Passage to a Strong Future

The vision of the Dexter Community Schools is to Develop, Educate, and Inspire our students to realize their strongest selves by equipping them with the holistic set of competencies that steer development of the whole person. The Learner Profile outlines the skills that our students are working on each and every day.

• Articulate thoughts and ideas effectively using oral, written, and nonverbal communication skills in a variety of forms and contexts
• Listen effectively to decipher meaning, including knowledge, values, attitudes, and intentions
• Use communication for a range of purposes (e.g. to inform, instruct, motivate, and persuade)
• Utilize multiple media and technologies, and know how to judge their effectiveness as well as assess their impact
• Communicate effectively in diverse environments (including multilingual) Link to Competency Set

Think Creatively

• Use a wide range of idea-creation techniques (such as brainstorming)
• Create new and worthwhile ideas (both incremental and radical concepts)
• Elaborate, refine, analyze, and evaluate their own ideas in order to improve and maximize creative efforts Link to Competency Set

Work Creatively With Others

• Develop, implement, and communicate new ideas to others effectively
• Be open and responsive to new and diverse perspectives; incorporate group input and feedback into the work
• Demonstrate originality and inventiveness in work and understand the real-world limits to adopting new ideas
• View failure as an opportunity to learn; understand that creativity and innovation is a long-term, cyclical process of small successes and frequent mistakes Link to Competency Set

Reason Effectively

• Use various types of reasoning (inductive, deductive, etc.) as appropriate to the situation
• Use systems thinking
• Analyze how parts of a whole interact with each other to produce overall outcomes in complex system
• Make judgments and decisions
• Effectively analyze and evaluate evidence, arguments, claims, and beliefs
• Analyze and evaluate major alternative points of view
• Synthesize and make connections between information and arguments
• Interpret information and draw conclusions based on the best analysis
• Reflect critically on learning experiences and processes SOLVE PROBLEMS
• Solve different kinds of non-familiar problems in both conventional and innovative ways
• Identify and ask significant questions that clarify various points of view and lead to better solutions Link to Competency Set

• Demonstrate ability to work effectively and respectfully with diverse teams
• Exercise flexibility and willingness to be helpful in making necessary compromises to accomplish a common goal
• Assume shared responsibility for collaborative work, and value the individual contributions made by each team member Link to Competency Set

Access and Evaluate Information

• Access information efficiently (time) and effectively (sources)
• Evaluate information critically and competently Link to Competency Set

Use and Manage Information

• Use information accurately and creatively for the issue or problem at hand
• Manage the flow of information from a wide variety of sources
• Apply a fundamental understanding of the ethical/legal issues surrounding the access and use of information Link to Competency Set

Development of Breadth and Depth of Knowledge

The requisite knowledge and skills that students need to learn efficiently to succeed in college, careers, and civic life. It is a process that enables students to become more proficient at developing a deeper understanding of rigorous academic content, and the ability to transfer and apply that understanding to novel problems and situations. It is also an outcome that results from the self-directed transfer of knowledge and skills. Link to Competency Set

Financial, Economic, Business, and Entrepreneurial Literacy

• Know how to make appropriate personal economic choices
• Understand the role of the economy in society
• Use entrepreneurial skills to enhance workplace productivity and career options Link to Competency Set

Act on creative ideas to make a tangible and useful contribution to the field in which the innovation will occur. Link to Competency Set

Guide and Lead Others

• Use interpersonal and problem-solving skills to influence and guide others toward a goal
• Leverage strengths of others to accomplish a common goal
• Inspire others to reach their very best via example and selflessness
• Demonstrate integrity and ethical behavior in using influence and power Link to Competency Set

Be Responsible to Others

• Act responsibly with the interests of the larger community in mind
• Help teachers develop their abilities to use various strategies (such as formative assessments) to reach diverse students and create environments that support differentiated teaching and learning
• Support the continuous evaluation of students’ 21st century skills development
• Encourage knowledge sharing among communities of practitioners, using face-to-face, virtual, and blended communications
• Use a scalable and sustainable model of professional development Link to Competency Set

Interact Effectively With Others

• Know when it is appropriate to listen and when to speak
• Conduct themselves in a respectable, professional manner Link to Competency Set

Work Effectively in Diverse Teams

• Respect cultural differences and work effectively with people from a range of social and cultural backgrounds
• Respond open-mindedly to different ideas and values
• Leverage social and cultural differences to create new ideas and increase both innovation and quality of work Link to Competency Set