Introduction

Our vision is to create a community which works together so all Pasco County students will reach their highest potential. To realize this vision, the District School Board of Pasco County began strategic planning for the future a decade ago, initiating a design for the restructuring of schools described in a document called Pasco 2001: A Community of Connected Schools. In order to provide a continued future focus for district and school planning, as well as a conceptual model for schooling in the 21st Century, this new document has been developed entitled Pasco's Vision: A Community of Connected Schools.

Pasco's Vision: A Community of Connected Schools begins by chronicling the original philosophical tenets of the district's vision and planning activities. It follows with a description of the extension of those initial ideas and strategies into three Guiding Principles and Key Concepts that are intended to update the district's strategic plan for designing its schools and its programs and services for students and the community. The articulation of this vision is based on a rationale that includes recent and relevant research on best practices in teaching and learning as well as the acknowledged social, legislative, and political pressures for reform. A discussion of this rationale is found in the second section of this document.

The remaining sections of this document are descriptions that are intended to provide further details of what future graduates from the Pasco County School District should expect to know and be able to do. It outlines the kinds of structures, programs, and services that will be available to students and their families to help them achieve these high standards. These descriptions are written in the present tense so that readers can more easily picture the future of schools in the context of a rapidly growing and changing environment.

Two of the fundamental principles envisioned in the original strategic plan are the concepts of Continuous Progress and Continuity of Caring. These two Guiding Principles remain important elements of Pasco's Vision: A Community of Connected Schools . Continuous Progress enables students to work at a rate that makes the accomplishment of high standards both challenging and achievable, while Continuity of Caring provides programs which meet the full range of academic and developmental needs of all students throughout the prekindergarten through adult educational experience. While these two guiding principles are still critical elements of the district's vision, they have now been expanded to include a third— Ensuring Equity and Excellence . Ensuring Equity and Excellence demands the provision of educational experiences for all students to have the opportunity to achieve high standards. This guiding principle reiterates the importance of equitable access to successful learning opportunities for all students, regardless of their personal socio-economic status, cultural heritage, cognitive level, or physical ability.

Pasco's Vision: A Community of Connected Schools has been updated and refined as a result of continued reviews of literature identifying best teaching practices and organizational structures conducive to learning for all students at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. This vision for the restructuring and design of schools in Pasco County has continued to evolve to embrace the following concepts and characteristics:

• A Continuous Progress system
• Continuity of Caring for all students
• Ensuring Equity and Excellence - high expectations of excellence for all
• A Learner Focus
• A rigorous, integrated, Standards-Driven System of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
• Organizational Structures that support student learning
• The integration of career preparation into academic programs
• Extended opportunities for learning
• Development of partnerships with parents, businesses, and communities
• Comprehensive programs of professional development
• The use of technology as a tool for learning and productivity

The initial implementation of the district's vision required significant changes in curriculum documents, instructional practices, and assessment methods, as well as to the organization of schools, grade levels, and classroom grouping strategies. The various characteristics listed above are being realized differently at the elementary, middle, and high school levels, depending on the developmental needs dictated by the ages and maturity levels of students. While there has been marked progress in the district's realization of its vision, much work remains to be done. Again, this document is intended to help guide the work of the district as its stakeholders recommit to the achievement of its philosophy, values, and ideals.

The ideal form of the restructured elementary school in Pasco County offers multiage classes where students and teachers work together for two or more years. These opportunities facilitate close communications between teachers and parents, and a connection between teachers and students that allows for an in-depth understanding of student instructional and developmental needs. Critical to the success of the elementary Continuous Progress philosophy and program is the district's ongoing commitment to both curriculum and staff development. Within the structure of the integrated curriculum system, standards are identified and prioritized. Teachers plan thematic instruction that unifies key curricular concepts and systematically addresses the prioritized standards. These thematic instructional units provide students with multiple opportunities to master rigorous curriculum standards. Elementary teachers participate in ongoing staff development activities that focus on implementing this standards-driven curriculum system using best practices in teaching and learning.

Similarly, at the middle school level, teachers and students are assigned to multiage and multiyear teams, and the curriculum is organized around broad concepts that intentionally capitalize on the interests and needs of early adolescents. These concepts provide an interdisciplinary focus through which teachers plan and integrate instruction. Teacher teams plan integrated units of instruction that address key curriculum standards and that incorporate engaging and relevant projects and other hands-on-learning activities. Systems are in place to provide a spiraling curriculum with multiple opportunities for students to master key standards from all content areas. Middle school teachers participate in ongoing staff development activities that emphasize this standards-driven curriculum system and research-based instructional strategies.

High school students are organized into Learning Communities, focusing on the integration of subject area knowledge, technological know-how, and career-cluster skills intended to prepare students to enter the work force or postsecondary education. Feedback from business and industry leaders has shown that students need to make connections between what they are learning in school and what they will be doing in the world of work. Therefore, the programs of study for each Learning Community are designed to integrate the worlds of academic learning and workplace skills together in relevant ways. Ideally, teachers in Pasco County high schools from various content areas are working together on interdisciplinary teams in Learning Communities to give students an opportunity to master academic standards while focusing on career field interests. The Learning Communities offer the opportunity for collaborative decision-making and team problem solving in simulations of real-world situations designed to ensure that all students will experience future success in their chosen career fields. High school teachers also have access to staff development activities that assist them with the implementation of the standards-driven curriculum system.

Pasco's Vision: A Community of Connected Schools will provide a caring school community, focused on successful learning for all students in a variety of educational facilities and settings. There will be opportunities to expand outside the school walls, into communities, and beyond. To meet the challenges of a fast-growing school population, alternative methods will be available for students to complete high school graduation requirements through alternative and expanded schedules, joint programs with universities and colleges for dual enrollment, charter school partnerships, and distance learning. Connections with post-secondary institutions, as well as nationally and internationally recognized advanced learning programs, will also give students a wider variety and more rigorous selection of academic opportunities. In addition, students interested in vocational, technical, or career preparation will be provided with academic and personal support during the final years of high school to help them make the transition into careers or related programs at community colleges and universities.

