About ABECWhere We Started | Vision & Mission | Beliefs and Operating Principles | Strategic Plan | Board of Directors | ABEC Staff
Beliefs and Operating Principles
We believe:
- The future of Arizona depends on the success of the K-12 education system.
- There are interdependencies between the Arizona education system and the economy of our state.
- In sharing responsibility for the continuous improvement of student and school achievement.
We will:
- Focus on K-12 with links to preschool, higher education and workplace;
- Actively and effectively influence public policy consistent with our mission, principles, and objectives;
- Make our decisions based on quality research; not assumptions or rhetoric; and
- Respect, support and seek to understand each other’s perspectives.
To this end, our work and how we work together will embody:
- Significance, establishing priorities based on statewide, critical needs, having a meaningful impact on student achievement. Comprehensive school reform will be emphasized with improved economic development as an intended result.
- Quality, emphasizing consistency, integrity and common ground; developing positions that are credible, fact-based (supported with research/data), balanced, thoughtful, and designed to provide measurable outcomes, with participation representing decision makers and resulting in a product that communicates excellence.
- Responsibility, assuming personal responsibility to be educated on the issues and contributing in a positive way to ABEC discussions; seeking to understand the needs of various constituencies, supporting consensus decisions, acknowledging the opinions of others, taking ownership and being supportive of group discussions and decisions.
- Integrity, committing to open communication within the organization and to the decisions of the organization; conclusions reached within ABEC being consistent with the messages outside ABEC.
- Ethics, maintaining a basic, long-term view to a set of goals and the mission, and establishing positions consistent with ABEC values; communicating in an honest and trustworthy way; maintaining positions within ABEC consistent with positions outside of ABEC.
- Openness, being respectful and supportive to provide for honesty in discussions; respecting and valuing all opinions; holding uncomfortable conversations without fear of retaliation; guided by consensus; with all relevant issues "on the table," with no hidden agendas and no surprises.
- Adopted by the ABEC Board of Directors in November, 2004
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