Sergiovanni (1990) wrote, “Schools have multiple and often conflicting purposes that make exact alignment of structure and purpose difficult, if not impossible” (p. 27).  Elected officials mandate the purpose of education.  Superintendents and school administrators cast a vision for schools.  Classroom teachers have the greatest impact on curriculum and instruction decisions because they choose what students will know and be able to do.  Do staff in your school district understand the purpose of K-12 education and the desired outcomes?  It is difficult for staff to work towards a common goal when there are conflicting purposes.

Guiding Principles will support teachers and administrators as they seek to support students and prepare them for college and career readiness.  Stephen Covey described principles as a compass which guides you towards your "True North."  When was the last time your school district or school staff discussed the "Guiding Principles" of the organization?

Guiding Principles Could Include:

Develop and Implement a Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum

College and Career Readiness is the Goal

Common Formative Assessments Inform Teaching and Learning

Continuous Improvement Through Curriculum Mapping

Frequent and Clear Communication Within Our School and Across Schools

Frequent and Clear Communication With Students and Families

Interventions will be Developed and Implemented to Support Students

Partnerships with Families

Partnerships with Stakeholders

Professional Learning Community: The Way We Operate

Teachers and administrators across the United State are attempting to implement the Common Core State Standards.  In addition to learning new standards, teachers are required to attend new training on technology integration, character education, grading practices, rubrics, writing across the curriculum, curriculum alignment, analyzing test data, SIOP training, implementing a new reading program, and more!  It is clear why teachers and administrators use the term initiative fatigue.  At the end of the day, it is easy to lose focus on our guiding principles.  Why do we open the school doors each morning?  What do we hope to achieve between the first day of school and the final bell?  Are we focused on the students with low achievement data as well as the students who are performing above grade level?  When we reach a fork in the road, it becomes evident that we have guiding principles or we follow the "program of the month."  The author of this article does not place the blame on the backs of classroom teachers.  In most cases, teachers are following the initiatives that a school superintendent, state superintendent, school board, or other elected official required.  

W.E.B. DuBois provides us with a powerful reminder of the moral obligation of educators:

"Of all the civil rights for which the world has struggled and fought for 5,000 years, the right to learn is undoubtedly the most fundamental....The freedom to learn....has been bought by bitter sacrifice.  And whatever we may think of the curtailment of other civil rights, we should fight to the last ditch to keep open the right to learn, the right to have examined in our schools not only what we believe; not only what our leaders say, but what the leaders of other centuries have said.  We must insist upon this to give our children the fairness of a start which will equip them with such an array of facts and such an attitude toward truth that they can have a real chance to judge what the world is and what its greater minds have thought it might be."

- W.E.B. DuBois, The Freedom to Learn (1949)
as cited in The Right to Learn: A Blueprint for Creating Schools That Work (Darling-Hammond, 1997) 

If your school or school district has a set of "Guiding Principles," please post a link on ASCD EDge. Other educators can learn from your experiences.