Board Meeting assignment

Hello Students!
I hope everyone is still out there.  We've been two weeks without an assignment due--until last night--and I feel like I've lost touch with everyone!

Several of you have contacted me, concerned about the difficulty you are having finding a board meeting to attend.  If you have class on Monday night, it is particularly problematic because many districts hold their board meetings on Monday night.

I called around today, and Iowa Park will have a regularly scheduled board meeting at 7:00 pm on March 10, a Thursday evening.  My contact said it would be a good one to attend--they will be approving teacher contracts and perhaps calling a bond election.  There will undoubtedly be lots of discussion about state and local budgets. 

As a professional courtesy, you should call Jerry Baird, superintendent, if you decide to attend, to let him (or his secretary) know you will be there, and why.  They are expecting a larger-than-usual crowd and will want to make arrangements for a larger room if it appears it will be necessary.  Additionally, it is disconcerting for a superintendent to see an unfamiliar face in the crowd---raises questions of why that person is present, and what the agenda might be!

Hope this helps--if not, let me know and we'll brainstorm something.

Dr. Owen

Examples of Strategic Planning Guides: #2

Here is another example.

Strategic Planning Initiative Guide

Step One: Selecting the Strategic Planning Team

First I will clarify the purpose of the strategic planning initiative with the superintendent. If I find the study is simply to check that we are progressing correctly and to prepare ourselves for future changes, then I will construct the planning team from internal members; if I find there is a discrepancy or concern with operations, then I will include outside members as appropriate by specialty. I will recruit the following people for the planning team:

·   Head Planner

·   Forecasting Specialist

·   Demographics Specialist

·   Financial Specialist

·   Personnel Specialist

·   Pupil Outcome Measurement Specialist

·   Public Opinion/Survey Specialist

·   Data Management Specialist

·   Research Design Specialist

·   Statistical Methods Specialist

·   Curriculum and Instruction Specialist

·   Graphic Design Specialist, and

·   Report Writing Specialist

Some team members will be part-time, or work only as a consulter. For example, the forecasting specialist will not be needed to plan future budgeting or personnel decisions after he/she has provided data and suggestions. In some cases one person can serve as more than one expert. As Head Planner, I will select team members based on their experience and knowledge.

Step Two: First Meeting

Estimated time length: two hours                                                                              Meeting objectives: Explain strategic planning process and individual roles                                                            Determine factors to be evaluated for planning                                                                              Delegate data collection for second meeting

I will open the meeting by briefly explaining the purposes of strategic planning and distributing a packet covering possible factors to be considered, team member roles to be included, and general desired outcomes of a strategic planning initiative. I will explain why the initiative was chosen at this time, and why each member was selected to participate. Team members will introduce themselves and state what area(s) they specialize in. I will then clarify the roles and expectations for each member, including who will be responsible for planning, data gathering, reviewing and authorizing the plan document, and evaluation for success. I will state the specific agenda for this team is to evaluate the current and future situations of our school, gather data on factors that could influence or change the school situation, develop specific school goals and a vision statement of where we want to be, record a detailed action plan of how we will reach those goals, and plan an evaluation of success. Our objectives for the meeting are to agree upon internal and external factors that should be evaluated, and delegate members to collect data on those factors. Members can make suggestions to build upon factors I have already suggested, and I will appoint members to gather information based on their team role and expertise. I will remind members that confidentiality is required; decisions and plans will be announced appropriately by administrators to the public.

At the end of this meeting participants should understand what we are doing, why we are doing it, the overall direction of the initiative, and his or her individual role. Data collection for the next meeting should be delegated.

Step Three: Data Collection

Data collection on internal and external factors will be done individually by team member specialists in between the first and second meeting. Information will be gathered on areas such as:

·   School strengths and weaknesses

·   School services

·   School programs/activities

·   Staffing

·   School/district finances

·   State/national economy

·   Funding trends

·   Demographics

·   Social factors

·   Changing legislation/politics

·   Changing technology

·   Competition, and

·   Public opinion

Step Four: Second Meeting (Scheduled two to three weeks after first meeting)

Estimated time length: two hours                                                                              Meeting objectives: Present data on external and internal factors                                                                                       Review current school goals and mission statement                                                                              Record suggestions about how goals might be adjusted

This meeting will begin with participants and consultants presenting the data they collected. Information about current finances and staffing, future enrollment projections, public perception of the school, and other internal and external factors should be reviewed. Data will be recorded by the Data Management Specialist and organized by category and pertinence. After team members have explained their information, I will present pages with the current school mission statement and school goals.  On large presentation paper a member will write original goals on one side of the sheet and areas of concern based on the needs assessment on the other side of the sheet. Members will make suggestions on how goals needs to be readjusted, added to, or deleted in consideration of weaknesses, available resources, changing forces, and new governmental mandates. Team members also need to input beliefs about school purposes and priorities for change. All suggestions will be recorded and considered, but I will explain that final goal authorization is the responsibility of school administrators. The reason for not accepting every goal desired by the committee is that members will potentially want conflicting things, and approving too many goals will spread resources so thinly nothing will be accomplished well. The mission statement should be the broad idea that goals complement.