By realizing Pasco's Vision: A Community of Connected Schools , all students will be prepared to meet the challenges of the future.

Return to Top

Rationale

For the past twenty years, the District School Board of Pasco County has used a long-term strategic planning model to adapt to the demographic, economic, and cultural changes in the community while addressing legislative and political changes in local, state, and national educational policy. Public schools in America must continuously adjust to the changes experienced in society as a whole; Pasco County schools are no exception.

Pasco is one of the fastest growing counties in Florida, with a population increasing from 281,131 in 1990 to 344,765 as reported in Census 2000. Pasco County is, in fact, in the top 5% of population growth of counties in the United States and compares to Los Angeles, California in the rate of increase. In ten years, Pasco County is projected to become home to 4,950 new residents each year, resulting in a population estimate of 395,000 in 2,010. In the 2001-2002 school year, 2,403 new students entered the Pasco County School system—a trend that will continue to demand the construction of one to two new schools annually for the next ten years.

Pasco County is located in the southeastern United States—a region that is both economically and culturally diverse. Nearly half of the district's students come from families who live in low socioeconomic conditions—approximately 46% of all students qualify for free/reduced lunch. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the median household income for Pasco County in the year 2000 was $28,202, compared to the average United States income of $43,400. The total minority population of Pasco County is approximately 12%, and the number of Limited English Proficient students in the district has doubled within the last ten years. Currently there are over 47 worldwide languages and dialects spoken in the district.

America's children, including those who live in Pasco County, are reared in a variety of family constellations ranging from extended families to single parent homes. Prevailing economic conditions frequently require one or both parents to work outside of the home. As a result, parents are confronted with finding quality childcare and after school activities for their children in addition to establishing and maintaining relationships with their local school staff.

Several thousand years ago, the philosopher and educator Plato explained that that the way young children are cared for and taught has a lasting effect on their cognitive, academic, social/emotional, and even moral development. Much later research has connected the impact of early influences and experiences to the success of students as they move through the school system and into the work force and their adult lives. There is ample evidence from research that suggests that the quality of education provided for children has a tremendous future social and economic impact.

National and state political agendas also link the importance of education to long-term economic health for the nation. Legislative mandates continue to demand district and school accountability for the success of all students. Achievement of national and state content area standards, measured by high stakes accountability and assessment programs, has become national policy. School choice, charter schools, school vouchers, and other financially competitive programs promoted at national and state levels have also provided the impetus for significant changes in the business of schooling. Currently, employers are reporting a shortage of workers who are adequately equipped with the skills necessary to perform their jobs. Pressures for school staff to address and meet the individual needs of an increasingly diverse student population are enormous.

School reform is an important issue for all stakeholders. Although there may be differences of opinion about how reform should take place, there seems to be universal agreement that there must be new and more effective ways for all children to learn. Pasco County's approach to the restructuring of elementary, middle, and high schools has been influenced by the experience of master teachers, practices found in model schools, and research. Pasco's Vision: A Community of Connected Schools, has been developed to meet the social, political, and economic realities of adult life, the community, and the workplace while meeting the unique needs of children in ways that build their capacities to lead productive, principled, and rich lives.

This rationale has provided the impetus for describing the future state of Pasco County Schools. The intent is to help all shareholders to envision the future, to provide a focus for their work, and to serve as an important philosophical screen for decision-making.

The remainder of this document offers details of the guiding principles and key concepts. It defines what future graduates from the Pasco County School District should expect to know and be able to do, and it outlines the kinds of structures, programs and services that will be available to students and their families to help them achieve those high standards. These descriptions are written in the present tense so that readers can more easily picture the future of schools in the context of a rapidly growing and changing environment.

Return to Top

Guiding Principles

The three guiding principles for Pasco's Vision: A Community of Connected Schools are C ontinuous Progress, Continuity of Caring, and Ensuring Equity and Excellence . These guiding principles provide the philosophical basis for policies that direct the work of the schools in Pasco County. They are the theoretical underpinnings for choices of curriculum design and teaching methods as well as facilities construction and support services. These guiding principles embody research-based evidence that supports models of team planning and teaching, an integrated curriculum system, and a learner-focused school organization. The future schools of Pasco County will be designed to manifest these guiding principles.

Guiding Principle 1: Continuous Progress
Elementary schools in Pasco County have implemented a framework of continuous progress, multiage classrooms with the intent to enhance students' academic, social/emotional, and physical performance. Continuous Progress has application across all levels of school in Pasco County, and is defined as a curriculum which allows a student to progress at his or her own rate, within a framework of high expectations, without conforming to an externally imposed time limit on learning or a fixed amount of subject matter in a fixed amount of time. Continuous Progress requires that students should neither spend time on what they have already adequately achieved nor proceed to more difficult tasks if they have not yet learned material or acquired skills essential to that new level of knowledge. To clarify the meaning of this concept, the following definition of Continuous Progress has been developed:

A continuous progress approach to school organization seeks to enable and encourage each student to progress at his or her own rate of development. This method offers flexible academic expectations and opportunities while valuing a commitment to educating each student. The continuous progress philosophy supports the belief that given the right conditions all children can learn. It provides opportunities for flexible organizational patterns and may include non-traditional teacher assignments to allow for optimal student growth and the expectation of success.

A significant feature of Continuous Progress is the "blurring" of ages across grades. The extended placement of children in a multiage or nongraded classroom assumes a variable rate of skill attainment and removes the issue of grade level advancement within a two to three year period. A second feature is the emphasis on interactive teaching and engaged learning. These interactions occur frequently among students of varying ages and/or ability levels. Instruction is designed to meet the needs of students as individuals, rather than students as a whole group.

Continuous Progress relates to a fluid approach to high levels of academic achievement. Students are encouraged to progress through stages and levels of learning when they are developmentally ready to do so, rather than according to a predetermined age, grade, or curriculum level. The term also refers to a flexible approach which involves: 1) setting high standards and expectations for learning; 2) encouraging of cross-age and/or cross-ability interactions among students for the purpose of contributing to student learning progress; and 3) using developmentally appropriate instructional teaching/learning strategies which include interactive and process learning opportunities.

