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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStrategic Planning Material WA f: 2 « z}t � \ f � « � ° \ �?>\\ \:\ /%: f/ � ± \ : \\ \\\ � _ z\� \ \\\I\\ � > \ ^ <\ / \ \ ® \ \^\\ � \ t» « y . . � ` r : � - � > > »/.\» , a . , , . :> ± :< � \ : _ - ° . \ \ a 3 » f \ice { �\\\ f : \ \ «\ J\ 2\ \ \\ /\ « § \\/ } r > �§ � � © �� \ t} » f` \\ (3 f ;:\ »« : ° � � : °� : » \ � / I\\\\\\ :> % + � � f± ^\ 7\ \ \\ \f \ \ \\\ �« . � \ \\ : \<y , ° x > � < }%\/±>±f > f < § t> , © � � � � . _ : .v : <. �. : > � � ° ` 2 \ = .: : < < , _<: . � : :> „ , , . _ / §f/ §; :» # , < � , . . <. : < . \ � � � � � � � � » f\/%\\ \� \ f � � � » � J}»\6 \ ��� �� �\� �\\� �` \ � /\\:} ® :a a : -_ . . . , «, a � . a>� ;. � � § > , « , <\ « : : . f <; :> : : ; : �\2< >< f Item 7 Next Steps «Pa[k'[lQ Lot 33 Success |nd'cat(3rS.,.,,,.............,.~.,................,..........., 35 School OUtcC)mes ...............................,...,.........,,... 36 L ` 3:00 1. Welcome 2. Agenda Review/Purpose 3:15 3. Vision Statement Review—Revise and Approve 3:45 4. Values—Review, Revise if Necessary and Approve 4:15 5. Break 4:30 6. Mission—Mission Specific Outcomes (Key Result Areas) a. These are major milestones, not specific projects (Ends not Means) b. Outcome Measures 5:30 7. Next Steps a. Strategic Plan Development Process - Staff 5:45 8. Review and Wrap-Up 9. Encouragement and Adjourn no later than 6:00 Pagel of 36 Date: September 25. 2OO8 TO: Honorable President and BoandofTrustees FROM: Tom Brymer. Town Manager/CEO Westlake Academy SUBJECT: "Going Forward" Plan of Action from Board of Trustee's Recent Strategic Planning Retreat PURPOSE The purpose of the memorandum is to outline for Board of Trustee (BOT) discussion and consideration, recommended "going forward"governance steps to be taken from the Board of Trustees' Recent Strategic Planning Retreat. This "going forward plan" includes 1.) preparation of strategic plan for Westlake Academy, 2.) discussion of Board of Trustee meeting structure and frequency, ao well as, 3.\ provision Board professional development/continuous learning. BACKGROUND At the Board of Trustees' recent Strategic Planning Retreat for Westlake Academy, much was accomplished. These accomplishments related to the BOT reaching consensus as to: • what constitutes effective governance nf the Academy • the Board's governance role • the Academy's vision/mission • Board understanding of the ends/means dichotomy as it relates to the governance of the Academy. Building on the progress made otits Strategic Planning Retreat, the Board needs toformulate and reach consensus on "next steps"to be taken to achieve its role as a high performance governance board for Westlake Academy. RECOMMENDATIONS Three recommendations are presented here for Board consideration that will outlined in detail bn|uvv. They are: 1. Discuss and agree on the framework, process, and timetable presented for preparation ofa strategic plan for Westlake Academy 2. Discuss and agree on a proposal regarding BDT meeting structure and frequency 3. Discuss and agree on a framework for BOT professional developm ent/conti nuous learning. 1. The article that was included in the BOT'a notebook for their retreat entitled "The Seven Outs: Strategic Planning Made Easy for Charter Schools" (by Brian L. Carpenter) provides the basis for the process recommended in this memorandum to develop a strategic plan for Westlake Academy. This process also o||ovva us to use what was developed at the B[)T strategic planning retreat. Step One is "figure out". This is the Board's non-delegable obligation to define why Westlake Academy exists. The Board attempted todn this when it drafted the following vision/mission statement the Academy: 'Westlake Academy/aa nurturing, con/ International Baccalaureate chatter school whose mission is to achieve academic excellence and to develop life-long learners who become responsible global citizens." The Board should review this draft statement and determine if needs modif icatioll Once finalized it needs to be adopted by the Board. outcomes to be achieved that are worthy of pursuing with the Academy's resources. This is the step the Board still needs to complete in order to 'liump start" the strategic planning process. These major outcomes to be achieved can be identified using: Mission-specific outcomes (can quantitative or qualitative, but quite often are qualitative) 'these are school or individual outcomes that are unique tothe Academy. They may not be measured using conventional tests, but are important as they reveal information about the Academy's performance relative to itoviaion/miasion statement. Individual gains (quantitative) ' thio is an individual student measure comparing test results between 2or more points intime. Mission-specific types of major outuomeapnobebk/ wmrkbeatforthetypeofsohoo| Westlake Academy is; a public charter school that uses the International Baccalaureate (|B) curriuu|unn. While we do administer state required iesfn, we do not"teach to them" since the iB curriculum utilizes a different learning approach for our students. Hnvvever, we could use the Stanford Tests for measuring individual gain outcomes. There are 2 other outcome categories for identifying major outcomes for the Board, but they all involve some type of state testing instrument. Staff does not recommend using these outcome categories, but if used, great care would have to be taken that in using these as a tool for identifying major outcomes, it did not result in changing the teaching approach for the Academy (i.e. - "teaching to the teat^). These other outcome categories Relative performance (quantitative) -thio is a rank order measure against some type of agreed upon state test ranked against other schools. Absolute performance (quantitative usually expressed qua|itmtivmly)~this ia an individual student score on state tests expressed in one of 3 or 4 categorical outcomes such as, for example, below basic, basic, proficient, orexceeds