Step Five: Finalize Mission Statement/School Goals

Individuals responsible for final goal authorization will meet together to discuss all relevant data and the vision of what the school should ideally look like. The recorded suggestions of the strategic planning team will be considered and needs prioritized. Goals should also be limited such that the scope is reasonable in terms of implementation time and resources needed to complete. Once the mission statement and supporting goals are finalized and approved they need to be articulated carefully and specifically. Administrators need to decide an order to record and implement goals based on importance, impact, and ability to implement. When the mission statement and goals are recorded they will be publicly announced at staff meetings and through school emails. The strategic team will meet again to develop a specific action plan to meet the stated goals.

Step Six: Third Meeting (Scheduled one to two weeks after second meeting)

Estimated time length: two hours                                                                              Meeting objectives: Distribute recorded specific mission statement and goals for                                                                   strategic planning initiative                                                                                                           Discuss strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities presented in data                                                  collection in relation to new goals                                                                                                        Develop detailed action plan to accomplish goals                                                                        Designate review committee to monitor progress and evaluate                                                            success of initiative

I will hand out the mission statement and goals authorized by the administrative team. The strategic planning team should discuss the data presented in the last meeting in relation to the new goals. Members need to speak according to their specialty to recommend strategies and needed changes to reach goals. The strategic planning team will be responsible for developing and recording detailed steps and strategies for the strategic action plan, including resources needed to complete each step. After this meeting members should understand what we are literally going to do to reach the school goals and how (resources) we are going to make that happen. Resource allocation will be subject to administrative approval. With tentative plans in place, members will need to agree upon evaluation criteria and designate a review committee. This committee will monitor the school’s progress throughout the implementation and reevaluate needs and changing circumstances. This committee will have the authority to reconvene the full strategic planning team if they determine new factors warrant reconsideration of goals, or that the action plan is not working successfully. The full strategic planning team will meet again in one year to evaluate progress if no special session is called.

Step Seven: Public Announcement

Administrators will announce to the community and school that the school is reviewing current practices, staffing, and resource allocation at the beginning of the initiative, although no details will be ready. The new mission statement and goals will be distributed to staff through school communication avenues, and posted for the public on the school’s website. After the action plan is in place and resources are approved, administrators should be very open and clear about the new plan and strategies. The action plan steps, and why they are important, should be presented at school board meetings and parent teacher association meetings, as well as to the staff members. The school should be translucent about planned actions, and motives behind them, so strategies are met with support instead of suspicions.

Examples of Strategic Plans: #1

I am posting two strategic plans, in separate posts, that I would like for you to read over.  I made comments for improvement on each plan, but, overall, they addressed the elements of the rubric well.

Planning for Strategic Planning

Objective 1: To a design and implement a belief statement, a vision, and a mission that are workable and representative of the needs and interests of our students, school, and community.

Objective 2: To conduct accurate and meaningful research that will enable us to identify areas where improvement is necessary, while forming a foundation from which appropriate action plans can be developed.

Objective 3: To address all areas of the school environment; fiscal responsibility, academic achievement, global awareness, community relations, student wellness, learning environment, maintenance and improvement of infrastructure, special programs, compliance with state and federal programs, and staff development.

Objective 4: To maintain the course of our plan, monitoring its progress, in order to make  informed and accurate modifications when necessary.

Objective 5: To include the community, district, staff, and students in the development of the strategic plan making clear to all the role each plays the implementation of the plan and informing them of our progress on a regular basis.  

Planning for the Strategic Plan         

            The time frame from the development of the strategic plan to the start of its implementation will be around five months. The Lead Committee will be established and begin work in early March. At this time the Lead Committee will continue to develop the strategic plan's framework, timeline, and begin preliminary research. Staff and the community will be informed of development in mid April. All committees will be established by late April; committee research will begin at this time. Research will continue through the beginning of June. By mid June action plans will be written, reviewed, and then adopted by mid July. A public meeting will be held at the end of July to present a workable plan to the community. Staff will attend a Strategic Planning Seminar in early August to make individual roles clear, and review accountability methods that will be used to monitor the plan's progress. The plan will be put into action in August. We will have a parent-staff luncheon a week before the start of school. At the luncheon I will give a short presentation of our plan, praise my staff for their hard work, and recognize key individuals who went above and beyond their regular duties to help construct the plan.  

             Staff and committees will meet weekly; submitting progress reports or, if needed, plans to modify their current course of action. My staff and I will monitor all areas of the plan using daily (at first), weekly, and monthly checklists. Monthly progress reports will be given to the school board and to the community, addressing needs, concerns, and progress. I will read all progress reports and action plans to insure accurateness and completeness. If I have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, I will consult the head of the committee that submitted the document. New data will be collected as it becomes available and will continue to be collected and analyzed for the duration of the plan. Complete evaluation of all parts of the strategic plan will take place on a yearly basis, all aspects of the plan will be reviewed and, if needed, modified.  Prompt changes within certain areas of the strategic plan may be needed over the duration of its implementation. If an overhaul is needed, I will head the adjustment committee and ensure that the needed changes are made as prompt and effectively as possible. It may take up to 10 years for this plan to have a lasting effect and changes will need to be made as new information becomes available. Our goal is to see measurable results in all areas of the plan by the end its third year of implementation.   

