Measure the Mission Statement

As we come to the close of another academic year, high school seniors are taking AP and course exams, completing capstone projects, and defending final theses, but let me challenge schools to also assess graduates on the mission statement.

In many ways, the measure of a school is found in their graduates AND how closely the graduates embody the mission statement of the school. Mission statements, especially at Christian schools, are often aspirational (e.g. "change the world for Christ") and are rarely assessed. I love aspirational mission statements and am not arguing to lower the bar, but rather to assess the mission statement. How do you do that?

Here are portions of a few mission statements from Christian schools I have been a part of ...

• Students will be "firmly grounded in biblical truth, thoroughly educated in the Liberal Arts, and fully engaged in their churches, communities, and the world for the glory of God and service to humanity."
• Students will be "inspired and equipped ... to engage the world with Christ's transforming power and love."
• Students will receive a "biblically-based, quality education that nurtures the children ... to grow in God-centered discipleship, equipped with vision, understanding, discernment, and service in order to renew all relationships and culture to be under the authority of Jesus Christ."
• Students will be provided "an excellent education for a life of Christ-centered service."

How do you assess any of these? The challenge is real, but is it "mission impossible"?

Some schools have adopted the "portrait of a graduate," flowing from the mission statement and attempting to provide specific characteristics to flesh it out. When a school adopts and, more importantly, embraces the portrait of a graduate, it is moving in the right direction. Schools typically adopt around five characteristics as overall goals or student outcomes, characteristics that should shine from every graduate of their school. One model from Teaching for Transformation (TfT) calls these characteristics "throughlines" and examples below come from the TfT website (linked above).

1. God Worshiper
2. Idolatry Discerner
3. Creation Enjoyer
4. Beauty Creator
5. Order Discoverer
6. Justice Seeker
7. Servant Worker
8. Earth Keeper
9. Community Builder
10. Image Reflector

Adopting these characteristics (whether they are called a portrait of a graduate, expected student outcomes, or throughlines) prepare a school to be able to measure their mission statement, but do they? Imagine a school that takes this seriously and refuses to graduate any student who does not receive passing marks from their teachers on each characteristic. Now, that would turn some heads: Sally did not pass her "God worshiper" assessment, so she has to repeat 12th grade or Bobby needs to do summer school because he just does not "enjoy creation" at an acceptable level. While this may seem ridiculous, what is actually ridiculous, especially for Christian schools, is when the final assessments have nothing to do with measuring the mission statement. Unfortunately, even schools that have final capstone projects in which students dedicate months researching, writing and defending are rarely aligned to assess the mission statement. 

I don't think this is "mission impossible." 

I am confident that dedicated teachers and administrators, who believe deeply in the mission statement, will find a way to measure their mission statement. I am a firm believer in just asking students what you want to find out ... how has your education helped you embody our mission statement? That question alone would yield insightful answers to celebrate or lament. 

Let me end this with a practical suggestion to start assessing the mission statement.

To boil it down, most mission statements are concerned with what students believe and how they live out those beliefs. 

Require all seniors to create two final projects (essay, presentation, podcast, video, etc) that represent their learning, one aligned with their beliefs and another aligned with their actions.

Part I: This I Believe -- reflecting on our school's mission statement, create a 500 word essay or 5 minute podcast that describes 2-3 of your core beliefs. Be prepared to defend your essay.

• This is modeled after the "This I Believe" NPR podcast series or collection of essays.

Part II: How Should I Then Live -- reflecting on our school's mission statement and your own core beliefs, create a 500 word essay or 5 minute podcast that describes how your beliefs inform how you live. Be prepared to defend your essay.

• This is modeled after Francis Shaeffer's book, How Should We Then Live (1976).

A few thoughts on this final project idea ...

• Provide the school's mission statement for reflection; this, hopefully, is not the first time the students have seen it. If you want to measure the mission statement, providing it will likely focus the responses. Of course, substitute portrait of a graduate or throughlines as appropriate.
• 500 words or 5 minutes? Help to recapture the lost art of the short essay. As Twain quipped, "I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead." It is really challenging to write (or speak) on important things with a limited amount of words, but in my opinion, we really need to encourage this today (btw, a skill lost to most podcasters :).
• Defending their essay? This is another lost art in most schools, but high school graduates should be prepared to defend their argument in front of a panel of teachers or even classmates. Again, it should not be the first time they are asked to do this.
• Dedicate time to this. Most high school seniors have academic time at the end of the year (post AP exams or not full schedules), and we spend time on what we truly value. 

Hopefully, this one idea will help inspire you to create something that fits with your school. 

Take a step towards measuring the mission statement this year. You may likely be both encouraged and discouraged by the results, but as all modes of assessment should, it will put you on a path to improvement.