Strategic Planning: A Process of Empowerment

The Intent of Strategic Planning

Why create a strategic plan for your organization? Whether you are a small business, school, or international company, a strategic plan helps you to

Create a shared vision for where you are heading.
Align actions and impacts from different levels of your organization.
Simplify decision-making.
Develop strategies and actions to create a positive future state.
Outline data and evidence needed to monitor progress.
Allocate resources to initiatives that will create desired changes.

The Unhelpful Side of Strategic Planning

There is a difference between having an ineffective strategic plan and having an ineffective action within a strategic plan. A working strategic plan will have you gather evidence so that you shift your action plans if a strategy is not having the impact you are hoping for. An ineffective strategic plan results in you having no idea if an action is having an impact, causing us to continue doing and dedicating finite resources to ineffective actions. It is possible to have useful strategies within an ineffective plan, making it hard to create systemic and sustainable change.

An ineffective strategic plan might have the following features:

It does not reflect current state.
- A working strategic plan reflects current trends, research, and actions being taken within our organizations. It is a living document that shifts over time.
It does not have buy in.
- A working strategic plan is co-constructed by key stakeholders and is known to all employees and managers.
It is not used.
- A working strategic plan is used to determine resource allocation, professional development plans, actions of staff, and evidence gathering.
It is too broad.
- A working strategic plan is simple and focuses on what is most important within your organization. Too many actions and outcomes can spread time and resources out too much and reduce impact of what is most needed.
It is too vague.
- A working strategic plan has clear actions, impacts, timelines, and responsibilities. Using specific terms can help everyone in an organization know expectations and roles.
It includes ineffective strategies.
- A working strategic plan is a form of action research. There is no guarantee that an action is going to produce a desired outcome. What is important is that data collection is timely and specific so that your organization can shift strategies if needed. Be aware, however, that often time is needed for implementation and understanding in order to have a desired impact.

Traditional Strategic Planning: A Deficit View

Traditional strategic planning methods go through a cycle of problem identification and solution generation and implementation. Traditional strategic planning methods can lead to a deficit view.

Rather than a deficit view of what your organization is not doing, or not doing well, a strategic planning process should identify where you want to go, what you are already doing that might help, and how you might leverage the strengths of your organization to get there. By empowering your employees with a positively intentional view of your organization’s impact, it is possible to design a future state and the steps to get there. When an organization works with others to achieve its goals, identifying the influence you have on others and the influence they have on you, along with the steps you might take to achieve the influence you are seeking should be a part of your strategic action plan.

Hopeful and Helpful Strategic Planning Processes

There are three key theories of strategic planning that work well when viewed as part of a holistic process:

Appreciative Inquiry
Outcome Mapping
Logic Modelling

Appreciative Inquiry

There are a series of stages built into the Appreciative Inquiry process:

1. Discovery: What are we currently doing well?

Ideas are themed and patterns emerge related to organizational strengths. This process allows organizations to focus on positive capacity.

2. Dream: What is the world calling us to become?

What are the things about our organization that no matter how much we change, we want to continue into our new and different future?

3. Design: What should be our ideal state?

Co-constructed ideas are grounded in what we are currently doing well, opportunities that are apparent, and organizational capacity.

4. Destiny/Delivery:

How do we empower, learn and plan for actions to reach our ideal state?

Along with steps in the Appreciative Inquiry cycle, there are a number of foundational principles that guide conversations and planning:

You can learn more about Appreciative Inquiry with the following resources:

Outcome Mapping

Where does outcome mapping fit into Appreciative Inquiry? Within the Design Phase, those organizations that work collaboratively with other groups in a mutually influential role can utilize facets of outcome mapping to identify actions, outcomes, and desirable observable behaviours. Here is a helpful introduction to Outcome Mapping from Sara Earl.

Strategic action planning and program evaluation involve the following steps:

In order to have an impact, people and organizations need to change behaviours. This occurs within the Outcomes stage. When we see ourselves and our organization as a part of a large web of interdependent entities in relationship with one another, we can view change as

Continuous
Complex
Non-linear
Multidirectional
Not controllable

People and organizations contribute to the goals of others through influence rather than control.

