2 Steps in developing a school development action plan

2.1 Identifying key issues > where are we now?

 Assess the current situation of the school using SWOC and the School Administration and School Information System

 Decide which weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges can be solved by the school/community, and decide which ones should be given priority

2.2 Consulting school level stakeholders

 Skills to conduct interviews and focused group discussions

 Preparing a small number of topics for interviews or focused discussions related to the priority education issues you identified. The topics may be different for different groups of respondents i.e., teachers, S/C members, parents, pupils, etc.

 Tools and techniques to analyse problems with different stakeholders to capture their views on problems and solutions for school improvement using: o Problem trees o Grouping of problems o Solution trees (recycle problems into solutions) o Ranking problems, to prioritise them

2.3 Preparing the school development action plan --> where do we want to be?

 Turn solutions into objectives and SMART targets that you hope to achieve

 Indicate possible activities which need to be undertaken in order to achieve the target

 Identify resources and assess costs (how much?)

 Identify who will be responsible for what

2.4 Monitoring the implementation of the school development action plan

 Monitoring progress made when implementing the school development action plan

2.5 Communicating on school improvement against the school development action plan targets and objectives > are we improving?

 Regular updating of the notice board on school development action plan achievements

 Communication with the community on achievement of school development action plan targets (or lack thereof and reasons why)

2.1 Assessing the current situation, where are we now?

There are two ways to find out how your school is doing i) make a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunity and Challenge (SWOC) analysis, and ii) analyse and interpret your SIS data and records. Both are important when developing your School Development Action Plan.

2.1.1 Identifying key issues - SWOC

School development planning is a means to have a greater say over what happens in school (in partnership with the community). For the success of the school development action plan, it is important that you assess for each of the five SDP components1 how your school is doing (knowing where you are now).

To assess the current situation of the school you can use the SWOC matrixes below. The matrixes below are an easy way to get an overview of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities or Challenges of your school.

A "strength" is something the school is good at, and that an "opportunity" is something outside the school which the head teacher can use for school improvement (like the EQUIP-T teacher training, community contributions)

A "weakness" of the school is something the head teacher and school stakeholders can improve, and that a "challenge" is something the school can not solve but has an impact on the school (like pupils being hungry because a drought destroyed the harvest).

There are five SWOC matrixes, each covering one of the School Development Action Plan parts:

Section:

School resources (books, desks, etc.) and infra-structure (building, classrooms, etc)

Human resources (pupils, teachers, non-teaching staff, S/C)

Financial management (source of income, expenditure)

1 School resources and finance, Teaching and learning, Gender responsive school environment, School improvement, and Community involvement

Information collection and recording (SIS) (accuracy, reliability, up-to-date)

Part 2. Teaching and learning

Section:

Professional development of teachers (INSET training, indoor training, peer-topeer learning, etc.)

Monitor implementation of PDPs (classroom observations, lesson plans)

School-based support teachers in improving pupil's learning outcomes

Monitor pupil performance

Major strengths of the school Major weaknesses of the school

Main opportunities for the school Main challenges

Part 3. Gender responsive, positive school environment

Section:

School data and information interpreted in terms of gender and equity issues

Gender equity in school governance and operations (members of the S/M; school management m/f; prefects m/f; etc)

Teachers applying

Major strengths of the school Major weaknesses of the school

Main opportunities for the school Main challenges gender responsive pedagogy (equal distribution of available text books over boys/girls, etc)

Sexual Harassment and Bullying Policy and Procedures

Section:

School data and information are collected, recorded and up-to-date (SIS)

Community involvement in school improvement (PTP activities)

Lead and monitor school development plan implementation

Record progress made (monitoring)

Major strengths of the school Major weaknesses of the school

Main opportunities for the school Main challenges

Section:

Community involvement in development planning Democratic decision-making

Major strengths of the school Major weaknesses of the school

Main opportunities for the school Main challenges

2.1.2 The School Administration and School Information System2 (SIS)

The School Administration and the School Information System are tools for school data collection and recording, and therefore essential for school development action planning and management. Reliable data are the basis for decision-making based on facts, not on opinions or guesses.

School Administration and School Information Systems can involve many different types of information but they usually cover:

 Attendance (teacher and student)

 Physical resources

 Student Performance

 Student Welfare

 Finances

 Human Resource Information

 Policies and Procedures

 Professional Development and Training (SIS, EQUIP-T training in reading and writing)

 School Activities record sheet (SIS)

 WEC school visits/meetings (SIS)



Having the information about your school well organised and up-to-date means that you can identify problems and successes much more easily and precisely (i.e., you know the size of the problem). The SIS data also substantiate i.e., provide evidence for the problems you have identified.

Data from the School Administration and the SIS are essential when preparing your School Development Action Plan (see paragraph 2.3) and the budget.

