Leadership Matters November 2013

Vision 20/20: OpportuniƟes for involvement “We are asking Illinois superintendents to interview their students and record responses to the question, “What would the perfect school look like in your mind?” We will also conduct a statewide art competition requesting students to illustrate their vision for the perfect school. A winner will be selected from each IASA region and the winning submissions will be featured in the final IASA Vision 20/20 document. Specific details and submission information will be announced later this fall.”

On October 8, 42 Vision 20/20 representatives from IASA’s 21 regions and two advisory members gathered in Springfield to continue their work to create a vision for the future of education in Illinois. The initial subcommittee meeting on June 6 led to the following focal points for discussion. We ask all IASA members to join the dialogue and share this information with their district’s stakeholders: The focus of the initiative is student-centered. The initiative is a forward-thinking process designed to unite the Illinois education community around a vision to improve education in Illinois. The initiative will document the consensus among Illinois educators for creating a desired future vision of education in Illinois. The initiative will provide a common voice from the Illinois education community to guide state policy. Subcommittee members have the great responsibility to represent their region’s interests and development of the final package. Support their efforts by promoting the initiative on your district website, in newsletters, and at community meetings. We would like to thank all survey participants for their input to the statewide superintendent survey! The second subcommittee meeting on October 8 tasked members to work with the survey data to formulate visions for their areas of focus. These survey results are available on the initiative website, www.illinoisvision2020.org . Each superintendent, school district, and student in Illinois can become involved in the initiative We are asking Illinois superintendents to interview their students and record responses to the question, “What would the perfect school look like in your mind?”

We will also conduct a statewide art competition requesting students to illustrate their vision for the perfect school. A winner will be selected from each IASA region and the winning submissions will be featured in the final IASA Vision 20/20 document. Specific details and submission information will be announced later this fall. As stated earlier, this project is student- centered . As such, we must be sure to include the voices of our students in the Vision 20/20 initiative. Have fun engaging your students with creating a new vision for the future of education in Illinois! In the meantime, you may stay connected with the initiative through the following channels: All Vision 20/20 initiative information may be found on the initiative website, www.illinoisvision2020.org . Interested parties may follow the initiative’s progress via Twitter @ILVision2020. Please forward any questions regarding the Vision 20/20 initiative to questions@illinoisvision2020.org.

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