standards. The Board launches the strategic plan process by identifying and selecting goals fmm the mission-specific outcomes category. The Board would need todecide if they wished to use the other outcome categories due tntheir emphasis on state tests. Step Two is to "find out" or bench mark Westlake Academy against other successful schools. As Carpenter puts it. "...it is merely commonsensical to look ot what other wildly successful charter(or other public and/or p rivate) schools are doin g in order to see how they are achieving so you can implement those things in your school..." These peer schools need to be identified, agreed to by the Board, then used to compare Westlake Academy to in terms of outcomes and other areas of interest so we can compare the Academy's performance. It is recommended that the staff research who should be on Westlake Academy's peer school list for discussion with the Board so that we are comparing "apples to apples". Step Three is "scope out"which is basically a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis. Here the focus should be the Academy's immediate external environment and its state political environment. This exercise was completed at the retreat. Step Four is to "write out" the strategic plan itself. This is where the staff drafts the strategic plan for Board consideration. It should have 3 components to address the major outcomes the Board identified in Step One. They are: Personnel- what things should be done to attract and retain the best teachers for the Academy to achieve Board identified major outcomes ® Operations- how should the Academy budget best be utilized to achieve major outcomes Mission fulfillment- decisions to be made by the executive concerning curriculum, instructional philosophy, and assessment in order to achieve the Board's identified major outcomes. Step Five involves carrying out the plan. One of the key tools for doing this is the Academy's annual budget as well as the Town's municipal budget, both of which need to prepared to support the Academy's Board approved strategic plan. Step Six is "measure out"which involves creating agreed upon measures for determining the success of attaining major outcomes. This is where the being able to differentiate ends from means (inputs) becomes important. As Carpenter notes, "...there is an almost natural temptation to assess progress on outcomes by measuring or examining inputs!" Step Seven is "shout out" which is to disseminate the Academy's accomplishments. This would involve having and effectively using a communications plan for Westlake Academy. Timeframe for the Strategic Plan Preparation. The Board needs to complete Step One as it pertains to relative performance, absolute performance, individual gains, and mission-specific outcomes. Step Two, identifying benchmark schools to compare the Academy to, remains to be completed. Step Three (the SWOT analysis) is complete. Following that, the staff can draft a strategic plan per Step Four for Board consideration. Allowing time for finishing Steps One and Two at a workshop, staff estimates a completion deadline for preparing a draft strategic plan for Board consideration to be in early 2009. While the strategic plan is being drafted, staff can identify for Board consideration Step Six ends oriented measures to be used for determining in attaining the major outcomes set in Step One as well as peer schools to be used in benchmarking. 2. Board of Trustee Meeting Structure and Frequency. Currently the Board meets in its Trustee (BOT) capacity for Westlake Academy once a month at 6:OOPM on the second Monday of the month. This was a meeting schedule agreed to by a previous Board. Time management challenges arise due to the BOT having its Board of Aldermen meetings on this second Monday as well. The BOA meetings start with a workshop at 4:15pm that generally runs at least until 6:OOPM. If the BOT meeting agenda has formal adoptive items on it related to contracts, etc and if there is also a BOT executive session required, this leaves only an hour for the BOT meeting prior to the 7:OOPM Regular BOA Meeting. Most importantly if there are workshop (i.e.- discussion) type of agenda items for the BOT to take up so as to give staff input prior to Board considering those item s for a formal decision (as we generally do for BOA meetings), there is no time left for that type of BOT discussion and interchange. Any number of meeting scheduling options or hybrids of them could address this. One option to consider is to continue regular BOT meetings on the second Monday of each month at 6:OOPM with those meetings focused on agenda items that require formal BOT action. However, reserve the first BOT of the calendar quarter solely for a workshop that would start at 5:30PM giving the Board a full 2 hours for a BOT workshop. The BOA regular meeting could then be scheduled to commence at 7:30PM (instead of 7:OOPM) on those the first BOT meeting of each calendar quarter when this workshop is held. Under this arrangement, the Board may have flexibility to schedule additional workshops. If it is not the first meeting of the quarter, but there are no formal type agenda items requiring a regular BOT meeting, the BOT could instead have a workshop meeting. 3. BOT Professional Development/Continuous Learning. It is recommended that the BOT discuss establishing a framework for its own professional development and continuous learning. There are 2 aspects to this; individual Board member learning and Board group learning. Individual Board member learning can take place through attendance at various conferences or use of DVD's and other individual learning tools. Group learning, which would allow for Board discussion of various concepts and issues related to its governance role, could take place at BOT workshops. An agreed upon learning tool could be used (i.e. - a Board governance guidebook type resource) in these settings with readings on mutually agreed upon governance topics being assigned for Board discussion. Additionally, an occasional outside resource person could be brought into speak to the Board on governance topics of interest. One of the advantages of this learning method is that it uses an already existing meeting schedule and allows the Board to learn together from a common governance context. To be successful, this group learning approach would require a commitment on each Board member's part to read certain materials and make reasonable efforts to be present if an outside resource person was brought in for one of these sessions. 