3 Reflections to Lead School Improvement Planning

The end of the school year calls for both reflection and planning. In the midst of drafting master schedules and reimagining resources, school leadership teams must also take stock of what worked and what no longer serves their students and staff.

Assessing impact in the current year while also planning for the next can be overwhelming. It is even more so when you consider the increasing number of priorities that come with closing out the school year like standardized testing, setting the budget, and end-of-year celebrations – just to name a few. 

There is an abundance of “how-tos” and “how-nots” when it comes to school improvement planning, but the expertise needed to make the right decisions for your school or district often lies within your team. 

Use these three reflection prompts to unpack this school year and plan for the next.

1. At the beginning of the school year, what was the vision and goals for your students? For your team? How was that vision crafted?

A clear vision and strategy help orient your team and your shared work. Identifying a vision for both achievement and experience is paramount to shifting the work toward your desired outcomes. As you think about your vision for this last school year, recall how it was developed. Was it done alone or were others invited into the process? 

By inviting others into the vision and strategy creation process, leadership multiplies. As the next iteration of the vision is developed, leverage the expertise across your team and across roles to increase the ownership of vision, strategy, and outcomes. 

2. How did you support your team in the facilitation of this vision? 

Supportive administration, whether on the district or the school level, is a key part of retaining talent and expertise. How leaders choose to not just involve staff in the vision and strategy but also support the work is pivotal for both retention and seeing that vision come to fruition. According to the EdWeek Research Center, of educators polled, having a more supportive principal/manager was the top reason they chose to stay in the profession. 

As you reflect on this past year, what supports did you and other leaders offer to your team? Where could you shift your practice to be more supportive and attuned to staff needs? 

3. How were capacity and resources aligned to support the vision and strategy for the year?

Capacity and resources are finite. That is a universal truth across education and across roles within each district and school. How you organize capacity and resources, however, can significantly impact the realization of your shared vision and strategy. 

Consider how your team spent time this year. Was collaboration and planning time prioritized in the schedule? Was there space for cross-team learning? Time is just one of many resources you can leverage in support of your vision. Download our tool, Reimaging Your Resources, to facilitate a 90-minute discussion and recalibrate your resources to your shared vision. 

As you dive into reflection, we invite you to extend that into team learning and discussion. Check out our book, Small Shifts, Meaningful Improvement, for additional tools and case studies on how to apply a collective leadership approach to your school improvement planning.