Guiding Principle 2: Continuity of Caring
The organization of school classrooms into houses, teams, and/or Learning Communities, prekindergarten through adult, create learning environments that permit Continuity of Caring —the second of the three guiding principles that provide a framework for Pasco's Vision: A Community of Connected Schools. The principle of Continuity of Caring creates stable and secure learning environments where all students can achieve.

Recognizing the results of early influences in children's readiness for school, the district invests in high quality, comprehensive preschool services. These services, located in communities with the highest poverty rates, are an intentional connection of families with elementary school programs. There is also an extensive after-school childcare system available to parents throughout the district.

As students enter and progress through the schools' learning environments, they stay on a team with the same group of teachers for two or three years. Houses, teams, and Learning Communities offer students the opportunity to work together and learn from a consistent and familiar group of instructional staff, support staff, and peers for more than one year. With the increased number of schools that must accommodate ever-growing numbers of students, the placement of students into houses, teams and Learning Communities creates smaller, more personalized school settings within the larger school facility.

In multiyear learning environments, students, teachers, and parents have more time available to build purposeful, nurturing relationships that foster open and productive communication. These strong bonds between home and school emulate the comfortable feel of a family and may begin as early as the preschool years. These ongoing relationships encourage learning and supportive dialogue that promotes high levels of student achievement. Communication about curriculum and student learning is provided across school levels, elementary through adult education, connected through the school feeder pattern. This purposeful Community of Connected School arrangement that accommodates families and neighborhoods whose children move through the same elementary, middle, and high schools.

An extension of Continuity of Caring is shown in the variety of learning opportunities available to meet individual student learning needs. Flexible school schedules, a balanced school year calendar, summer learning experiences, and extended day or after-school programs are available for students. Formative information regarding individual students' talents and interests are assessed in secondary students using aptitude and interest inventories, which assist in school and career advisement. Advanced learning opportunities are available through adult education, dual enrollment programs with colleges and universities, internationally renown advanced learning programs, on-the-job training experiences, advanced placement classes, and programs for gifted and talented students.

Continuity of Caring demonstrates that students are valued. Decisions in the classroom, in the school, and in the district are made based on this value that considers the whole child — his/her academic, social, emotional, physical, and aesthetic needs. Opportunities are provided for students to grow and progress in all of these areas, contributing to the development of a well-rounded and well-adjusted graduate and citizen. Caring for students is exhibited throughout all functions of the district school system. For example, by providing nutritious breakfast and lunch meals, by designing new school facilities based on how students best learn, and by making sure that students are safe while at school and on the school bus, the district affirms this value of caring for children in the every day business of schooling.

Guiding Principle 3: Ensuring Equity and Excellence
As the American education system strives to achieve an equitable, quality education for an increasingly diverse population of students, it is also challenged to elevate the standards for academic performance that apply to all students. It has become necessary, therefore, to define quality as Ensuring Equity and Excellence , the third guiding principle of Pasco's vision.

To ensure equity and excellence for all students, it is an expectation for all schools and the district to focus on continuous improvement. Continuous improvement in Pasco County is based, in part, on the body of effective schools literature, which describes school improvement as a process in which all stakeholders (school administrators, teachers, parents, students, business partners, and community members) are involved.

This planning process requires the school-based members of an improvement team to work in a collaborative and proactive manner to identify school problems and concerns, select improvement strategies, take action, and monitor and evaluate results. As part of the problem-solving process, the improvement team uses disaggregation tools to analyze demographic, student and staff performance data. These data provide the school improvement team with indicators that identify progress and point the way toward systematic, continuous improvement.

The process further requires that all participants fully endorse two fundamental beliefs about schooling: that the school is teaching for learning for all , and that equity in quality is the overall goal of the school. Together these two fundamental beliefs provide standards for measuring the degree of quality that exists in Pasco County schools. The excellence standard assures that the overall level of achievement in a school is high. The equity standard assures that high achievement remains consistent for all students, regardless of socio-economic status, cultural heritage, cognitive level, or physical ability.

Ensuring Equity and Excellence enables all students to be successful learners in a district that values and pursues continuous improvement.

Expectations for Pasco Graduates

The three guiding principles provide the framework for Pasco's Vision: A Community of Connected Schools . They define the key characteristics that schools and school staffs exhibit and model as they prepare all students to graduate and enter the work world or post-secondary educational institutions. These principles are intended to develop graduates that are not only academically proficient in all of the major content areas, but also socially, emotionally, aesthetically, and physically ready to assume the complex adult roles of the 21st century. Future graduates of Pasco County schools will be expected to achieve these roles and standards; therefore schools will continue to be designed to provide maximum opportunities for all students to learn and practice these critical adult roles.

Return to Top

Performance Roles

The academic content areas are a critical source of student standards. These standards address key skills, concepts, and content knowledge; many of them are mandated by state and/or federal legislation. These standards promote cognitive growth through the specific academic areas and provide the basis for a comprehensive, integrated curriculum. While they are necessary, they are not sufficient for describing the high expectations for all Pasco graduates. The district uses the term performance roles to describe the broader goals of the educational program to develop graduates who are literate, productive, and successful members of their communities and the future work force. The district prepares prekindergarten through adult students to assume these performance roles:

Aesthetic Cultivators sense the wondrous nature of this world. They appreciate beauty and imagination as well as artistic and creative efforts. They are open to new and different means of expression.

Decision Makers are good thinkers. They use problem-solving strategies to make informed choices. They identify a problem, gather information about it, develop a plan for action, and evaluate the results. They spend time thinking about what they've done in order to make future decisions.

Ethical Responders deal with all people honestly, fairly, and respectfully. They try to balance the rights of individuals with the needs of society. They conduct themselves and their personal and career pursuits with integrity. They weigh the consequences of their actions and behaviors against the expectations of their personal belief system as well as legal mandates. They exhibit care and concern for the safety and well-being of all living things.