Program Evaluation as Formative Assessment

Program evaluation is built into strategic planning so that progress can be monitored. When viewed as formative assessment, program evaluation can provide real-time information to inform decisions regarding action plans, inputs, and innovations within your organization. Are the actions you are taking resulting in the outcomes you have identified?

	Traditional Evaluations	Evaluation as Formative Assessment
Purpose	Supports improvement, summative tests, and accountability. Renders definitive judgments of success or failure.	Supports development of innovation and adaptation in dynamic environments. Provides feedback, generate learnings, support direction or affirm changes in direction.
Roles & Relationships	Positioned as an outsider to assure independence and objectivity.	Positioned as an internal team function and ongoing interpretive processes.
Accountability	Focused on and directed to external authorities and funders.	Centered on the innovators’ deep sense of fundamental values and commitments.
Design	Design the evaluation based on linear cause-effect logic models.	Design the evaluation to capture system dynamics, interdependencies, and emergent interconnections.
Measurement	Measure performance and success against pre-determined goals and SMART outcomes.	Develops measures and tracking mechanisms quickly as outcomes emerge and evolve.
Evaluation results	Aim to produce generalizable findings across time and space. Evaluation engenders fear of failure.	Aim to produce context-specific understandings that inform ongoing innovation. Evaluation supports hunger for learning.
Complexity and uncertainty	To control and locate blame for failures.	Learning to respond to lack of control and stay in touch with what’s unfolding and thereby respond strategically.

(Quinn Patton, 2006)

Boundary Partners

Boundary partners are a term used within Outcome Mapping to describe those groups or organizations that you work with directly and anticipate opportunities to be mutually influential. Outcome Mapping identifies behavioural changes in your boundary partners as being a key measurable towards your goals. This is due to the fact that “development is done by and for people. Although a program can influence the achievement of outcomes, it cannot control them. This is because ultimately the responsibility rests with the people affected” (Earl, 2008).

Progress Markers

Progress markers (Earl, 2008) are a set of statements describing a progression of changed behaviours in a boundary partner. These describe:

Actions
Activities
Relationships

Leading to the ideal outcome. These markers show the complexity of the change process and have the following characteristics:

Can be monitored and observed
Permit on-going assessment of boundary partner progress, including unintended results

The ladder of change can be applied to any progress marker:

Beginning: Expect to see.
Mid-Term: Like to see.
Final: Love to see.

To understand more about Boundary Partners and Progress Markers, watch Sara Earl’s Explanation.

You can learn more about Outcome Mapping through the following resources:

Logic Model

A logic model (Taylor-Powell & Henert, 2008) has many different forms and is a structured way to note specific inputs and activities of an organization and how they lead to outcomes over short, medium and long-term timelines. A logic model can be used in conjunction with other strategic planning processes and is a useful organizer.

You can learn more about creating a logic model through the following resources:

A Simplified Process

The following Seven Steps for Strategic Planning encompass all three of these foundational processes.

Area of Focus
- What from your state or provincial priorities resonate with you as an area of need for your students and staff? What are you seeing that indicates this is something your organization should focus on?
- What does your data say? What is your present state?
- What are you currently doing that is particularly effective in this area? How do you know?
- What do your students need you to focus your creativity and energy on?
- What changes would benefit your students and staff?
Who are you trying to influence?
- For schools, students are the most obvious group you are trying to influence.
- Who else’s behaviour are you hoping to influence through this strategic plan? What individuals, groups, or organizations?
What might happen if your plan is successful?
- In general terms, what impact are you hoping to have?
- What are the desired behaviours, relationships, beliefs and actions of those you are hoping to influence?
- What would you expect to see? like to see? love to see?
What might you as an organization DO to contribute to these changes?
- What are you currently doing that works towards these impacts?
- What might you do in the future?
- Who might lead this work? Who might participate in this work?
What resources might you need?
- What systemic structures might need to be in place?
- What time, money, and other resources are required?
- Where might these resources come from? be reallocated from?
What are the outcomes you expect to see? There are two ways of viewing outcomes:
- Logic Chain:
  - What are the short term, or direct behavior changes that might result from your actions? These are often LEAD indicators (behaviours that might predict a future state or success). These short term outcomes are often teacher behaviours.
  - If those happen, then what medium term then long term, or indirect behaviour changes and outcomes might be influenced by your actions? Some of these are LEAD indicators, while others are LAG indicators (behaviours in current state that are based on past actions and performance).
- Behaviour Progression:
  - Consider the group whose behaviour you would like to influence. What might you EXPECT to see? LIKE to see? LOVE to see?
How might you monitor your progress?
- What evidence might tell you about the implementation of your actions?
- What evidence might tell you about the efficacy of shifts in organizational practices and structures?
- What evidence might tell you about your outcomes?
  - Changes in behaviours.
  - Lead and lag indicators.
- Consider using Wellman and Lipton’s Collaborative Inquiry Method and Collaborative Inquiry Worksheet for investigating your data.