1. Prepare a strategic plan for Westlake Academy per the steps and time frame outlined above. 2. Change the BOT's meeting schedule to continue monthly BOT regular meetings except that the first meeting of each calendar quarter would be a BOT workshop and, if there are no agenda items for regular BOT meetings, have a workshop meeting instead. This potentially would allow for more workshop meetings as needed. I BOT commit to group learning to further BOT professional development and continuous learning per the recommendations above. 0 i�oard of Trustees Meeting * Strategic Plan * Board Professional Development and Continuous Learning ff% Keview�Mstlake Academy Values and Consolidate Them lu 40 S Va es . Academic Achievement All 3 IB Diplomas Appreciating Individuality Children allowed to think outside the box Children are lifelong learners Children First Community Integration Community Owned Critical and Creative Thinking Educating Socially Responsibility Citizens Families V Inviting ti Lifelong Learners Nurturing One of a kind Public Private Partnerships Rural Nature Small Size Social Responsibility yl Solvency V' Successful Children who achieve greatness Unique Town Owned School MUM .1 "Caring V"Inquirer M-0 V" Open Minded Page I I of 36 (DMission-SPecific Outcomes (can be qualitative or quantitative, often qualitative) oKeeps Ends Separate from Means 4trategic Planning (continued" i oCreate peerlbenchmark schoolsliSt (stal Strategic Plan nin,,,.,,- -� r . * SWOTAnalySiS (doni AMeasures — Outcome Oriented , • - 15 of 36 Ali III Establish Mission-Specific Outcome� Decide at a Workshop v"" Then Staff will draft a Strategic Plan for Board of Trustee Review and Input Page 16 • 36 MeetinZ IIII� f Vhrl� �� �` ��; Structure Frequency Options to Consider ist Meeting a workshop at 5:30pm of Quarter Allows for more workshops if no regular BOT agenda items �II�II� s Professional Development & Continuous Learning Page 18 of 36 NATIONAL CHARTER SCHOOLS INSTITUTE : � x EXCERPTED �D^�`I�CjJ�itri(T.4�I,E�I��YE+i '�BOOK JUST THE WORDS"STRATEGIC PLANNING?' are enough to make some board members and school executives feel swamped. The process is usually long, boring, and larger- without results—unless you count a five-inch-thick vinyl notebook collecting dust on a shelf as an achievement. Don't mire your board and executive in writing a plan that is tedious, dull, and loaded with administ:rivia—three adjectives that could.have been invented to describe the typi- cal strategic plan. The Seven Outs offers your a. school a step-by-step f-a ework for conducting strate- gic planning. Once completed, the board and executive wilt know what the students are to accomplish and how well they are to accom- plish it, and the board will know how, to evaluate the outcomes. The first fundamental, non-delegahle obligation of the board is to define why the school exists. Once a board has done that,it is capable of mov- ing to the next two steps: prescribing the out- comes the school will accomplish and establish- ing what level of achievement,will demonstrate satisfactory- performance of those outcomes. T,Q en a chaaiea°school hoard faids to figune out whj,the school exists, it creates byr default, the prohle-m of-ha mfg no meaningful henchmarks a,p.inst ivInch to assess the organizatiorj's pro- gress toward its purpose. i�_11.Uor.alcharterschools.org [ (981)774-2999 ■ Once the board has defined the purpose of its school (in clear language devoid of proc- esses), it must establish. the major outcomes that are to be achieved. These outcomes need not necessari17 be easy to measure or assess; they roust simply be worthy of the school's resources in pursuing them. To begin the process, we'll group outcomes according to four different measures or cate- gories. Four measures are required because no single category is capable of capturing the entire range of things the board needs to con- sider in evaluating school performance. All measures, regardless of their value, have limitations. I've briefly defined each of the four measures below. Alongside each meas- ure, I indicate whether it is quantitative, qualitative, or both. 1.Relative Performance(quantitative). This is a rank order measure in which the schools performance(usually) on state tests is ranked against other schools. A school that is in. the 63rd. percentile rank, for example, scored as good as or better than 63 percent of the schools in the comparison group. 2. Absolute Performance (quantitative, usu- ally expressed qualitatively). This is an. individual student score on state tests. (There are federal tests that also produce such data, e.g., the National Assess- ment of Educational.progress, but the schools that participate do not receive any data back because of complex sampling designs needed to generalize the findings to all. schools.) Usually student performance on (0,2008 National C haaet•Schools histittae 1 June 2008 NATIONAL CHARTER SCHOOLS INSTITUTE state tests is reported to the school as being in one of three or four categorical outcomes such as helow ha.sic, basic, p.rolicient, or cw- eeecls standards. 3. Indrvidual Gains(quantitative). This is an individual student measure that compares test results between two or more points in time. In other words, there is a starting point in which the student's performance is bench .asked, and then, a subsequent. point at which the student's gains cans.be measured. 4. Mission-SpeaOc Outcomes (quantitative or qualitative, but quite often qualitative). These are school or individual outcomes that are unique to your particular school. They are probably not measured using con- ventional tests (nor should they necessarily be). They are important because they call re- veal. information. about the school's perfbrm- ance rel.atisTe to its unique mission that proba- bly cannot, be measured or assessed through any of the other three measures. You can picture the four measures above=, as a square. By combining information from all four measures, the board will not only know precisely wlmt to look at Ili evaluating the school, it will also have an excellent gauge on 15ow well the school is performing along two dimensions:the,present and the future. Figure 1 depicts this relationship. Each measure forms one side of the bow. Taken. together, these measures form the bounda- ries of the area labeled. the seboal:s pivsent perfarmance. This performance is properly; evaluated against the board's defined out- comes. At the same time, data from multiple years for each of the measures can be thought of as a continuu_un along which per- forinance for that measure Is trending izs one direction or the other. Using these points, the board can evaluate the trajec- tory the school is oil so that its future per- formance call be predicted. ni i+ioi ,ilch3,rte's iiools.o,,g 1 (9359',774-2999 Mission-Specific Outcomes au 0 Absolute Performance Figure 1. The F oar.1 feasures of School Performarsce The board launches the strategic plan- ning process by figuring out one goal for each of the first three measures and up to three goals in the mission-specific category. Though the process of figuri_zsg out what is to be ac- coznplished. takes significant time and effort; the clarity that.resu.l.ts from simply discussing outcomes will produce what amounts to a rocket flare illuminating the school's destina- tion to evervone. E me ��f When I explained the premise of 5tep Two= Find {hut, to my friend Corey, a successful Australian real estate developer, he said, "Just tell them that when they were in school, they got in trouble for copying what others were doing. In business, you get re- warded." As Corey astutely observed, entrepre- neurial enterprises find out how other busi- nesses have been successful so they can replicate—or at least adapt—the same strategies to their own profit. For some rea- son, however, many- charter schools have been slow in doing this. Regardless, it is merely commonsensical to look at what other wildly successful. charter (or other public ands"or private) schools are doing in order to see how they are achieving so you can.implement those things in your school.. age 20 o 36 <v>2008 National Charter Schools institute 2 June 2008 NATIONAL CHARTER SCHOOLS INSTITUTE Although the process of finding out what other schools are doing is step two in The Seven Outs, some boards, particularly those that are in the initial application phase, may actually want to make this step one, or at least concurrent with step one. While current research, on the whole, shows that most charter schools perform about the same as conventional public schools, there is no shortage of world.-class examples. A. short list of my favorites Ui- cludes (in no particular order): High Tech High (www.highteclihigh.org), KIPP Acad- emies (w%rw,.lUPP.org), Achievement First (www.AchievementFixst.org), and Uncommon Schools '(www.Uncommonscliools.org i, along with every other less visible charter school that scores in the top quartile on the their state tests, compared to all public schools in their state (charter or conventional), in ad- &tion to demonstrating fulfillment of mis- sion-specific goals. From a quantitative aspect, it's also worth your time to examine schools that have been referred to as "90/90/90." These are schools in which the enrollment is com- prised of 90 percent or more minority stu- dents, and 90 percent of the children are eligible for the federal government's Free and Reduced Price Lunch prograin (education's proxy for kids from. families in. poverty), but in which. 90 percent or more of the kids attain high achievement. Not surprisingly, 90/90/90 Schools have common characteristics in their instruc- tional approaches. To learn what those are, point your browser to The Leadership and Learning Center at www.leadaiidlearn.coni. Enter `90/90/90" in the search box to read a brief case study by Dr. Douglas B. Reeves that describes the practices of 90/90/90 Schools. If you've understood what I've said so far, youv probably won.'t be surprised to read that `:90)/90/90 Schools had a. laser-like focus on student achievement." na.Uonalcharterschiools.ot-g 1, '989)774-2999 In the third step in The Seven Outs, the board continues to take the lead in the stra- tegic planning process. The executive may add value to the process of scoping out the external environni.erit, as well, but the board should generally lead because it is likely that it governed the school before the current executive was hired and will govern the school after he or she leaves. This conti- nuity provides a familiarity with the exter- nal environment that the executive may not possess. Regardless, it is critical that the board. focus on a vital few elements in the external environment that may be strateg.1, cally important to the school. There is a significant premise behind. scopIng out the external environment: Your school does not ol)e-rate in qi vacumn. Changing realities outside your school can affect it. In order to effectively position the school for success, it is necessary to inte- grate those changing realities into your strategic plan. To accomplish this, the board must scope out the external environ- nient. In business, there is a wide range of variables in the external en-varonment that can. aff.ect its profitability (the single pri- mary reason why a business exists). For example, foreign currency exchange rates, market fluctuations, availability of capital, mergers and acquisitions, and stock prices are all external variables that can impact the business for better or worse. Businesses that are successful. over the long range, to one degree or another— depending on. the type of company— constantly monitor and evaluate those vari- ables. Most of the literature on strategic planning for businesses emphasizes the critical importance of continuously inte- grating those variables with the company's strategic plan. —P—A-g-6721—OT36-- 02008-National Chas-ter Schools Institute 3 June 2008 A ,, NATIONAL CHARTER SCHOOLS INSTITUTE Where charter schools are concerned, there are, thankfully, fewer variables, though they are no less important. For ease of understanding,, I've divided the external environment for charter schools into two environments: the immediate external envi- ronment (where the school is located) and the statewide political environment {,where legislative or Judicial decisions can. Impact the school). These environments are shown. in Figure 2. OF UAMEa,4TE FXTFRNAL � ENWRONMENT -A Fi,-Ure 2.CharterSchool Internal ano'E'.vernol Fnvironmellfs awtimmourtim.nt Important elements of the external envi- ronment occur in your immediate environ- ment. Because they are external, the board usually has little or no influence on them. As things that strongly impact the school, however, demographic trends, competition .from. other schools, and. authorizer relation- ships must be carefully evaluated. I include the aspect of a charter school's authorizer relationship uiader the heading of the immediate environment for the sim- ple reason that even if you are authorized by a statewide authorizing entity that is not in close geographic proximity to your school, what your authorizer is doing typi- cally- has the same effect as thought it were in your iinmediate area. r t 774-2999 ,wdonalcha,terschools,org 1 (989) I've noticed that some boards delegate this to their executive director or the man- agement company- they've hired. While it is necessary for management to maintain a professional relationship with the author- izer, the entire responsibility for doing so should never be delegated. Tl,,e hoaid should mallita-111 its own diiect lime wifl-7 the authorize.r. Such communications help en- sure that the board is directly hearing the authorizer's position. That way, if there are problems with the school's performance or reporting, the hoard has a direct link with the organization that is ultimately charged with assessing the school's performance and making a renewal decision. A monthly phone call from the board president to the authorizer can foster this relationship. The second key consideration in, the exter- nal environment is what I call. the �ene.ral c1mrtej..i.1.2g- climate in your state. Well. be- fore the advent of charter schools, public schools were highly politicized. Unions, lawsuits, contested election results, and media influences are all inevitable in anv endeavor annually funded by a half-trilholl dollars of taxpayers' money. Charter schools, in a broad sense, cut across the grain of existing power bases, money control, and jobs. Hence, they ratchet up several more notches the politi- cization of public schools. In some states, charter schools are largely accepted fbr what they are: public school choices. in such states, there are no artificial caps 11111- iting growth of schools or enrollment, fund- ing is largely equitable, and schools can op- erate multiple campuses. But in other states, the attacks in both the courts and the legislatures are fierce and unrelenting. Having a good handle on. the climate in. your state is an. essential part of developijig a sound strategy. age o (02008 National Chai-ter Schools Institute 4 June 2008 NATIONAL CHARTER SCHOOLS INSTITUTE zzi��MM In this phase of strategic planning, the pri- mary role now shifts to the executive. Up to this point, the board has taken the lead in figuring out what it wants, finding out how others are already achieving it, and scoping out the external environment for things that may impact the school's position. As the environment changes, the board may want or need to recalibrate what it wants to achieve- (To varying degrees, the first three steps of Me Seven Outs often take place in the process of applying or reapplying for a charter.) However, once the board has formulated a complete picture of what the school. will achieve, bow others are doing it, and what the immediate environment is like, it has ar- rived at.a turning point in strategic planning. To proceed, the board will need profes- sional expertise: It will need an executive director, i.e., someone who executes the board's intent. I usually refer to this person as the executive, executive director, or CEO, rather than admi-nistrator, principal., school leader, or other title, in order to emphasize the skill at which this leader must excel. Because the board cannot be onsite and it does not possess school operations expertise, it must delegate the authority achieving its goals to an executive. Since a strategic plan is mostly about processes, these should be determined by the executive. The executive must take the board's pri- orities, add his or her own to them (provided. that they augment rather than supersede or contradict), and then synthe- size them it.ito a series of'operationalsteps. In other words, the executive must know bow to translate intent into a plan and then follow with actions that will accomplish it. What should be in that plan? Essen- tially three components, described in the following paragraphs. Z, nzii ionalcharterschools.org 1 (989)774-2999 Pe_rsonnel. If world-class achievement is what the board has in mind, then it is im- perative that the executive recruit and re- tain the best teachers. The plan should demonstrate that the executive has thought through how that will be best accom- plished. It should factor in things like the executive's strategy for professional growth and. renewal. of faculty. It should also con- tain. tiLits-and-bolts things directly related to staffing patterns, such as teacher-to- student ratio,, grade configuration (i.e., one section or two of a particular grade), and compensation/performance bonus plans. Qpe_z�atjons. The main consideration of the operations component is the budget by which the school functions in pursuit of the board's goals. Other things may need to be addressed, however, oper-ational discussion in the plan should be hmited to those thin,s that directly influence the accomplishment of the board's directives. (Remember, that part of the goal of The ,Seve_n Outs is to produce a concise, readable plan. This naturally- pre- cludes writing about every operational detail that could be included.) 4f ission Ful/117ment. This part of the plan addresses the decisions the executive is going to make concerning things like cur- Z, r1culum, assessment, and instructional phi.- Iosopby that achieve the board's goals. Be- cause of the highly regulated environment of charters, the executive should. also dis- cuss how he or she plans to achieve state learning objectives (called by different names in various states). Care should be taken, however, not to be too technical in this section. The goal is to focus on how the board's outcomes will be achieved. The three main components of a charter school strategic plan, along with the lay- ered external. environment (the relevant aspects of which were discussed In Step Thi-ee:,S'eope Out), are pictured ]in Figure 3 on the next page. Page 233 C)2008 National Chaaei•Schools Institute 5 June 2008 ,-NATIONAL CHARTER SCHOOLS INSTITUTE I compo.Rnt [ Fuffilimer.t Operatioq�l pore[[` NOIIIEDWE EXIERIIIIN L carnponer# EWRONMEN'T cn�"Mok","' Figure 3, The Three Com '..) 'z)onents ,fSchool Operations in a Layered 1----vernal bnlronment It Is imperative that each of these three components be Integrated with the other. For example, recruiting and retaining the best teachers is the key to fulfilling the mis- sion. component. Because talent costs, how- evar, recruiting the best teachers also has enormous budget ram.1ficatlons. The execu- tive's challenge is in determining how to best,integrate the components. As previously noted., the very title of execu- tive contains the implied essence of the Job—one who executes a plan. Thus, as the logical next step to writing the plan, the executive must also take the lead in the fifth step of the strategic planning process: he or she must carry out the plan. Having the ability to carry out a plan, even tbougb. it. will -involve countless changes along the way, is a hallmark of a charter school executive. A brilliantly de- vised. pla.ii—everi one with pictures that Is professionally bound. with a four-color cover—is worthless if you can't execute it. The effective charter school executive not only knows how to write a plan (Step Four: ffWte Out), but even more crucially, how to carz.y out a plan. In what sounds like a contradiction, strategic plaii-ning at rt..i�ic,i,lalcharterschools.org 1 (989)774-2999 this stage actually ceases to be primarily a planning process. The nature of the task is now almost entirely operational.. But while emphasizing the operational nature of car- rying out the plan, I also want to highlight something that Ram Charan and Larry Bossidy say in their book, Execution.' T15e Discipline of Getting Tbings Ilene. Namely, strategic planning is an iterative process, i.e., the plan Is always morphing in re- sponse to the environment, so you're never really done planning. Of course, the job of the executive Isn't so much one of actually carrying out those details as it is one of getting his or her team to execute them. This means the executive must be a master at delegating. At this stage of the strategic planning proc- ess, the board. must again assume a lead role, though it is likely the executive or some other professional with pertinent ex- pert se w.il.l have to guide it through the evaluation process the first few times. In this step, the board measures the progress of the school against the outcomes it deter- mined in S'tep One=Fgu_re Out. In so doing, besides capitalizing on the observation that in organizations, "What gets measured gets done," the board. is actually fulfilling its governance obligations to the taxpayers by ensuring that the school accomplishes its purposes. The process ofensur-ing-i,5 the ve-rV es voce of board go vei-nance. First, it is imperative to understand that when the board evaluates its execu- tive, it -i I_- evaluating the school and vice versa. This is because the executive is the one person who is accountable to the board for the performance of the school. For ex- ample, if the fourth-grade reading scores are In the tank, the board doesn't (or shouldn't) call. the fourth-grade teacher to the table to give an account. ItIs the execu- ---P—ag—e-24—oT36-- 2008 National Charter-Schools Institute 6 June 2008 „:,NATIONAL CHARTED? SCHOOLS INSTITUTE five who must answer for the performance of the entire. school. Thus, when the hoard i5 evaluatil}g the &,-boo it is eva.haating-its execrative. There is a common mistake in evaluat- ing the school that the board needs to avoid. Rather than game it directly, how- ever, look at the bullet list below and see if you can find. ,-hat all the measures have in. common- Of teachers newly hired, 80 percent have advanced degrees • New curriculum purchased this year ° Five hundred new books added to the library New assessment program being imple- mented :Nigh-caliber teacher development pro- gram being implemented ° Enrollment increased(apart from evi- dence showing 1t is being driven by aca- demic achievement) • Reducti.on in student-to-teacher ratio • -lore rigorous classroom teacher evaluation being implement ed Everyone is dedicated and working hard Give yourself an "A” if you recognized that eveaythhug i1a the list ie all i11put, not all outcome. This is a critical distinction the board needs to make because there is an almost natural temptation to assess pro- gress on outcomes by measuring or examin- ing inputs!: You. may be thinking, what does our board do if some of its outcomes were achieved, but not as well. as we hoped? Do we have to fire our executive? The answer, of courses is, no, you don't have to fire your executive. The board simply has to use its judgment to determine whether the actual performance against the stated outcomes is acceptable. r:a ionalchsar[ersei^ools.or j '•:1939'=7174-2999 Keep m. mind that the perfect executive has- n't vet been invented. Rio the board's standard should never be perfection.. The board simply needs to make a reasonable evaluation of the outcomes. The most reliable performance evaluation occurs with trend data. For exam- ple, if the percentage of kids achieving a year's worth of gains is less than 100 percent, is this year I s percentage higher than last year's? In other words, is it trending in the s=ight direction? If it is trending in the right direction, what's the fate of increase.? At the present rate,will the school hit its objective in. three years or fifteen? Does this result,in an element of subjec- tivity? Yes, but almost all evaluations do. But one of the advantages presented in The Seven Outs is that subjectivity is signifi- cantl.v narrowed.to stated outcomes. In In this final step, the board and the execu.- tiz-e work together to d.issemina.te the school's accomplishments. I call this step shout-out as a salute to Achievement. First, a high-performing charter organization, as previously mentioned. It publishes school accomplishments in Sliout Out!, a tri- annual newsletter. Like Achievement First- you will want to sh.out-out your school's accomplishments. A simple reality in today's world constitutes the premise of this seventh step in strategic planning= It is insufficient to achieve world- class results; you aLSn have to b-ro,-cicasf t11enl1 Your school's parents, teachers, stu- dents, authorizer, state association, local media, and broader community are among the stakeholders that Heed to 1-now what the school is accomplishing. Although it is beyond the scope of the book, a media plan that describes how the school will shout out its extraordinary accom- plishments can greatly benefit any, charter school. age 20 OT J 02008 National Charter Schools Institute 7 June 2008 A., NATIONAL CHARTER SCHOOLS INSTITUTE r..3+Lioi?�#Ichirtersci�,00ls.ofg 1 (989)774-2999 The fo ng publi llowi 'I cations p-eatly influenced the writ imig of 77.ie Sevem Out.,'�and g, bigh are i AV recominended for further chatter school boardlexecutive deve1opment. Bossidy, L., and R. Charan, 2002. Execution:The discipline ofgettjng things done. New, York: Crown Business. Carver, J. 2006. Boards that make a difference=A.i design for leadership in nonprofit and public organizations. 3rd edition. San Francisco, CA:Jossey-Bass. Charan, R., S. Drotter, and J. NoeL 2001. The leadership pipeline Hon,to build the leadei powered co-il San.Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Collins, J. 2001. Good to.-Teat and the Social Sectors:u-hv husinei the answer:a monograph to accompan1v Good tog7ii whY some companies make the leap and others don't. New York: Haii Business. Collins, J. 2001. Good to gnrieat: [1,i some co.7-ripanies Make the leap and others don't.New York= Harper Business. Ferriss, T. 2007. The 4-hour wolk-iveek:-Escape 9-5, live anywhere; and join the new-ziich.New Yiowri. Heath, D. and C.Heath, 2007. 1111ade to stick ffhiii die-Newyork: Random House. Koch, R. 1997. The 80121 principle:The secret to success b3-achieving mote witli less. New York: Doubleday Business. Peters, T. 2004. In search of ayceflanee•.Iassons From America's best-run. carnpanies.New York: Harper Business Essentials. Reeves, D. 2004. The 90190190 schools:a case studi Chap. 19 in Accountabilitv in actjon:a blueprint for learnjAg-organizations.Englewood, CO:Advanced Learning Press. Tbernsti-om,A., Thernstrom, S. 2003. "N70 excuses:closing the racial gap in leai.7.7-inii New York: Simon & Schuster. Trimble, J. R. 1971 ffl'rjtiri with Style:conversations on the art of wi-itb,-g. Englewood Cliffs, Nii If you found this publication beneficial, I invite you to visit our Web site at www.Nati.oiial.Cbartei-Scbool.s.oi.-g where you will find. similar niono- graphs on various topics, provided free of"chai You".re welcome to re print and distribute these documents, as long as they are presented unal- tered and In their entirety. To receive a group discount when ordering five or more copies of the book on which this monograph was based, The Seven 011 or to engage the Institute for training or speaking, please contact us at (989) 7174-2999. Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to i pm EST.You can also send email to Brian 1- carpenter resource, nationalcharterschools.org. .Affiliated since its inception 1'j-1 1995 with Central Michigan University in Mount Pleas- ant, Michigan, the National Charter Schools Institute exists that the charter school sector has the necessary, resources to further its development, including publications, conference presentations, and.training. Institute publications are not intended to render or substitute for legal advice. V alli 9 li":':% j iii"!11:111 0 02008 National Cliafter Sclilools'institute 8 June 2008 DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT Westlake Academy is a nurturing, community-owned International Baccalaureate charter school whose mission is to achieve academic excellence and to develop life long learners who become responsible global citizens. Westlake Academy—We Are Lifelong Learners Westlake Academy—Creating Lifelong Learners Westlake Academy Board Retreat September 12& 13,2008 Page 27 of 36 DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT • Academic Achievement • All 3 IB Diplomas • Appreciating Individuality • Children allowed to think outside the box • Children are lifelong learners • Children First • Community Integration • Community Owned • Critical and Creative Thinking • Educating Socially Responsibility Citizens • Families • IB Curriculum • Inviting • Lifelong Learners • Nurturing • One of a kind • Public Private Partnerships • Rural Nature • Small Size • Social Responsibility • Solvency • Successful Children who achieve greatness • Unique Town Owned School • Warm • Balanced • Caring • Communicative • Inquirer • Knowledgeable • Open Minded • Principled • Reflective • Risk Taker • Thinker Westlake Academy Board Retreat September 12& 13,2008 Page 28 of 36 DRAFT DRAFT Westlake Academy Perceived Strengths (Arranged Alphabetically) All 3 IB programs Black Cow Blacksmith Apprentice program Building and Setting Building sports program—secondary and primary Committed individual Student Achievement Common goals Consensus building Diversity in Race, Religion, Education, Economic status Effective curricula articulation through student progress tracking Exemplary Rating Flexibility for extra-curricular activities Full control of Asset Head of Schools/Town Manager/Board/Teachers/Staff IB—MYP—PYP and DP No Tax Support Owned by town Parental Support Passionate people Pioneer spirit Retreat Size State/Fed/International Recognition Student Teacher ratio Students Team Building Uniqueness Well informed political representation Westlake Academy Board Retreat SepteRn[ q�2& l3,2008 29 of 36 DRAFT DRAFT Westlake Academy Perceived Weaknesses (Arranged Alphabetically) Admissions Policy Black cow Communication Constitution—governance structure Divided history Facilities present and future Failure to engage all relevant stakeholders Failure to regularly revisit charter Financial obligations by the town—past present and future Full development of the "the arts"across all grades Haven't marketed the school well Image with residents Inability to compensate teachers in order to get the best Inequitable public funding Lack of community outreach Lack of distinction between sections (particularly HS grade levels) Lack of parent IB knowledge Lack of secondary electives Lack of TEA knowledge"roles/SME" Lack of track and fields gym Lack of traditions Landlocked Limitation of size and land availability Mascot No 8'grade graduation Not enough celebrations Poorly written charter(lack of knowledge of it) "Pueblo chico, infierno grande" Quality of teachers Safety Size of school (1/2 size of master plan) Spanish instruction & integration Sports program—facility Staff wearing too many hats Westlake Academy Board Retreat September 12& 13,2008 Page 30 of 36 DRAFT DRAFT Westlake Academy Perceived Opportunities (Arranged Alphabetically) A model School—Public IB School (K-12) Alumni Build strong ties to Westlake Business and residential Community CIS accreditation/evaluation Communicate to all audiences why WAS is value-added to them Community service model Graduation—showcase graduates as global citizens Healing Higher education—support sponsorships Increased DP electives Integrate students effectively with innovation into the wider Community Links with other DP schools and charter schools Mentoring programs;kid-kid; student—staff—Community Promote inter-town relationships Pursue endowment and grant opportunities Source of pride and symbol of the values of the Westlake community. Sport(select a few to excel) Take WAS to the next level To be able to teach students how fortunate they are &prepare them to take their place in the world Use of facilities by Community Utilizing community resources other than money t•7• Westlake Academy Board Retreat September 12& 13,2008 Page 31 of 36 DRAFT DRAFT Westlake Academy Perceived 'Threats (Arranged Alphabetically) Charter renewal/revocation Competition(Byron Nelson) or another IB Downturn in the Economy Drop in housing and real estate values Funding—lack of Revenue stream (TEA fine, taxes, donations) High teacher turnover High volume of residential development and large increase in students Internal conflict Lack of facilities Lack of funding Land use certainty vis-a-vis the associated revenue stream Legislature support or lobbying against us (federal and state) Low% of college matriculation Maintenance of building Negativity from users/community/lavers Non 113 renewal (authorization) Non support of IB curriculum from community Out migration of Westlake residents and students Overstepping boundaries Perceived low%of graduating IB diplomas Publicity(Negative) Resting on our laurels (pride) Stalling of all development—residential and commercial Teacher compensation Town demographics over time Westlake Academy Board Retreat September 12& 13,2008 Page 32 of 36 DRAFT DRAFT s i 'ii �f iTa7 RiTi Create a Board Policy Manual Role of the Chair Role of the Board Members Perform a Charter Review Board Education-What is a Charter School? Perform a Key Policy Review Safety—Physical, Health, Emotional Create a Board of Trustees Informational Update Finalize the Admissions Policy Create Strategic Goals (3 to 5 year plan) Concrete Steps for Head of School and Senior Management Team Perform a Community and Parental Survey Nurture and Bring Community Back Around Adopt a Mantra/Mascot 11117111W Westlake Academy Board Retreat September 12& 13,2008 Page 33 of 36 DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT Salaries for staff are at 1.00%+of our peer institutions There are student teacher mentors WA is a Mentor School BB and Golf Teams are State Champs WA Teachers and Staff are highly qualified There are genuine and sustained links with the Community Facilities are appropriate Arts and Sciences Center Expanded Gym Expanded Track High number of electives Grants are sought and secured Westlake Academy Board Retreat September 12& 13,2008 Page 34 of 36 DRAFT DRAFT Successfully evaluated for all 3 113 Programs Achieve TX Standards Land is secured for expansion There is a dramatic increase in schools modeled after WA 19'►7i......_ Westlake Academy Board Retreat September 12& 13;2008 Page 35 of 36 DRAFT t' • Graduate % IB Diploma Grads %of Graduating Seniors Matriculate to College SAT Scores are in the top % Rated Exemplary High Rates of Student Acceptance at top universities Financially Secure Community School Westlake Academy Board Retreat September 12& 13,2008 Page 36 of 36