Innovators see things in new and different ways. They like to explore possibilities. They use their intuition and imagination to create inventions. When faced with a challenge, they rarely give up but are flexible enough to take different approaches.

Knowledgeable Communicators gather, analyze, and use information from a variety of sources in order to communicate effectively. They understand the power of communication to inform, persuade, influence, interact, and generate new ideas. They successfully use verbal and nonverbal communication processes of reading, writing, listening, speaking, and viewing, and they recognize cultural influences on language and behavior.

Relationship Builders develop positive, trusting relationships with others. They know how to make and keep friends, work cooperatively, and resolve problems. They are empathetic to the needs of others in a diverse world community.

Resourceful Producers have good work habits and management skills, which allow them to get the job done as effectively and efficiently as possible. They strive for quality in all that they do.

Responsible Citizens exercise their rights and responsibilities as members of our society. They understand our heritage and system of government. They apply democratic principles for the common good of our nation, and display a sense of pride and patriotism. They acknowledge our diverse populations and respect the rights of others who live in this country without U.S. citizenship.

Self Actualizers understand themselves and constantly strive for self-improvement in order to be the best they can be. They become lifelong, self-directed learners who set goals, take responsibility for their own well-being, adapt to change, and work to achieve a balance in their lives.

World Viewers recognize that what happens around the world affects everyone. They understand that the world changes rapidly and that they need to develop strategies for guiding and adapting to change. They see the connections as well as differences between various cultures and countries. They understand their role in working to make the world a healthier, happier place in which to live.

Return to Top

Pasco County curriculum Content Area Standards

In addition to the integrated, complex performance roles, the district has defined and described standards in each of the content areas (academic disciplines) that are the basis of the Curriculum Frameworks and that have been aligned with Florida's Sunshine State Standards.

As further preparation of their students for successful adult roles in the 21st Century, teachers in Pasco County use current world, state, and local events to create a relevant context for the instruction of students in the classroom. The standards, concepts, and skills found in the Pasco County curriculum areas provide the primary source of rigorous content in the following subject areas (academic disciplines):

Language Arts
Pasco County graduates master the skills of literacy: writing, reading, listening, viewing, and speaking. Graduates value these skills as important tools for exploring their own ideas, for expressing those ideas, and for communicating with and understanding the ideas of others. They are skilled thinkers, communicating effectively both orally and in writing to explain, to narrate, to describe, and to persuade. They observe, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate to understand causes, to predict outcomes, and to use clear and convincing arguments in their speaking, reading, and writing. Through the creative and reflective use of language, graduates enrich their own lives and others. They have developed an understanding of classical and contemporary writings that broadens and deepens their historical and cultural perspective on how the past and present influence the future.

Mathematics
Pasco County graduates are mathematically literate workers who engage in lifelong learning. They possess essential facts and definitions in mathematics, have the ability to work with algorithms, and use a functional set of problem-solving strategies. Every graduate demonstrates a knowledge of arithmetic and everyday mathematics included in the content areas of number sense, concepts, and operations; measurement; geometry and spatial sense; algebraic thinking; and data analysis and probability. They also understand how these areas relate to one another. Students are proficient in the mathematical process skills of communication, computation, and problem-solving strategies and use these skills to reason mathematically. They possess the ability to move from the concrete and into the abstract areas of mathematical understanding. Graduates use appropriate problem-solving techniques including modeling with manipulatives, as well as using calculators, computers, and other technology as mathematical tools. In addition to concepts and process skills, students appreciate the value of mathematics and its use in real life applications.

Science
Pasco County graduates develop high levels of knowledge and skill in the science disciplines. They systematically plan and carry out investigations by asking rigorous, significant questions designed to probe for unbiased truths. Graduates apply the scientific method when solving problems by developing suitable hypotheses, experiments, and conclusions. They apply basic science skills of observation, classification, communication, measurement, prediction, and inference in seeking truths about the world and universe. Students understand the core concepts of the physical, earth/space, and the biological sciences as components of an integrated, natural system. They appreciate the interactive nature of science, the environment, technology, and society. With this perspective and their natural curiosity, they use their knowledge and skills to examine and resolve critical and ethical issues facing the global community. Graduates are prepared for further scientific study and for careers in science-related fields.

Social Studies
Pasco County graduates have the perspective, information, concepts, and skills to understand themselves and their world, their relationship to the earth, and their interdependence with other peoples of the world. They understand and accommodate change while they identify with the deep continuities that link past and present. They have a sense of where they are in time, space (place), and culture. Graduates are prepared for private lives of personal integrity and fulfillment, as well as public lives of democratic participation. They possess the skills and knowledge necessary for active and intelligent world citizenship and for making the many political, economic, and social decisions that must be made in a complex, interdependent world. They possess analytical skills, comparative perspectives, and modes of critical judgment that promote thoughtful, successful work in any field or career.

Music
Pasco County graduates understand that music is and always has been an integral part of the human experience. Through the study of music, they develop self-discipline, curiosity, open-mindedness, risk-taking, awareness of self and others, appreciation, and civility. Graduates participate in music to gain skills and techniques through performance. They have learned to create and communicate feelings through music that often cannot be expressed verbally. Graduates know that learning to evaluate, critique, and appreciate music using cultural/historical and technical knowledge enriches their lives and helps them to gain a better understanding of the world.

Health
Pasco County graduates value wellness of mind and body. They make informed choices to promote and maintain a healthy lifestyle. They understand the importance of adequate nutrition, sleep, exercise, proper hygiene, preventive health care, and an environment free from undue stress. Graduates are knowledgeable about drugs and drug usage, and they apply positive strategies to prevent substance abuse. They identify risk factors and practice behaviors that promote personal safety.

Graduates are conscientious medical consumers, always in the pursuit of optimum health. Students understand that good health is a prerequisite to successful academic and job performance. They use new information and discoveries concerning wellness to increase and improve their quality of life. Their healthy choices enable graduates to serve as positive peer models and contributors to the good health of their families and of their community.