2 Your SLM training 2 guide explains how to fill in the records of the School Information System

2.2 Consulting community and school level stakeholders

2.2.1 Who to talk with?

After having analysed and identified key issues for school improvement, you need to consult relevant school and community level stakeholders i.e., a person or persons with an interest in what is going on in school to find realistic solutions.

Who to involve in identifying solutions depends on the kind of problem you want to discuss. Remember that which stakeholder you need to consult (parents, S/C members or sections, pupils, teachers, etc.) depends on the issue you want to discuss > don't talk about people, talk with them:

 Some problems, like absence of teachers, or low performance of teachers, need to be solved by the head teacher together with the teacher(s)

 Some school issues or problems can be solved only in cooperation with parents (i.e., parents attitude towards the school may mean that they do not want to send their child to school, or girls dropping out at an early age) or other community stakeholders

The Table below will help you to plan which stakeholders to involve, how to best involve them, where and when.

The "who, how, when, where" Table Who

(Some examples of stakeholders that might be involved are given below but who to involve depends on the kind of problem you want to discuss/solve)

How

(In this column you may indicate what methods or tools you will use to consult school level stakeholders)

Teachers Teacher meetings (focused group discussion)

Girls

Boys

School committee (section, or member)

Parents

When Where

During all meetings and discussions you need to record and summarise the issues for solving priority problems.

2.2.2 Consultation Skills

There are two important skills for conducting successful interviews and focused group discussions, listening skill and questioning skills. In Annex 1 you can find detailed information on how to conduct interviews, group discussion, and about effective listening and questioning skills.

Remember that a good interviewer directs the discussion to matters which the interviewee(s) can deal with and improve (in the case of our teacher his/her lesson plans, being on time, apply INSET training skills, etc.)

2.2.3 Consultation Tools and Techniques

To analyse a problem with different stakeholders you can use the problem trees technique. It is a technique which makes it easy for stakeholders to find causes and root-causes of a problem.

In Annex 2 you will find more information on the purpose and the use of the problem tree.

2.3 Preparing the annual school development action plan

The school development action plan is a structured way to plan what you want to improve the coming school year. Before you can plan "where you want to be", you need to know "where you are now".

The School Development Action Plan:

 Has five coloured rows, each row is one of the five components of the new SDP

 Above each coloured row, their is space to write the "objective" for that component

 Has a column for "targets" and one for "activities"

 Has columns to indicate the "timing" of activities i.e., 12 sub-columns, each indicating one month

 Has a column for "resources" and a column for "amount" to indicate what resource is needed, how much, and where does it come from

 Has a column for "person responsible" to indicate who will make sure that the activity is conducted

 That we can time when activities are planned to be conducted (when does an activity starts and when it needs to be finished), and

 When activities are actually implemented (progress to date). This is done during SDP implementation i.e., during the school year

Through the SWOC analysis and the interpretation of School Administration and SIS data and records, you have identified a number of key issues and opportunities for the improvement of your school.

Through consultations you have identified solutions and priorities.

Based on this information, you can now fill in the School Development Action Plan format:

 Phrase objectives (one for at least three of the five school development action plan components)

 Set targets which are SMART > Specific, Measurable, Affordable, Realistic and Time-bound (there need to be more than one target for each objective)

 Decide what actions need to be taken to achieve each target (to achieve a targets you need to undertake several activities)

 Indicate who is responsible for what part of the SDP, Who will be responsible for making sure that activities are conducted (as planned)

 Indicate what resources may be needed (different type of financial resources and human resources, materials), the amount, and for what activities

Definition of "objective":

 An objective is an intention, something aimed for

 An objective is longer term

 An objective can not be achieved easily or quickly

 One objective has more than one target

Definition of "target":

 A target is an intermediate step which helps to achieve the objective

 A target is SMART > Specific, Measurable, Affordable, Realistic, and has a Time frame

 A number of activities are necessary to achieve one target

 Activities need to be in a logical and chronological sequence (it is no use to conduct training if the training materials are not ready)

Who is responsible for managing which part of SDP implementation needs to be clear and agreed upon.

Who acts when there is no or limited progress and how?

The head teacher is responsible for keeping an overview and managing SDP implementation through delegation of tasks.

Information on progress made (implementation of the SDP) needs to be collected regularly so that problems/delays with achievement of targets is spotted as early as possible (and action can be taken on time)

Don't forget, you have developed a WEC support plan which indicates what support you need and when for the finalisation of your School Development Action Plan. Ask support if you need it!

What to do next? When?

Which stakeholders will be involved?

How will I consult them (which skills and techniques will I use)?

Who will support me?

School Development Plan (1-year action plan) ….

Name of the school: School vision:

Ward: School year ….