roles, and where the ineffective teachers are removed. Developing other leaders I believe will address four very integral components that will sustain a school over time. The three purposes are, utilizing teachers expertise that can help in better instruction with teacher coaching, principals are not the see it, know it and do it all of a school teamwork is important. Committees should be created allowing teachers to have a say be it positive or negative for example having a hiring committee. The third purpose emphasizes the need for teachers to be challenged so that they can continue to grow and be reflective in their teaching. I think at the end of the day this system can be evaluated based on accountability and were students given the best education possible, were the teacher hired effective, did the instruction leader provide feedback so that teachers can better their practice

The second element that will be addressed in this paper is the delivery and assessment of instruction. I would first of all define delivery of instruction followed by assessment of instruction. I think that delivery of instruction deals with four aspects of my vision and mission of my school. The four aspects are personalized or individualization of instruction, instruction being inquiry- based or hands on, real world connection and multicultural. These four aspects fall under the umbrella of planning and then delivery. Teachers need to think of the students in the class as individuals with varying skills and therefore delivery of lessons should be modified and personalized so that every student is given an opportunity to be successful. I do think that when that is done, students will begin to shown interest and ownership of work and this can also be done through individual coaching and conferencing with the students. Instruction should also be inquiry-based. Inquiry based delivery allows students to see themselves as leaners, they are willing participants in their own learning process, they can be reflective learners, asking questions and posing questions.  Teachers become facilitators of learning, and learning is guided instead of just teaching. The third delivery of instruction is centered on real world connections that are connection to the work. What does learning have to do with real world is the question. Ways that I think that real world connections can be done are by connection through student interest, connecting to student experiences, connecting through significant issues and interest and by connections to community based organizations making for life long learners and thus successful member so society. Having students as worker provides a sense of ownership and allows them to acknowledge their own efforts not one dictated by a teacher.  According to Vargas, “In the end students will be able to look back at what they accomplished along with what it took them to get there and look forward to how they can utilize their ability to be a well developed student and worker.” Real world connection can be planned through the unit plans that the team committees common planning time.

This brings me to second part of the element, which is assessment of instruction. Assessments must be done to determine whether the goals of education are met Assessment determines process and reveals how improvements can be made toward meeting those goals, (Crist et al, 1998).  Assessment can be for learners, teachers, administrators and employers. Assessment for learners promotes student’s focus and attention, promotes transfer of knowledge, and promotes self-evaluation and self- monitoring. Motivates learning through reflections and shows evidence of work that can be used to get jobs, scholarships and a road map to college. In my mission I stated that students would complete inquiry-based projects or exhibitions that will be graded using a rubric after which they will need to present their learning and process of learning through panels and seminars. Assessment for teachers, provides formative and summative data about student learning, provides data to improve learning, help with instructional planning by the feed back provided by from colleagues and leaders. It also helps to provide data to looks at what teaching strategies work and how effective teaching was and finally it opens the door for assessment of programs or units in terms of accountability. This assessment as mentioned can be done through inquiry groups and professional development. Assessment for administrators and teachers does two things, helps in the allocation of resources and also in decisions hiring, professional development and provides data so that committees can be put in place to address the different needs of the school Finally assessment for employers, provides data for prospective employers and shows evidence of learning especially in this era of school report card and the political backdrop of schooling.

In conclusion, as educators we have come to a place in teaching and learning where the essential elements can be present in the curriculum especially in literature we read, the science we implement and the relationships we developed. This process involves students, teachers, administrators, parents and other stakeholders. Training, reflection, collaborations and innovative teaching can, also supplement decision-making. As I reflect on these two elements throughout my school design the governing committees that are set up will be  given a different jurisdiction over certain areas of the school will be the continuous reflection and planning and changing policies. There is a slogan that is heard throughout schools and it is “Unity of Purpose,” this indicates that school leaders, teachers, parents and students are building the foundation of a learning environment where teaching and learning is the central focus and on which the school community is guided. Understanding the vision and mission of the school clearly indicates that “this is the way we do things around here” and it muse be embraced by the entire school community.  According to Supovitz and Poglinco, “ A vision held solely by one person, no matter how powerful that vision, it invisible to others.” For the realities of a vision to occur there needs to be widespread acceptance.

The vision for my school is that every High School student will achieve personal success and be a responsible and productive citizen. My mission for my new school is one where students will be educated through the collaborative efforts of faculty, staff, parents and the community. Students will develop deep and complex understanding of texts and hands on experiences. The school will have an inquiry -based curriculum where work will be organize in a portfolio- based system. Students will demonstrate their mastery of this curriculum through project and panels- students taking ownership of their work. Students will be prepared for the world. This will be done through internships, connections to technical institutes (hands –on) and also college and career exploration. This will be done on a personalized basis. There would also be an advisory system where teachers, parents are students are in continuous collaboration.