Physical Education
Pasco County graduates understand that physical education helps them perfect a wide variety of movement skills that carry over into daily activities and leisure opportunities. They participate in physical activities that develop and sustain habits of adequate and continuous exercise, thus contributing to their overall physical and mental well-being. They are motivated to adopt healthy and physically active lifestyles and are committed to individual and community wellness.

Visual Arts
Pasco County graduates know that art contributes to a better understanding of their visual world. Graduates recognize that art adds a richness and variety to life that stands in contrast to the routine and mechanical experiences of daily life. They acknowledge that visual arts provide for personal expression allowing for the communication of feelings through positive visual representations. Graduates know that art encompasses a unique area of human existence.

Graduates have an understanding of visual arts well enough to enrich their lives, and exhibit technical skills, creativity, and critical aesthetic thinking. They carry what they have learned in arts instruction into their everyday lives, and eventually into the nation and the world. Graduates know that an understanding of exemplary works of art broadens and deepens historical and cultural perspective on how the past and present have had an impact on the future.

World Languages
Pasco County graduates acknowledge the importance of being able to interact successfully as citizens of a global community. They develop and/or maintain proficiency in more than one language. They purposefully seek out and understand the perspectives of persons from diverse ethnic, social, and educational backgrounds, and can communicate across cultures. They understand and appreciate the influences of their own culture and the culture of others in their everyday lives, recognize cultural patterns, and reject stereotypes of themselves and others.

Personal/Social Development
Pasco County graduates are prepared to assume increasingly complex adult roles, as well as the future roles that confront them. They exhibit interpersonal skills that enable them to work on teams, teach others, provide leadership, and negotiate effectively. They can use information to cooperatively solve problems, work with others from diverse cultures, use a variety of knowledge sources, and continually improve their work product. Graduates possess positive attitudes and take greater responsibility for their learning related to their personal and work-related growth.

Graduates possess the strong personal qualities of individual responsibility, self-management, and integrity. They use problem-solving strategies to make good personal decisions, effectively cope with their environment, and foster appropriate social skills. They value and appreciate their own unique abilities and can use them effectively in their environment.

Return to Top

Key Concepts: What do the Guiding Principles Look Like?

The guiding principles of Continuous Progress, Continuity of Caring , and Ensuring Equity and Excellence provide the philosophical foundation for teaching and learning in Pasco County. The guiding principles are more specifically described by the key concepts of: Learner Focus; Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment; and Organizational Structure . These key concepts further explain and answer the what and how questions asked regarding the implementation of Pasco's Vision: A Community of Connected Schools . Not only do the key concepts serve as descriptors, but also as screens for decision-making at the school and district level. When fully implemented, these key concepts will become a routine part of the school planning and decision-making process.

Key Concept 1: Learner Focus
The belief in a learner-focused philosophy is significant to the successful implementation of Continuous Progress in Pasco County schools. The key concept of Learner Focus requires educators to view each child as a unique and capable learner. It means that teachers constantly assess and identify each of their students' current learning needs and abilities, and use this information to make learning and teaching plans. The school staff makes all decisions in the classroom and for the school based on those that help all students reach their highest level of performance—without regard to their socioeconomic level, cultural heritage, cognitive level, or physical abilities.

In a learner-focused environment, all learners are challenged to meet high learning expectations. Realizing that all students learn at different rates, teachers know that the time and paths taken to achieve these learning expectations vary according to the learner's needs. They recognize individual differences and adjust their practices accordingly. Teachers meet the needs of their students at their individual levels of development. They focus on the development of the whole child, including academic (cognitive), social, emotional, aesthetic, and physical areas.

In a learner-focused classroom, teachers understand how students learn and develop. They understand that learning is enhanced when individuals actively interact with and explore their environment through a variety of ways that engage all the senses (e.g., observation, trial and error, building, touching). Teachers plan curriculum and instruction to reflect the developmental levels of children. Teachers design learning experiences that include active, hands-on learning and the use of technology. Classrooms reflect the understanding that learning is primarily a social process involving communication and contact with others. Teachers encourage students to talk with other students about their learning and students often work together on projects. Teachers frequently interact with their students and express respect for them by talking with students about what they are doing, about ways to solve problems, and about helping them to extend their plans and ideas. Teachers place students in multiage settings, which increase opportunities for them to be exposed to and to emulate higher language and communication skills modeled by more advanced and chronologically older students.

Teachers understand that because of the different rates in student learning, students need to be placed in a variety of groups beyond the grade and age level groupings. Effective grouping of students for learning requires flexibility and is based on the daily learning needs of each child. Teachers use grouping as a teaching strategy and allow flexible movement within and among groups to optimize learning. Teachers group students in a variety of ways to capitalize on their strengths, develop their interests, and expand their experiences.

Learner Focus creates an environment where students enjoy learning, find work rewarding, and develop positive attitudes and relationships. Students and teachers are active partners in learning, and cooperatively plan learning experiences that address the district's curriculum standards. Parents and the community are informed about the school and are encouraged to become involved. The key concept of Learner Focus, along with Continuous Progress , help to build healthy, durable relationships among students and adults and between teachers and families. Continuous Progress and Continuity of Caring allow the time, options, and opportunities necessary to create a learner-focused environment.

Key Concept 2: A Standards-Driven System of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
The second key concept that helps to describe and define the Guiding Principles is the district's Standards-Driven System of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment . This system for organizing curriculum requires a highly interactive model of planning that integrates curriculum, instruction, and assessment. This critical system is also the basis for teachers' continuous, informed decisions about each student's achievement of high standards.

Planning the curriculum, instruction, and assessment system is based on a standards-driven model of identified student expectations (or standards), classroom instruction, and assessments that determine the extent to which students master the standards. Teachers reflect on these three, critical components of curriculum, instruction, and assessment during each phase of the teaching process. As these phases occur—planning for instruction, delivery of instruction, and review/reflection about the instruction—teachers engage in thoughtful analysis. They make a series of evaluative judgments and observations that guide their decisions about the readiness of their students to master the curriculum standards as well as their next steps in teaching.

