Official DESE Communications

Envisioning the future with a diverse mix of interested parties is a powerful and effective early step in the planning process. Inviting participation in the visioning process will build ownership and advocacy for the resulting plan among both educators and the community. An inclusive approach will also contribute to a positive school culture, helping to build a shared understanding of the work required to serve all students as well as the relationships and trust among stakeholders that will support that work.

Engaging a wide range of stakeholders in a visioning process can help a school articulate an asset-based picture of the future they want for their school and their students, which can then inform a compelling road map for improvement.

What is the Vision?

The vision, as defined in the Massachusetts Planning for Success tool, articulates the school's aspirations for students: what is valued and why, and what future success will look like. The school's vision, mission, and core values are the foundation of the school's sustainable improvement plan. The school's vision should speak to the unique context of the school while also aligning to the larger vision for the district as a whole. Visioning can also help a school begin to articulate the answer to the question: How will this improvement effort be different from what we have done before?

The Visioning Process

School and district leaders should consider: How can we design an inclusive planning process that creates a shared vision for all students while strengthening community understanding and support? To answer this, educators should identify and use a visioning protocol with families, students, and community members.

A number of visioning protocols and processes exist, and schools may choose to create their own process as well. One commonly used protocol is the Back to the Future Protocol, originally developed by Scott Murphy, which includes guidelines for facilitators to conduct the visioning process.

One approach is for school leadership and planning teams to participate in the visioning process before bringing it to others. Having experienced the protocol and the effective facilitation of it, these participants will have some preparation before they facilitate the protocol themselves in future sessions as part of the school's visioning process.

Using Visioning Results

Results from the visioning process are useful in two ways: they provide guidance for creating the plan's vision statement, and more importantly, can be used by a planning team, alongside the results of the self assessment and root cause analyses, as it works to identify strategic objectives, overarching goals, and key levers for improvement.

Examples of some of the resources and protocols that SSoS Regional Assistance Teams frequently use with districts and schools they support appear in the Additional Resources at the end of this section.

Flexible Format Submission

Describe the following:

• The long-term vision of success for the school and its students. What are your team's hopes and dreams for them? What it will look like, sound like, and feel like when the school has reached it?
• How stakeholders were engaged in the visioning process

Additional Resources Relative to Envision the Future

While not required, these resources may be helpful as your school engages in this stage of the sustainable improvement planning process:

Back to the Future Protocol