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Services :: Strategic Planning

No more SPOTS! A strategic plan on the shelf helps no one. If you want to truly improve school and student performance, a local strategic plan should be the paramount policy for your school system. Gather your best thinkers to use the Alabama Association of School Boards’ sustainable, systemic approach to strategic school system improvement.

Our comprehensive strategic planning process engages the community and is a positive step toward meeting AdvancED accreditation requirements. It’s transparent, inclusive and may be exactly what your system needs to boost student achievement.

Choose the full package or opt to use any of these helpful options:

  • Strategic Planning Whole Board Workshop
  • Strategic Planning Service
  • Facilitated Goal Setting Whole Board Workshop
  • Data First Whole Board Workshop
  • Are You Looking at the Right Numbers? Workshop

Strategic Planning Whole Board Workshop

Why is strategic planning so crucial and what does the process involve? Effective school boards know the value of a strategic plan. The strategic planning process helps boards gain community buy-in, improve student performance and move toward organizational excellence. What are the dos and don’ts? Get practical advice and learn the mechanics of a quality strategic planning process. The Strategic Planning Whole Board Workshop is included in the price of the AASB Strategic Planning Service. However, any school board may request the training for a fee. This workshop can satisfy the 2 hours of state-required whole board training.

Optional Precursors to Strategic Planning

Data First Whole Board Workshop

Is your board able to identify and understand the data that will be most helpful in informing decisions? This introductory data workshop teaches boards how to read various types of reports and to use cost-benefit analysis when looking at a program’s value. Boards also learn ways to help their communities get a clearer picture of school system performance. Follow this primer with Are You Looking at the Right Numbers? for a deeper look at data. This stand-alone workshop can satisfy the 2-hour training requirement for whole boards.

Are You Looking at the Right Numbers? Whole Board Workshop

This advanced level data workshop is dynamic and grounded in research. It gives you a detailed look at the data types available to Alabama school boards and suggests questions you may ask to ensure your school system’s continuous improvement. It helps boards learn how to use data and questions to drive school improvement and to effectively use data in decision making. It is a logical next step for those who have had Data First training. This workshop can stand alone and satisfies the 2-hour training requirement for whole boards. Customize it for a more hands-on, data specific experience.

Facilitated Goal Setting Whole Board Workshop

Goals are crucial to the success of any organization. Strategic plans generally establish long-term goals, but what if your board needs to plan for the short term? If your board-superintendent team is determining its annual goals, AASB can help you identify and analyze critical school system data and set goals for improvement. This workshop can stand alone, be used as a precursor to strategic planning or serve as a stopgap between strategic plans. This session can be used as a stand-alone training or as part of AASB’s strategic planning service. A fee is charged for this stand-alone workshop that may be used as a precursor to strategic planning or a stopgap between strategic plans. It can satisfy the 2-hour training requirement for whole boards.



Strategic Planning Service

Eliminate confusion about what matters most. Lead necessary change with a strong strategic plan that guides your school system’s people and processes. Develop effective strategies for identifying and addressing your school system’s highest priorities with the AASB Strategic Planning Service. This fee-based service includes a vision and mission checkup. This comprehensive service is:

  • Driven by you – AASB consults and works as an extension of your team, but the process is entirely driven and owned by your board, superintendent, school system and community
  • Flexible – Choose to use any or all components of the service
  • Customizable – No one-size-fits-all plans here. We’ll work with you to customize the service to fit your school system’s unique needs

Our multi-step service uses a strategic planning process designed specifically for school boards.

Training

Your board-superintendent team is in the driver’s seat of this process, but we want you to be aware of the basics, dos, don’ts, tips and best practices. Every school system should also know where it is, where it wants to go, how it plans to get there and how it will know when it has arrived. To cover these bases, AASB jumpstarts its service with a Strategic Planning Whole Board Workshop. Determine your system’s strengths and weaknesses and what threats and opportunities it faces through completion of a SWOT analysis. The board-superintendent team begins identifying goals that can be fleshed out in the strategic planning process.

Facilitation

If your school system has no strategic plan, you may not know where to start. Perhaps your system recently completed its previous plan and has found it difficult to reset and take a fresh look at the issues. Our service eases you into the process. AASB provides a trained consultant/facilitator to serve as your guide through each step of the strategic planning process.

Community Engagement

Highly effective school boards embrace community engagement. AASB involves your community in the strategic planning process by soliciting feedback on issues and gauging their expectations for the process. This fosters co-ownership of education in your community and support for school system progress. AASB will meet with community stakeholders for a focus group discussion and/or a communitywide meeting. AASB will then report its findings to the board and, if requested, suggest how the planning team and action teams may use the information.

Strategic Meetings

The service includes meetings with the planning and action teams. Throughout the process, your action team(s) will have access to the consultant to ask questions and seek direction.

Review & Adoption

It is normal for a strategic plan to go through several revisions before it goes to the board for a vote. Strategic plan review and plan implementation review are included in the AASB service. When you are ready to present your draft strategic plan, AASB will assist with the presentation. Some boards may choose to share the draft with school personnel. Others may review the draft, work through any revisions and seek AASB’s assistance with presenting the draft plan to the school board for adoption.

Follow-Up

When the strategic plan is approved and the dust settles, AASB is there for your board. Have concerns about implementation or a plan component? Want to ask questions? AASB will facilitate and conduct one follow up meeting with the board and superintendent six months after the plan is adopted.



Strategic Planning Service Levels
Silver
  • Includes Strategic Planning WBT session
  • Includes one Community Engagement session (focus group format only)
  • Includes half-day planning team session and action team meeting
  • Includes review of plan for errors or inconsistencies
  • Includes presentation of plan to board for approval
  • Facilitate one additional meeting with the board after plan is adopted
Gold
  • Includes Strategic Planning WBT session and goal setting
  • Includes one Community Engagement session (focus group or community-wide meeting)
  • Includes full-day planning team session and action team meeting
  • Includes answers/direction via email or phone for action team members
  • Includes review of plan for errors or inconsistencies
  • Includes presentation of plan to board for approval
  • Facilitate one additional meeting with the board after plan is adopted
Platinum
  • Includes Strategic Planning WBT session and mission/vision/goal setting
  • Includes two Community Engagement sessions (focus group and/or community-wide meetings)
  • Includes full-day planning team session and action team meeting
  • Includes answers/direction via email or phone for action team members
  • Includes review of plan for errors or inconsistencies
  • Includes presentation of plan to board for approval
  • Facilitate one additional meeting with the board after plan is adopted
  • Includes review of implementation plan
  • Includes presentations for school personnel if requested
  • Includes review of School Improvement Plans (SIPs) to ensure alignment