During the initial planning phase, teachers begin with the end in mind by identifying the performance roles and content area curriculum standards that will be addressed during instruction. Teachers then decide on the appropriate instructional strategies as well as the materials and other resources that they will use to teach the content. Teachers' instructional strategies are intended to provide students with learning experiences that are tied to anticipated standards and are based on individual needs. Even at this early stage in the instructional planning process, teachers also identify or develop assessment tools that will be used to determine whether or not students have mastered the identified standards. Assessment strategies, like teaching strategies, differ by the type of learning that is sought, and the type of content that is being taught. Teachers must think of appropriate and appealing ways to teach and assess the knowledge of students in ways that keep the relative importance applied to facts, concepts, and principles in proper proportions when they are assessed. Once students have had sufficient time to master the identified learning standards, they are given opportunities to demonstrate what they know and can do on an identified assessment tool. Tests or assessment tasks are identified or developed that will assess whether or not students have mastered identified standards, and once that information is known, the cycle continues with teachers making the next series of decisions.

The system of curriculum, instruction, and assessment is a continuous cycle of planning, implementation, assessment, reflection, review, and analysis. During this process, teachers review student assessment data and reflect on the instructional strategies and materials that were used. Teachers determine whether or not each student demonstrates mastery at the expected level. If not, the teacher addresses these kinds of questions:

• where did the student experience difficulty?
• was the instructional strategy suitable to the needs of the individual student?
• what additional classroom experiences might the student need to demonstrate full mastery?
• were sufficient time, practice and feedback provided?

After reflection, the cycle begins again with the planning phase for the next instructional block of time. Teachers design a new instructional plan that is based on an informed understanding of the student's learning needs.

Key Concept 3: Organizational Structure
The Organizational Structure of schools, the third key concept that further defines and describes the district's vision, is the physical and environmental evidence of the three guiding principles. When new facilities are designed and built, it is with the intention of providing an optimal, learner-focused environment for students and staff to participate in a Continuous Progress curriculum system within a caring environment and culture. Older facilities are refurbished and redesigned to the extent possible to accommodate the district's vision for all schools.

The organizational structure also involves the arrangement of instructional staff. Teams of teachers are assigned to the same groups of students over several years of the students' school experience. These teams are expected to plan and work together to develop and deliver a learner-focused, standards-driven curriculum system.

The organizational structure is modified to meet the developmental needs of students at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.

Elementary schools are organized into houses or teams to accommodate children in flexible, multiage groups. Primary houses are generally for children five to eight years old; intermediate houses are generally for children eight to eleven years old. Groups of students are assigned to teams of teachers over a three-year time period. Staff members with specialized skills and training may be included on the team to provide for the unique or special needs of children. While participating in either a primary or intermediate house, children may be placed in a number of multiage groups over time. Such groups may be organized by subject/content area, by developmental need, by specific skill need, or by interest. These groups are frequently and intentionally changed to accommodate the individual and rapid cognitive, physical, and emotional growth of elementary age children.

Middle schools are also organized into teams. Middle school teachers, including those allocated to provide vocational/technical instruction and specialized services, also plan and work together to develop and deliver a learner-focused, standards-driven curriculum system. Middle school teams also include multiage groups of students during the three-year middle school experience. Purposeful elimination of rigid schedules allows teacher teams to provide flexible time and opportunity for middle school students to progress through the curriculum system.

High schools are organized into smaller, more personalized “schools within a school” called Learning Communities. Teams of academic, career and technical, student services, media/technology, and exceptional student education teachers are assigned to work with groups of students in grades 9-12 to pursue a learner focused, standards-driven curriculum system. Teacher teams integrate the curriculum content standards and provide opportunities for students to demonstrate the expected performance roles in a variety of instructional settings. Each Learning Community team focuses its curriculum, instruction, and assessment activities on a broad career cluster. Students engage in formalized assessments to help them align their interests and aptitudes with broad career clusters, and are assigned to a Learning Community that most closely matches their assessed needs, interests, and academic strengths. Students engage in cooperative group activities and projects that reflect the expectations of the work world as well as meet the requirements of post-secondary educational institutions. The career theme of each Learning Community promotes the extension of school experiences into the community. Partnerships with business and community members broaden the learning resources available to students and build social and community values. Both co-curricular and extracurricular activities allow for the development of avocational as well as career interests. The secondary school experience extends to the district's comprehensive adult education program, which provides additional learning opportunities for both traditional and nontraditional school age students.

Return to Top

Systems Supporting the Vision

Pasco's Vision: A Community of Connected Schools is dependent upon accessing and using a variety of resources to support the programs and services required for students. The creative use of resources enables schools to better meet the expanding and diverse needs of students. When fully developed and in place, these systems will provide an important support structure for helping students achieve high standards and expectations.

Career Preparation
An important goal of Pasco's Vision: A Community of Connected Schools is to prepare all students to be effective and contributing members of the nation's work force. Upon graduation, each student is prepared to pursue further academic education, career training, and/or enter directly into the work force with all the basic competencies required for success. Career education is infused into the educational program throughout students' school experiences. In the elementary primary and intermediate houses, students participate in a career program, which integrates self, career, and technology awareness activities into the curriculum. Students at the middle school level explore careers and develop career plans by participating in ongoing, extensive programs of personal assessment and technological literacy instruction. In making the transition from the middle school teams to high school Learning Communities, students identify goals for themselves with information from a variety of assessments, including an interest inventory, as well as input and guidance from families and school advisors. While in high school, students systematically continue to develop realistic high school and post-secondary plans based on a variety of data sources. These plans are evaluated regularly and revised as students' goals become better defined through their ongoing high school experiences.

Opportunities for Learning
In order to better meet the diverse individual needs of students, access to educational experiences occurs at a variety of locations and times. Flexible school schedules, a balanced school year calendar, adult education, and extended day or after-school programs are available for students. Students access learning activities that extend beyond the walls of the traditional school building and the fixed times of a daily bell schedule. Learning experiences occur in the home or at a computer located in the local library. Classes convene in offices, public libraries, community college classrooms, outdoor centers, or storefront spaces. For some on-the-job and field experiences, students meet with mentors and supervisors in a variety of work locations or participate in online, virtual courses or field trips.

