Metropolitan School District of Decatur Township is an information-age School District committed to being learner centered. A focus on learning and continuous personal growth is promoted in a safe, respectful, and caring environment characterized by high expectations. Learning communities are the means to fostering collaboration and empowerment. Assessments, interventions, and accommodations are used to meet the academic, social, emotional, physical, and developmental needs of all learners.
Supporting Belief Statements
| | A. | Learning
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| | | We believe a focus on learning must be part of the culture of our school community because learning is a community responsibility.
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| | | 1. | Different learning and teaching styles will be used to cultivate the talents of each child.
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| | | 2. | Varied interventions, strategies, and resources will provide students with multiple opportunities to meet their intellectual, emotional, social, behavioral, and physical needs.
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| | | 3. | Teachers will be guides and facilitators to provide differentiated learning experiences and to empower students to take charge of their own learning.
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| | | 4. | Students will be encouraged to pursue ambitious learning goals and assume responsibility for their own learning, and their progress will be monitored and supported.
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| | | 5. | Throughout the learning process, each student with appropriate stakeholder support will persist until learning is achieved.
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| | | 6. | Technology will be an integrated part of the learning process and will be accessible to every stakeholder.
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| | B. | Learning Environment
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| | | We believe the school must provide a welcoming, safe, productive, learner-centered environment for learning to occur. This nurturing climate will foster trust and high expectations. All stakeholders will be:
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| | | 1. | treated with dignity and respect;
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| | | 2. | viewed as individuals, and
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| | | 3. | provided support for learning.
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| | C. | Assessment
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| | | We believe assessment must be used to guide the learning process to meet individual student needs rather than to compare students. Therefore, assessment must be used to:
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| | | 1. | determine what learning has occurred;
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| | | 2. | identify what interventions are needed;
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| | | 3. | provide timely and continuous information to guide teaching and student learning;
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| | | 4. | customize new learning based on students' prior knowledge and learning styles; and
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| | | 5. | provide all stakeholders with feedback.
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| | D. | The Learning Community
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| | | We believe the relationship between the school and the larger community must be an interdependent one because students learn in both settings. Therefore,
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| | | 1. | All stakeholders will be represented and empowered through a collaborative approach to decision making, to develop leadership and to secure sustained school improvement.
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| | | 2. | All parents will work with teachers and students to foster learning.
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| | E. | Professional Development
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| | | We believe that professional development is important to provide all stakeholders with the skills to improve student learning. Professional development must be:
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| | | 1. | sustained over a long period of time;
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| | | 2. | relevant to stakeholder needs;
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| | | 3. | focused on ways to serve student learning; and
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| | | 4. | advanced through professional learning communities.
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Professional learning communities are built around collaborative exchange in which educators direct their professional growth by working together, reflecting on their practice, exchanging ideas, and sharing strategies to improve student learning.
In support of these beliefs, appropriate time, money, and resources must be allocated.