Running Head: SHARED VISION & RATIONALE 1

Shared Vision and Rationale

Trae Jones

ITEC 7410

Spring 2018

Dr. Julia Fuller

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Shared Vision and Rationale

Vision Statement

Hart County High School, in partnership with Hart College and Career Academy,

has a vision to prepare students to become lifelong learners and responsible, productive

members of society. This vision will be reached to its fullest potential through the

collaboration of students, educators, parents, and community members. Looking toward

the future, we believe technology will play a key role in the preparation of our students.

Therefore, we will utilize technology to equip our students, and those who impact our

students (educators, parents, and community members) for real-world situations and

critical problem solving skills needed to excel in higher education and career

opportunities.

Rationale

There has been much thought, discussion, and opinions shared amongst

stakeholders of both Hart County High School (HCHS) and the Hart College and Career

Academy (HCCA). The students of Hart County School System currently have

numerous options to choose from within grades 9-12 to prepare them for their life after

high school is completed; however, with the constant changing landscape of careers for

our students it is not wise on the stakeholder’s part of the equation to be stagnant in the

vision toward the future. In fact, a 2016 study by Leopold, Ratcheva, and Zahidi, “nearly

50% of subject knowledge acquired during the first year of a four-year technical degree is

outdated by the time a student graduates.” This statistic alone proves the importance of

looking past the present and focusing on the future.

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At times; however, it can seem figuring out the best interests for our students’

futures is akin to hitting an invisible moving target. To counteract the difficulty of

success for such a task, it is essential that a strong team is formed to view as many

perspectives toward the future as possible. In the formation of the vision statement for

HCHS and HCCA a team was formed to give insight from the perspective of students,

parents, teachers, administration, and community members. The opinions shared from

members of each of these groups was instrumental in identifying specific ways in which

we can prepare students for future success in whatever path they decide to choose upon

completion of high school.

The first, and most essential, area according to those influencing the direction of

the vision is ensuring that our students become lifelong learners. This skill has never

been more important as detailed in a Pew Research Center study on American jobs that

found “87% of workers believe it will be essential for them to get training and develop

new job skills throughout their work life in order to keep up with changes in the

workplace” (2016). Through speaking with current business owners in my own

community, the sentiment is echoed from the employer realm as well. An employer who

refuses to recognize the need to educate the employee will soon find out what it is like to

have employees who are not capable of accurately and exceptionally completing their

assignments on the job. In another article, Rainie and Anderson state “the best

educational programs will teach people how to be lifelong learners” (2017). This

observation is one that seems to be common sense; although, upon further discussion it is

clear from stakeholders that many of the people our stakeholders come into contact with

on daily basis believe education stops with graduation. These people mentioned by the
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stakeholders appear to be very content in the mindset of being a non-lifelong learner;

however, the students graduating from HCHS/HCCA must leave our sphere of influence

with a different mindset according to many different people of influence.

The final area of concern in our vision statement is to prepare students to be

responsible and productive members of our community. The reasoning behind this

section of our vision is simple: members of a community can either be beneficial or a

burden. In discussions with various stakeholders it become clear that students leaving

HCHS/HCCA need to have instilled within them to contribute toward a community that

would work to support them as they supported the community. Living in a small city of

approximately 4,500 citizens and a county seat of just over 25,000 and only 1 high school

has its advantages and disadvantages. One big advantage relayed to me in stakeholder

conversations is the great sense of oneness; possibly due to the school districts hashtag

“#onehartbeat”.

The oneness of HCHS and HCCA is clearly evident as there are essentially 2

schools and 2 principals within 1 building working toward the same vision to produce

responsible and productive citizens. We also believe there is a clear oneness between

businesses within the community and the school system as many have partnered to form

committees to give direction on the types of employees they desire to see produced from

the school system. This partnership has been made possible partly through technology as

many employers are able to relay their desires directly to the students through electronic

means of communication. Many of our students who end up getting a job with the

businesses partnered with HCHS/HCCA have done so through an initial electronic

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application and technology training in the desired field before being hired to the job of

choice.

Diversity Considerations

Although Hart County High School is not a Title I school, it happens to be the

only school within the district that is not Title I. I spoke with an administrator on his

opinion why a high school that is feed by 3 Title I elementary and a Title I middle school

is not Title I. His opinion is that not enough students return their free and reduced lunch

forms to be able to qualify for Title I. Needless to say, our school has a strong percentage

of students coming from a low socioeconomic background. The stakeholders who took

part in a survey to provide possible solutions to the gap between technology accesses

outside of school for low socioeconomic students gave many great suggestions for

bridging the gap.

As part of our vision discussion, suggestions were made to partner with local

businesses to provide students with access to internet at these businesses or to have these

businesses sponsor “hot-spots” throughout the community. Another possible solution to

the socioeconomic technology gap is to provide before/after school opportunities for

students to take advantage of the school’s technology. These suggestions are all great

suggestions for our school system; however, as long as they are just suggestions they are

useless. The ideas and suggestions presented must be enacted in order to be effective.

Another area of concern for our shared vision is the gap between males and

females within technology related career preparatory classes. According to Leapold,

Ratcheva, and Zahidi:

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“If current industry gender gap trends persist and labor market transformation

towards new and emerging roles in computer, technology and engineering-related

fields continues to outpace the rate at which women are currently entering those

types of jobs, women are at risk of losing out on tomorrow’s best job

opportunities while aggravating hiring processes for companies due to a restricted

applicant pool and reducing the diversity dividend within the company” (2016).