            Both qualitative and quantitative forms of data will be collected. The external environment will be determined by observation and research of issues and trends at community, district, state, federal, and global levels. A close relationship with the community will be fostered and maintained in order to understand the needs and goals the community shares. The internal environment will be carefully observed. Staff will be encouraged to share their concerns, goals and visions, both at individual levels and for the school as a whole. We will gather quantitative data on external and internal environmental factors. We will then compare external data to internal data to better understand our school environment and areas we can or need to improve in. Doing this will help us recognize our strengths, weaknesses, and also trends that we may not be currently aware of. Some examples of quantitative data we will gather are: standard test scores, dropout rates, attendance rates, income rates, labor market information, expenditures, tax rates, and population trends.

            The planning team will be selected based on the following criteria: ability to conduct research, area of expertise, and leadership skill. Committees will be established to research the four general areas of the strategic plan: academic, budget and infrastructure, staff development and recruitment, and school environment. Each of these committees, with the exception of the Budget and Infrastructure Committee, will be headed by a teacher leader. Committee leaders will then choose staff members with the knowledge and skills needed to complete the task assigned to the committee. I will personally head the Budget and Infrastructure Committee. Committee leaders will form the Lead Committee of which both myself and the vice principals will be part of. The Lead Committee will design templates for each committee to follow for brainstorming, research, and action plan writing. The creation of templates for research and action plans is particularly important. They will serve as a  guideline for committees to work from and increase the uniformity of our data, which will allow for easier processing by the Lead Committee.   

            Our belief statement will be developed through the combination of the Lead Committee's understanding of what is known as best practice and an assessment of our community's beliefs. The belief statement will be the foundation of both our vision and mission statements will rest upon.

            The creation of our belief statement will help us envision the potential of our team, community, and students. It is crucial that we know who we are as individuals, team members, community members, and members of the human race to set a goal of where we want to be. The vision statement will express what we strive for, and work to inspire all who read it.

            The mission statement development will be a team effort. The mission statement will reiterate why we as a school team are here, and what we are doing now to develop ourselves and our students.

Format

            The format of the plan will be similar to that of a legislative bill. This will allow us to create specific goals and give an appropriate time frame for reaching each goal. This format will also allow us to easily track the plan's content and ease the process of changing specific goals when needed.

Lead Committee Meeting Format

            The Lead Committee will follow Robert's Rules of Order for regular meetings. Special meetings that address one specific topic will be less formal in order to encourage creative thought. In regular meetings the Lead Committee will analyze action plans and committee's justification for these action plans. Committee heads will analyze information before the meeting begins, and be ready to present their concerns, changes, and progress reports in a timely manner. If a committee member has a special issue it will be addressed after all other committee business is concluded, to enable the committee to focus full attention to the issue.

Regular Committee Meeting Format

            Committee heads will be allowed to conduct their meetings in the format of their choice. If meetings are not productive I will step in as mediator, review collected information, and make suggestions for more productive meetings.

Strategic Plans and the Perils of a Closed Decision-Making System

I just finished looking over your strategic plans and felt that each of you gave your work a good effort.  I have returned these to you, along with the rubric, and with my comments.  I tried to look through carefully and find where you addressed each point on the rubric.  If I missed something, or if you have questions about what I said, please email me and we'll work it out.  I have asked two of you if you would mind allowing me to share your work anonymously with the class.  These two students did an exemplary job on their strategic plan and I thought it would be beneficial for everyone to see how they completed the assignment.  You will undoubtedly be involved in strategic planning as a principal, and you need to have a clear understanding of what it entails.

There was one issue that I saw several times that I wanted to talk about;  I started to write it in this blog and then decided to do a screencast-o-matic instead.  I think I'm getting a little more comfortable with the process!  Please go to
http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cXnDcpIu1
and watch the video.  If I had to select only one thing that you would remember from School Politics and Community Relations, this would probably be it.  Chances are good that how you manage this topic will mean the difference in success and failure for you as an administrator.

Dr. Owen

Module 2, Objective 3

Can anyone help clarify objective 3 in Module 2 (envision the linkage between organizational theories and concepts of leadership)? Thanks for any help.

Danielle's video

You can access Danielle's video at http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cXnVF5ldl

If you are having trouble posting, please let me know.  The blog program requires that I send out an "invitation" to everyone with authorship privileges in order for you to make original posts.  I have re-sent this invitation to several people who were having difficulty.  Hopefully, everyone will be in good shape now.
Dr. O

Video

http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cXnVF5ldl
I answered question number 5 on page 37.

Quality Enhancement Plan Survey

Hello Students!  I hope you are enjoying your snow day.  If you have a minute or two of time, it would help us to get more feedback to the Quality Enhancement Plan Survey we have going.  If you'll go to the MSU homepage and look at the right hand side below the weather conditions notification, you will see a "click here" that will take you to a short survey.  I did mine in about 30 seconds.
Thanks--and stay warm!
Dr. O