The School Mission Statement ─ Values, Goals, and Identities in American Education

Stemler (psychology, Wesleyan University) is president of the New England Educational Research Organization. Here, he collects actual mission statements from 111 American schools, and presents modular components that can be used to create an original school mission statement. First, he outlines academic, legislative, legal, and business perspectives on the purpose of school and the value of school mission statements for school accreditation and effectiveness. The next section presents mission statements from public elementary, middle, and high schools, vocational schools, magnet and charter schools, tribal schools, parochial schools, Waldorf and Montessori schools, Apple Computer Schools of Distinction, and award-winning schools. The components presented for creating a mission statement deal with emotional, cognitive, and social development, civic development, integration with the local and global community, vocational preparation, spiritual development, and physical development. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)