Practitioner's Guide to Creating a Shared Vision: As a New Superintendent, You've Been Charged with Moving the Community's Schools in an Exciting New Direction

The reader is the new superintendent recently appointed by the Board. In their new role, they will certainly face many difficult and complex challenges. To accomplish this task, the first step in the process is to establish with the cabinet and Board of Trustees a definition of a "shared vision" and "strategic plan" and what process would be used to develop each. To identify a vision that is compelling to students and will yield a strong positive impact on them, it must include two essential elements: (1) It must identify the skills and knowledge students need to prepare them for life after high school; and (2) It must be futures-based. The challenge faced by the author in becoming superintendent of the Pheasanton Unified School District and how he proceeded with it is discussed in this article.