The EPNOSL Framework for school leadership action planning AN SL POLICY ACTION PLAN FOR EQUITY AND LEARNING IS AN OPERATIONAL DOCUMENT THAT OFFERS JUSTIFICATIONS ON WHY POLICY ACTION AFFECTING SCHOOL LEADERSHIP SHOULD BE TAKEN, OUTLINES THE OVERARCHING SCHOOL LEADERSHIP POLICY GOALS, SETS PRIORITIES, AND PRESENTS WITH DETAIL THE STRATEGIES, PROGRAMMES, PROJECTS OR OTHER POLICY ACTIONS THAT SHOULD BE IMPLEMENTED BY WHOM (ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES) TO ACHIEVE SPECIFIC GOALS OF A SCHOOL LEADERSHIP POLICY. SUCH AN ACTION PLAN FURTHER SPECIFIES THE BUDGET AS WELL AS OTHER RESOURCES REQUIRED AND THE TIMETABLE FOR EACH POLICY INITIATIVE, DELINEATES THE TARGETS AND EXPECTED OUTPUTS, AND ESTABLISHES THE INDICATORS AND TYPES OF INDICATOR DATA, POLICY ACHIEVEMENT BENCHMARKS AND MONITORING MECHANISMS TO ASSESS WHETHER THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SCHOOL LEADERSHIP POLICY ACTION PLAN AT ITS VARIOUS PHASES HAS BEEN SUCCESSFUL.
An EPNoSL assumption, supported and documented by the work conducted so far, is that in Europe there are established relatively discrete traditions in the governance of school education which essentially shape how leadership is practiced in schools. These traditions are identifiable at the level of autonomy that schools and local authorities historically have in deciding on matters of pedagogy, human resources and budget allocation, and at the level and type of provisions available for the initial preparation and professional development of school leaders. Furthermore, these governance traditions are identifiable at the level of established types of school accountability and their underlying logics as well as at the level of engagement of school stakeholders in day to day school matters. From a policy perspective, the development of a solid School Leadership Policy Action Plan for Equity and Learning at national level (one of the ultimate aims of WP4), is highly beneficial. It provides with credibility to the national SL policy because it shows to SL stakeholders and the school community at large the government’s commitment to put them into practice. It helps policy designers, stakeholders and implementers ensure that all issues related to the SL national policy have been given proper consideration. It makes clear to policy makers, other stakeholders and implementers what can be achieved and what is not possible to achieve given the budget and other available resources and timetable. Further, it promotes efficiency because it can help governments and implementers save time and resources and, finally, can enhance transparency in processes of policy implementation and accountability for all people and agencies involved in the formation and implementation of SL policies for equity and learning.
Action Planning on the basis of School Leadership policy goals School Leadership Policy Action Plan for Equity and Learning requires that a School Leadership policy has already been formulated, at least in its basic form. This means that prior to engage in action planning there should be developed a, preferably widely agreed, policy vision (what we want to become in view of the current state of affairs) and a set of policy goals (what we have to achieve in order to realise our policy vision). From this perspective, our work on the sample regional School Leadership Policy Action Plan for Equity and Learning should be based on the policy goals that have been