Session 1: Formulating a smart goal

We discussed the importance of having a shared vision in a project initiative for literacy improvement. A shared vision is important because of the following characteristics:

• Embodies school beliefs and values about literacy

• Ensures consistency in understanding and responding

• Makes everyone accountable

We also said that Shared Vision statements have three components:

• Picture of the School/ Students’ Future

• School Beliefs about Literacy and the Role and Purpose of Literacy Instruction

• Key Strategies to Adopt

We will begin the module with an exercise examining a Shared Vision statement. As you read through the Shared Vision Statement, take note of the these guide questions:

• What does the Shared Vision plan to achieve? What is the picture of literacy in the future? Does it clearly state in the shared vision statement?

• How does this Shared Vision plan to achieve the picture of literacy in the future? Am I able to find what key strategies to adopt?

Scroll right on the images below and examine how the shared vision and the key strategies are formulated.

As the last image shows, there is a shared vision for literacy and there are 2 key strategies stated to achieve the vision. However, it also poses a question - are the key strategies enough to provide guidance to achieve the shared vision? What if the strategies are insufficient, are there other ways to express strategies in more specific terms?

One way of making the strategies in the SHARED VISION statement more concrete is using the SMART Goal strategy.

The next lesson will help us formulate a Shared Vision Statement for literacy that utilizes the SMART Goal strategy.