7 Best Practices for a Better School Improvement Planning

A Business Insider article states that as of 2019, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology is the number one school in the US, with an average graduation rate of 99%. Number two is the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, and number three is the Walter Payton College Prep. What do you think enabled these schools to achieve a reputable status? If your answer is thorough improvement planning, then you’re absolutely right.

7 Best Practices for a Better School Improvement Planning

If you want your private school to reap the same success as the top three schools, you need to amp up your improvement planning game. How? Well, you have to focus on the process first instead of the results. Many institutions set their eyes on the outcomes too much and overlook the steps to get there. In the end, they won’t achieve every objective on their checklist. So, without further ado, we’ll show you seven best practices to make your improvement planning process better.

Develop a Culture of Innovation

Improving certain aspects of your school is a collaborative effort. It’s impossible to do it through a one-person show. You need the help of other stakeholders in your school to make it successful. For that reason, you should develop a culture of innovation in your school. Students, teachers, parents, and administrators must acknowledge their involvement in the school’s timely changes. Each of them has a role to play, regardless of how big or small it is.

So, if the time comes when your school will undergo innovations, everyone who is a part of it will be ready to contribute and participate. The stakeholders of your school will have a harmonious collaboration.

Set Long-Term Goals

The practice of setting long-term goals isn’t limited to creating a startup business plan or proposal. It also applies in planning for improvements and innovations. Long-term goals are what makes your school improvement plans sustainable. You see, if your goals are long-term, it means you’re foreseeing the future landscape of education and enabling your school to adapt in time. Thus, making your plans sustainable. In this case, you have to do extensive research and analysis of your school’s future needs. In other words, you have to act like a futurist.

Focus on Student Outcomes

Whatever plans you have in store for your school, it has to have an element that can help in meeting student outcomes. After all, your school’s primary purpose is to deliver quality education. So, you should target that to make your improvement plans fruitful.

Take the top three schools we’ve mentioned earlier as an example. All of them have a 99% average graduation rate. How did they do it? Well, they revitalized and tailor-made their programs, training regimes, and curriculums to meet their student outcomes. Hence, they were able to provide enough support for their students to achieve academic success.

Focusing on student outcomes should never be out of the equation. Each significant change and innovation in your school should contribute to the optimization of the students’ academic experience. In that way, all the budget that you’ll invest in school improvements will translate to significant returns.

Connect with Various Industries

Always remember that your school is an integral part of the economy. You might know it, but indeed it is. Educational institutions like your school are the providers of competent workers and professionals in society. Your graduates could replenish the workforce needs of countless employers. That said, having a connection with various industries in the economy is a great practice.

Connecting with industries doesn’t necessarily mean your school has to be affiliated with any of them directly. Knowing the current trends and demands of the sectors is already a way of making a connection. Once you do that, you can gather the best ideas for your school’s improvement plan, particularly in enhancing its educational programs and curriculum. Subsequently, your school can equip its students better for their future as working professionals. In return, many employers from different industries might recognize your school for its capability to produce competent graduates.

Understand the Benefit of Partnerships

At times, your school’s funding won’t be enough to finance large-scale improvements. That’s why it’s important to arrange partnerships with businesses. They can help you with funding the projects of your school as long as they can get something in return. Your association with potential business partners should be a give and take kind of relationship.

However, before you sign a contract or agreement to finalize a partnership, assess the potential business partner first. You have to ensure that they have mutual goals with your school. More importantly, you need to know whether their principles aren’t contradicting with your school’s core values and standards. The reason why you should do that is to avoid partnerships that can cause unwanted conflicts. Partnerships should always be a win-win situation.

Know the Importance of Marketing

In starting a school campaign of any sort, you need to execute effective marketing strategies. The innovations in your school won’t get any attention if you don’t market them in public. For example, if your school has a newly-established online enrollment alternative, it won’t attract that many enrollees if you didn’t devise an admissions marketing plan for it. In general, marketing will put your school on the map. So, whatever improvement plans you have, make sure that certain marketing tactics are also in place.

Take the Initiative

Last but not least is to take the initiative. All the planning you did together with other stakeholders will be for nothing if there won’t be any action. So, along with your improvement plans, each of them should have a corresponding action plan. The stakeholders must know their role during the process so that things will be smooth-sailing. In other words, you have to walk the talk. Make your plans for a better school a reality.

By integrating these seven practices into your principles in improvement planning, your school will reach its full potential. Soon, it’ll become a more trustworthy and notable educational establishment. And who knows? Your school might even join the ranks of 2019’s top three schools.

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