The end of an academic year presents an opportunity for students, teachers, and other stakeholders in the education sector to assess their progress relative to the start of the academic year. Consequently, a myriad of activities and tasks must be fulfilled before the schools are officially closed for the year. Consequently, a comprehensive agenda must be drafted beforehand to ensure that all items and tasks that need to be completed before the closure of the academic year are done with. Further, the setting of the end-of-year agendas is a way to ensure the proper closure of schools in anticipation of the new school year. Accordingly, in a hypothetical school, the proposed agenda will include preparations for an end-of-year celebration workshop, recapping the year, and setting goals for the upcoming academic year.
The end-of-year celebration workshop requires collaboration among all stakeholders in specific schools and school districts. Traditionally, school districts participate in this workshop where they share progress on community partnerships, family, and school improvement (Epstein, 2018). Formally, the workshop is part of development and capacity building for ATPs and involves discussions on improving participation. Each school is expected to make presentations on improving students’ behavioral and academic outcomes. During the celebrations, ATP will agree on and sign one-year action plans for the upcoming academic year. Because each school is expected to participate in the workshop, preparing for it will be on the agenda during the end-of-year celebrations. Specifically, in collaboration with teaching staff, the students will create an exhibition that showcases the school’s partnership with the community. The exhibition will feature videos, presentations, and posters that display the various community-focused initiatives undertaken by the school during the year.
The recapping of activities and performances during the year is another important activity performed as part of the end-of-year celebrations. At the end of the academic year, it is important to take stock of projects, failures, successes, and struggles. Discussions of this agenda will feature assessments of what went well and what can be upgraded. In this way, problematic areas would be identified and solutions proposed to correct them. Improved performance will be identified, reflected on, and lessons drawn for documentation and future reference (Korthagen & Nuijten, 2022). In addition to a recap of specific performance and activities carried out during the year, the participants will be able to assess how well the school is working towards its goals, mission, and vision. Thus, recapping the previous year’s performance and other items will be an important agenda item for the end of the year because it allows a reflection on the past and an imagination of the future.
Finally, a school should set goals for the upcoming year after reviewing performance in the current year. After reflecting on the year that was and agreeing or disagreeing on the problems that faced the teaching staff and students, it is important to follow this step with a plan for the future. This agenda item is important because it allows participants to brainstorm ideas to improve the learning experience of the students and the teaching environment (Barkley, 2019). After coming up with solutions to problems identified, the participants can then draft new and realistic goals to outdo the present year’s performance while keeping to the school’s values and mission. Therefore, setting goals for the upcoming year is a priority agenda item for the end of the year because it allows the correction of past year mistakes and the setting of higher and more realistic goals.
References
Barkley, S. (2019). Year-end goal setting. Web.
Epstein, J. L. (2018). School, family, and community partnerships: Your handbook for action (4th ed.). Corwin Press.
Korthagen, F., & Nuijten, E. (2022). The power of reflection in teacher education and professional development strategies for in-depth teacher learning (1st ed.). Taylor & Francis Group.