The Value of Mission Statements

• If for no other reason, a school needs a mission statement if it wants to apply for accreditation. The accrediting bodies generally require a school to establish and communicate a shared purpose and direction for improving. The authors also noticed that when schools started to create websites in the 1990’s, mission statements were prominently placed. Research shows that a shared mission statement is a leading factor in differentiating effective schools from less effective schools. It certainly provides a clear indicator of a school’s cultural values. Effective schools have a strong commitment to a shared vision and often revisit and revise it.
• Stemler and Bebell studied 421 school mission statements and found that they generally addressed multiple themes with an average of 3.5 each. They found that the themes fell into eleven broad areas. I list them here from most common to least common. 1) civic development 2) emotional development 3) cognitive development 4) integration into the local community 5) integration into the global community 6) a safe/nurturing environment 7) a challenging environment 8) social development 9) vocational development 10) physical development and 11) spiritual development.

Share this: