INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERS

Improving School Programs through Assessment and Planning

ASSESSING & PLANNINGThe Technical Side of School Improvement

VALUE OF ASSESSING & PLANNING

Assessing and Planning provides the instructional leader with a road map for where the school is going.

Assessing, answers the question How are we doing?… It is a real-time picture of where we are and

where we’ve been Planning answers the question of Where do

we want to go and Which path do we want to take?

WHAT SHOULD YOU BE DOING? You only have so much time where should the

Instructional Leader devote his/her time?

Paperwork?

Observation?

Discipline?

Meetings?

School Improvement?

Interacting with Staff

WHY AREN’T YOU DOING IT? Most school leaders admit that they want to

become Instructional Leaders. They admit that they want to spend more

time observing and interacting with teachers and students.

Why don’t they do it? Time

ANALYZE HOW TIME IS USED?Paperwork

Phone Calls

Private Meetings

Group Meetings

Classroom Visits

Hall and Ground Visits

Private Time

Miscellaneous

ActualPreferred

ANALYZING THE NEED Is there a need to infuse new

technology in the classrooms? How do you know? Conduct a Needs

Analysis… This is a formal review of the past and

current state of technology use. Common Methods include

… Eyes and Ears… Systematic Observation… Surveys

Infuse newtechnology in

all classrooms.

ANALYZING THE NEED Delphi Technique

… A problem statement is circulated amongst the staff.

… Ex. We want to increase the use of technology in the presentation of material and in student displays of learning. What do you think we should do?

… Leader collects all comments compiles them and returns the list to the staff for review.

… The staff reads and synthesizes the various ideas.… The leader compiles the individual lists and sends

to the staff to be ranked.… The ranked list is reviewed by leader the most

frequently listed items are kept and sent to the staff for ranking.

Open-ended Survey

Synthesis

Rank Items

ANALYZING THE NEED In many cases needs are easily understood

by everyone. There are some cases where needs are

complex and underlying causes must also be addressed.

There are several methods one can use for this kind of analysis… Fishbone Diagram… Flow Charts… Pareto Charts

PARETO CHART To create a Pareto Chart

you must have data. Typically this comes from

surveys. This chart represents the

reasons why students dropped out of school their senior year.

The school wanted to create a prevention program.

How is this chart helpful in assessing the need?

PLANNING MODELS There are several models which help in the

planning process.… Affinity Diagrams… Impact Analysis Charts… Gantt Charts

Goal of the models … Organize needs… Group common needs together… Identify underlying causes… Set deadlines

SAMPLE AFFINITY DIAGRAM

Orders Consistently Late Last QuarterCommunications Issues

Sales & Marketing

Fail to alert when price changes may

affect volume

Inconsistent adherence to due

dates

Fail to check production schedule

before promising product

Manufacturing

Fail to keep production schedule

updated

Fail to keep inventory updated

Fail to communicate unscheduled

equipment down-time

Often an Affinity Diagram is made up of post-it notes that are arranged/grouped into categories.

IMPACT ANALYSIS CHART Helps to determine the impact a change will

have on people and things. It also helps us to see the possible effects of

the change. Circles represent the desired change. Triangles represent the People and Things

impacted. Rectangles represent the possible effects of

the impact. Let’s try it out. Practice

Chart

IMPACT ANALYSIS CHARTS

SAMPLE GANTT CHART

COMBINING ASSESSMENT & PLANNING

Often Assessment of Need and Planning for Implementation are considered separate activities.

They are viewed sequentially… First step, assess the need… Second step, plan the implementation

Can these distinct activities be combined and if they are what would the model look like?

Combined Models:… Force Field Analysis… Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA)… Strategic Planning

FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS What does it do?

… It helps to identify goals and objectives… Analyze competing forces… Planning necessary to bring about change

There are 10 processes to complete a Force Field Analysis

FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS MODEL

Where we want to be

Describe this ideal

place

Where we are right

now

Describe if nothing changed

Start

GapDescribe the difference

between where you want to be and where you are

RestrainingDriving

Identify the actions that

will eliminate the

restraining force as part

of the change

Identify the action that

will strengthen the driving

force as part of the

change

PLAN, DO, STUDY, ACT (PDSA CHARTS