Parent, Business, and Community Partnerships
Partnerships between schools, parents, businesses, and communities are essential to the successful implementation of Pasco's Vision: Community of Connected Schools. Both schools and partners benefit from cooperative endeavors by sharing resources that promote learning and school improvement. These relationships assist in solving problems shared by both the community and the schools.

A renewed, expanded emphasis is placed on parents as partners, both as individuals and as representatives of organizations. Parents who are well informed and feel a part of their child's total educational experience are the school's most positive communication link to the community. For preschool children, formal agreements are established with parents to emphasize the importance of family involvement. These agreements help to identify the individual needs of children and to link families to school and community resources. In addition, this area's rich resource of skilled retirees provides a true source of Continuity of Caring to individual children through mentorships and one-on-one relationships established through partnerships with the schools and the district. There are numerous volunteer opportunities for parents, business partners, and community members throughout the schools. Volunteering and partnerships are viewed as an investment in the future growth of the Pasco County community.

Key business and community leaders assist in supporting the curriculum and providing experiences for students to become contributing future employees and effective future business leaders. Partnerships with social and governmental agencies create additional, convenient access to student and family services. Civic groups and organizations provide students with opportunities to develop a sense of involved, responsible citizenship. The performing and visual arts associations in the community share venues and provide encouragement for the development of special talents; in turn, the community benefits from an investment in aesthetic expression and its cultural heritage.

Engaging the diverse parent population, business, professional, retiree and civic organizations in the work of the district's schools is critical and provides a vital focus for the district's overall vision.

Professional Development
Pasco County professional development program is a continuous, flexible process that establishes lifelong learning as a valued expectation for all staff. Staff members participate in professional development that supports innovative, effective, and efficient strategies focused on specific work requirements, successful teaching practices, and/or leadership behaviors. Continuous, ongoing professional development of all staff members positively impacts student performance and organizational growth. It also promotes effective internal and external communication strategies and develops a sense of district pride.

The district's professional development program is a continuous system for developing highly competent instructional, administrative, and support staff. It capitalizes on the district's partnerships with regional institutions of higher education and businesses to staff schools and work sites with high performing personnel. It provides options for all employees to engage in meaningful learning experiences that reflect research-based principles of adult learning. Professional development occurs in a wide variety of delivery systems such as course work (college or adult education), interactive training, online or electronic media, study groups, self-study, analysis of student work, professional-technical conferences, etc.

Technology
Technology provides the critical infrastructure to support the educational environment for students by stimulating instruction, providing creative learning experiences, and increasing opportunities for student learning. Technological support provides the flexibility needed to meet individual students' needs as well as to provide alternatives for students to meet requirements for graduation. It is also an important productivity tool for students, teachers, and administrators.

Technology is a primary means to physically link the various learning environments. These environments include school sites, universities or community colleges, community resources and the global community.

Technology facilitates communication and articulation within and across programs, and is an important tool for managing, assessing, and reporting progress of students, the schools, and the district.

Return to Top

Summary

As the District School Board of Pasco County continues its ambitious and studied approach to long-term strategic planning, it remains committed to the individual value of each student. This comprehensive vision represents the current thinking of the district's leadership and the results of engaging family, community, and school stakeholders in the process of designing schools that will address the complex needs and adult roles of the 21st Century. While not all of the guiding principles, key concepts, and support systems are in operation presently, the ongoing work of the district is clearly guided by this vision of what schools can and should become.

References

Return to Top

Glossary

Business and Community Partnerships
Business and Community Partnerships are working relationships set up with businesses and community agencies or organizations to provide a link for students to the application of content skills in various career areas and to teach students the value of volunteerism and community service. This concept is particularly utilized as part of the students' experiences in Learning Communities at the high school level to provide opportunities for students to experience the real-world application of skills and knowledge in a career field of interest to them.

Co-curricular Activities
Co-curricular activities are those extensions of the classroom that may take place outside of the school setting and outside the hours of the traditional school day. These might include such opportunities as clubs and organizations that are part of the performance standards of a career and technical program and that provide opportunities for students to apply or practice the skills learned in the program. Examples include Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA), Future Farmers of America (FFA), and Cooperative Education Clubs of Florida (CECF).

Content Area Standards
Content Area Standards are the concepts and skills found in the Pasco County curriculum and which provide the primary source of rigorous content in the following subject areas (academic disciplines): Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Music, Health, Physical Education, World Languages, Visual Arts, Personal/Social Development.

Continuity of Caring
Continuity of Caring is a guiding principle characterized by a nurturing environment that focuses on purposeful, open communication about curriculum and student learning. Opportunities for students to be placed on teams for more than one school year, in order to provide consistency of teaching and care, is another characteristic of Continuity of Caring.

Continuous Progress
Continuous Progress is a guiding principle where the curriculum and instructional strategies allow a student to progress at his or her own rate, within a framework of high expectations, without conforming to an externally imposed time limit on learning or a fixed amount of subject matter.

Developmental Needs
The developmental needs of students describe the current levels and progress of their cognitive, physical, social, and emotional growth. While there are certain accepted expectations or stages for child development associated with chronological age, each child is a unique person with an individual pattern of physical and intellectual growth. Teachers ensure that the individual developmental strengths and needs of a student are appropriately matched to the curriculum, instructional materials, activities, and adult-child interactions offered in the learning environment.

Disaggregated Tools
Disaggregated tools provide strategies for accessing and analyzing sources of information about schools and students in order to make decisions and carry out school improvement activities. Disaggregated tools are methods for analyzing information about schools and students by subgroups of students, or by particular content areas, so that stakeholders can better determine where problems or needs might exist.

Ensuring Equity and Excellence
Equity and Excellence is a system that strives to achieve an equitable, quality education that elevates the standards for academic performance for all students, regardless of personal socio-economic status, cultural heritage, cognitive level, or physical ability.

