Community Vision: Values and Norms

Why: Community Vision

Getting Smart Resources

How Shared Values at DSST Shape Youth Development

This Getting Smart resource examines how DSST Public Schools embeds shared values into its culture to intentionally shape student character and development alongside academic achievement. It explores the specific values DSST has identified, how those values are communicated and reinforced across classrooms and school communities, and the role school leaders and staff play in making values-driven culture a lived reality rather than a wall poster. For practitioners and leaders working to build coherent school identity, the resource offers a concrete example of how values alignment can serve as a foundation for broader educational transformation. It matters because schools pursuing innovation often focus heavily on instructional models while underestimating the power of a deliberately constructed normative culture in driving student outcomes and community trust.

Portrait of a Community to Empower Learning Transformation

Getting Smart’s “Portrait of a Community to Empower Learning Transformation” is a resource that guides practitioners and school leaders in developing a shared community portrait—a articulated set of values, norms, and aspirations that defines what a learning community collectively stands for and strives toward. It offers a structured framework for engaging stakeholders, including students, families, educators, and community members, in the collaborative process of identifying the beliefs and commitments that should drive school culture and instructional decision-making. Unlike generic mission-statement exercises, this resource connects community identity directly to learning transformation, positioning the portrait as a living document that informs everything from classroom practice to school design. For education leaders pursuing meaningful, sustainable change, this matters because transformation without shared vision often stalls—this resource provides the relational and philosophical foundation that makes innovation coherent, inclusive, and community-owned rather than top-down.

Redesigning High Schools – Shared Decision-Making and Leadership

Learning Policy Institute
This resource from the Learning Policy Institute examines how shared decision-making and distributed leadership structures can serve as foundational elements in redesigning high schools for deeper learning outcomes. It explores how schools can move away from top-down hierarchies toward collaborative models where teachers, administrators, students, and community members have meaningful input in shaping school direction, culture, and practice. The resource likely offers frameworks, evidence-based principles, and real-world examples of schools that have successfully embedded shared governance into their transformation efforts. For practitioners and school leaders, it matters because sustainable innovation rarely takes hold when change is imposed rather than co-created — establishing shared values and norms through inclusive leadership is what anchors redesign efforts beyond initial implementation and into lasting institutional culture.

	Beginning	Piloting	Implementing
From Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery	BeginningFrom Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery Beginning	PilotingFrom Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery Piloting	ImplementingFrom Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery Implementing
From One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning	BeginningFrom One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning Beginning	PilotingFrom One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning Piloting	ImplementingFrom One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning Implementing
From Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry	BeginningFrom Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry Beginning	PilotingFrom Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry Piloting	ImplementingFrom Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry Implementing
From Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning	BeginningFrom Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning Beginning	PilotingFrom Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning Piloting	ImplementingFrom Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning Implementing
From Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities	BeginningFrom Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities Beginning	PilotingFrom Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities Piloting	ImplementingFrom Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities Implementing
From Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment	BeginningFrom Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment Beginning	PilotingFrom Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment Piloting	ImplementingFrom Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment Implementing
From Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets	BeginningFrom Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets Beginning	PilotingFrom Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets Piloting	ImplementingFrom Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets Implementing

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Community Vision: Values and Norms

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