This idea of a large portion of our students being passed up for job opportunities due to

their lack of training and education based upon their gender did not sit well with many of

the stakeholders within our school. It caused us to reexamine the heart of the issue; lack

of interest from female students or lack of encouragement and low comfort levels in these

types of classes. We believe the main issue at hand is females in our school are not

encouraged or even recruited to join the organizations involving technology. We plan to

use teachers, recent graduates, and businesses who would hire these students to recruit

and encourage them to join the paths of education that would lead to employment.

Stakeholder Roles

The role of the stakeholder in the shared vision is entirely dependent upon the

label the specific stakeholder holds. In a small town, it is common for stakeholders to

possess multiple roles within the school system. Some of the stakeholder roles detailed

in the shared vision are teachers, administrators, students, parents, and community

members.

Teachers

The first stakeholder addressed is the role of the teacher in the shared vision. The

teacher is on the front lines of impacting any type of direct change in the education of
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students. Ultimately it is the responsibility of the teacher to fulfill the majority of the

change necessary as indicated in the shared vision. First, teachers must buy-in to the idea

of producing students who are lifelong learners and productive and responsible citizens.

Second, a teacher must promote these ideas in his/her classroom from day 1 throughout

the class. Finally, teachers must continue to exhibit what they desire to see in their

students in being lifelong learners themselves who are productive and responsible

citizens.

Administrators

The next stakeholder possessing a ton of responsibility toward the effectiveness of

the shared vision is administrators. This includes, but is not limited to, principals,

assistant principals, instructional coaches, and central office personnel. Each of these

groups of individuals must have a clear understanding of the vision for the future.

Specifically, administrators need to take responsibility to direct the employees and

students under their direction toward producing lifelong learners who are responsible and

productive citizens.

Students

Another key stakeholder in the shared vision success or failure are the students of

Hart County High School and Hart College and Career Academy. Without full buy-in

from the students, the shared vision will ultimately fail. This is one of the most difficult

groups to obtain buy-in from as many times they struggle to find reasons to look toward

the future and their employment involving technology. Instead, many of our students are

able to see the benefits of technology within their daily lives in regards to

communication, gaming, or organization; but are unable to connect to future endeavors.

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The role of the student will be to continue to give input toward future decision making

within the school.

Parents

Within the shared vision implementation, parents play a vital role and will be

essential to success. The parents role will be to form a stronger connection to the school

through parent nights, parent-teacher organizations, and even committees or panels to

steer the direction of the educational opportunities for our students.

Community Members

The final group of stakeholders who are key to the success or failure of our shared

vision is community members. This group is a diverse group consisting of individuals

from the business community and other civic organizations. The business side’s role will

be to partner with committees and administration to give insight into current and future

needs in the business realm of our community. The other members of this group will also

partner with the school to provide opportunities for students to grow as individuals into

responsible and productive citizens who will make a positive impact on the local

community they are a part of.

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References

Leopold, T., Ratcheva, V., & Zahidi, S. The Future of Jobs and Skills. (2016). The

Future of Jobs. Retrieved from http://reports.weforum.org/future-of-jobs-2016/

Rainie, L., & Anderson, J. (2017). The Future of Jobs and Jobs Training. Pew Research

Center: Internet, Science & Tech. Retrieved from

http://www.pewinternet.org/2017/05/03/the-future-of-jobs-and-jobs-training/

The State of American Jobs. (2016). Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic

TrendsProject. Retrieved from http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2016/10/06/the-

state-of-american-jobs/
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Appendix

Essential Conditions Survey

1. What is your role in relation to the school system?

1- Student, 2- Teacher, 3- Paraprofessional, 4- Parent, 5- Administrator, 6-

Business Person, 7- Community Member, 8- Other:

2. Technology is available for use by ALL students in the school system for

educational purposes.

1- Strongly disagree, 2- Disagree, 3- Neutral, 4- Agree, 5- Strongly Agree

3. Technology is appropriately used by ALL students in the school system for

educational purposes.

1- Strongly disagree, 2- Disagree, 3- Neutral, 4- Agree, 5- Strongly Agree

4. Technology is available for use by ALL educators in the school system for

educational purposes.

1- Strongly disagree, 2- Disagree, 3- Neutral, 4- Agree, 5- Strongly Agree

5. Technology is appropriately used by ALL educators in the school system for

educational purposes.

1- Strongly disagree, 2- Disagree, 3- Neutral, 4- Agree, 5- Strongly Agree

6. Technology use for educational purposes should increase in the future for

students.

1- Strongly disagree, 2- Disagree, 3- Neutral, 4- Agree, 5- Strongly Agree

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7. Technology use for educational purposes should increase in the future for

teachers.

1- Strongly disagree, 2- Disagree, 3- Neutral, 4- Agree, 5- Strongly Agree

8. Which of these is more important for our school system?

A- Having more technology available for educators and students

B- Having more training for educators and students on technology use

9. Is there a certain population within our schools that you feel is lacking in

technology availability/use towards their education? (Select all that apply)

1- Low socioeconomic, 2- Minorities, 3- Females, 4- Students with disabilities, 5-

None of the above, 6- Other

10. If you selected a student population that is lacking technology availability/use,

how can the school system succeed in reaching their needs? (Select all that apply)

A- There is not a student population that is lacking technology availability/use

B- Partner with local businesses to provide internet use

C- Before/After School opportunities at school to use technology

D- Training for educators

E- Training for students

F- Other

11. In your current position (parent, student, community member, educator, etc...)

what role can you play in improving the technology availability to ALL members of

the school system?

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12. In your current position (parent, student, community member, educator, etc...)

what role can you play in improving the technology use of ALL members of the

school system?