Extra-curricular Activities
Extra-curricular activities take place outside of the school setting and outside the hours of the regular school day. They are voluntary opportunities and organizations that attract students with special personal or avocational interests and talents. Examples include sports programs, service clubs, and academic teams.

Grouping
Grouping is a strategy for placing students together for teaching and learning with the main purpose of improving instruction in mind. Students may be in a variety of strategic, flexible groupings throughout the day or week. These grouping placements may change to better meet the students' individual cognitive, physical, and emotional growth. Grouping practices vary for instructional purpose and by developmental level, size, membership (multiage, interest), learning style, and time frame.

Integrated Curriculum
Integrated curriculum refers to the selection, alignment, and inclusion of key standards and concepts from one or more academic disciplines within specific lesson plans and units. It also entails concurrent planning and delivery of content, instruction, and assessment strategies within each classroom and/or each team of teachers assigned to a common group of students.

Intermediate House
An intermediate house or team is composed of students usually between the ages of 8-11 years old who remain on that team for an approximate period of three years. The organization of primary houses provides opportunities for flexible, multiage grouping, and more time for continuous instruction and for building relationships with students and their families.

Learner Focus
Learner Focus is an approach to teaching and learning where all decisions made in the classroom and for the school are based on those that help all students reach their highest level of performance.

Learning Communities
Learning Communities refer to the organizational structure of high schools into smaller “schools within a school.” These smaller “schools” are comprised of several teams of teachers assigned to a common group of students for the purpose of continuous instruction, and for building relationships. Each Learning Community has specific programs of study that integrate academic content areas while focusing on a career cluster such as Business, Administration and Information Technology; Science, Technology and Technical Studies; Arts and Communication; or Health, Human and Public Services.

Middle School Teams
Middle school teams are comprised of groups of students in grades 6, 7, 8 (or combinations of these grade levels) who work together with the same team of teachers for one or more years. Teams are usually comprised of approximately 120 heterogeneously grouped students.

Multiage
A multiage class (or team) is composed of students of different ages who work and learn together in a variety of different groupings. Students are identified and grouped as learners by their current developmental or performance level needs, or by chronological age. Grade level distinctions are not routinely used.

Organizational Structure (physical and staff arrangements)
Organizational Structure is used to describe the choices made for physical plant and facilities arrangements, and the elements for organizing faculty and staff members in that provide schools with the basis for grouping and moving students for instruction and other activities of the school day. As new schools are constructed and older schools are renovated or remodeled, they are designed and organized, to the extent possible, in ways that facilitate the continuous progress curriculum system outlined in Pasco's Vision: A Community of Connected Schools .

Performance Roles
Performance Roles are the broad goals of the educational program that are focused on developing graduates who are literate, productive, and successful members of their communities and the future work force.

Primary House
A primary house or team is composed of students usually between the ages of 5-8 years old who remain on that team for an approximate period of three years. The organization of primary houses provides opportunities for flexible, multiage grouping, and more time for continuous instruction and for building relationships with students and their families.

Professional Development
Professional Development is the term given to an organized system for providing short and long term opportunities for staff members to improve the skills and knowledge needed to teach students the curriculum in a supportive and nurturing environment, to understand and motivate students with varying needs, and to communicate effectively with parents and guardians. This system also offers opportunities for all personnel to develop their capacities to perform their job responsibilities at optimal levels, and provides for development of leadership skills and behaviors.

Standards-Driven System of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
Standards-Driven System is a cyclical system of planning and delivering instruction based on the selection of student expectations (or standards) that are aligned with classroom instructional strategies and assessments to meet student needs.

Themes
Themes are specific instructional units organized around a central idea designed to support a curriculum strand. They are focused on the district's performance roles and content area outcomes. Themes provide a focus for what students should know and be able to do.

Return to Top

Executive Summary

Our vision is to create a community which works together so all Pasco County students will reach their highest potential. To realize this vision, the District School Board of Pasco County began strategic planning for the future a decade ago, initiating a design for the restructuring of schools described in a document called Pasco 2001: A Community of Connected Schools . In order to provide a continued future focus for district and school planning, as well as a conceptual model for schooling in the 21st Century, this new document has been developed entitled Pasco's Vision: A Community of Connected Schools.

Pasco's Vision: A Community of Connected Schools begins by chronicling the original philosophical tenets of the district's vision and planning activities. It follows with a description of the extension of those initial ideas and strategies into three Guiding Principles and Key Concepts that are intended to update the district's strategic plan for designing its schools and its programs and services for students and the community. The articulation of this vision is based on a rationale that includes recent and relevant research on best practices in teaching and learning as well as the acknowledged social, legislative, and political pressures for reform.

The remaining sections of this document are descriptions that are intended to provide further details of what future graduates from the Pasco County School District should expect to know and be able to do. It outlines the kinds of structures, programs and services that will be available to students and their families to help them achieve those high standards. These descriptions are written in the present tense so that readers can more easily picture the future of schools in the context of a rapidly growing and changing environment.

The three fundamental, guiding principles envisioned in Pasco's Vision: A Community of Connected Schools are the concepts of Continuous Progress, Continuity of Caring, and Ensuring Equity and Excellence for students. Continuous Progress enables students to work at a rate that makes the accomplishment of high standards both challenging and achievable, while Continuity of Caring provides programs which meet the full range of academic and developmental needs of all students throughout the prekindergarten through adult educational experience. Ensuring Equity and Excellence demands the provision of educational experiences for all students to have the opportunity to achieve high standards.
Based on a continued review of literature identifying best teaching practices and organizational structures conducive to learning at elementary, middle, and high school levels, a design for the restructuring of schools in Pasco County has continued to evolve to embrace the following concepts and characteristics:

• A Continuous Progress system
• Continuity of Caring for all students
• Ensuring Equity and Excellence - high expectations of excellence for all
• A Learner Focus
• A rigorous, integrated, Standards-Driven System of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
• Organizational Structures that support student learning
• The integration of career preparation into academic programs
• Extended opportunities for learning
• Development of partnerships with parents, businesses, and communities
• Comprehensive programs of professional development
• The use of technology as a tool for learning and productivity