By working through an integrated process for strategic planning, you can empower your organization to look beyond a deficit view of present state and work towards a desired future. By having an action plan for the steps to getting to your future state, it is possible to measure progress as formative assessment, providing a continuous feedback loop for your organization.

References

Earl, S. (2008, June 20). Outcome Mapping Pt 1. Retrieved December 13, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPL_KEUawnc

MacDonald, N., & Simister, N. (2015). INTRAC: Outcome Mapping. Oxford, United Kingdom. Retrieved from https://www.intrac.org/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Monitoring-and-Evaluation-Series-Outcome-Mapping-14.pdf

Quinn Patton, M. (2006). Evaluation for the Way We Work. The Non-Profit Quarterly(Spring), 28-33. Retrieved December 13, 2018, from https://www.scribd.com/document/8233067/Michael-Quinn-Patton-Developmental-Evaluation-2006#download

Springboard Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) Community. (2015). How to Develop; a Logic Model. Retrieved from Compass: https://www.thecompassforsbc.org/how-to-guides/how-develop-logic-model-0

Stavros, J., Godwin, L., & Cooperrider, D. (2016). Appreciateive Inquiry: Organization Development and the Strengths Revolution. In W. J. Rothwell, J. Stavros, & R. L. Sullivan, Practicing Organizaiton Development: Leading Transformation and Change (4th Ed) (pp. 96-116). Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons Inc. doi:https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781119176626

Taylor-Powell, E., & Henert, E. (2008, February). Developing a Logic Model: Teaching and Training Guide. Retrieved December 13, 2018, from https://peerta.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/public/uploaded_files/Logic%20Model%20Guide.pdf

Wellman, B., & Lipton, L. (2017). Data-Driven Dialogue. Charlotte: MiraVia.

White, D. (n.d.). Six Reasons Your Strategic Plan Isn’t Working. Retrieved from Allen, Gibbs & Houlik CPA’s & Advisors: https://aghlc.com/resources/articles/2016/6-reasons-your-strategic-plan-isnt-working-160824.aspx

Wilkinson, M. (2011, October 18). Why You Need a Plan: 5 Good Reasons. Retrieved from Free Management Library: https://managementhelp.org/blogs/strategic-planning/2011/10/18/why-you-need-a-plan-5-good-reasons/

May 27, 2021 0

Planning for Outcomes-Based Assessment

Outcomes-Based Assessment (OBA) has been on our educator radar for years. I have the pleasure of working with groups of teachers throughout Saskatchewan to dig into what we know, what we wonder about and examine logistical barriers or problems to solve in order to move forward.

What do teachers know? What do teachers wonder about?

Professional development needs to surface teacher knowledge, including any misconceptions that might exist. Too often, professional learning facilitators assume that educators do not know anything so begin from the beginning… or assume that educators know everything and are choosing to resist change. I would argue teachers know a lot… and they, as a collective, want to do best for students and learning. Just like in a classroom, misconstruction of knowledge can occur. It is our job as learning facilitators to use our formative assessment skills to expose understanding and misunderstanding so that we know what to do next.

When teachers are asked, What do you know about Outcomes-Based Assessment? Their answers might be similar to those generated in NLSD:

It is important when broad statements are made that they are clarified by the group.

Clarification may be needed on the term ‘learning behaviours’. These include things like attendance, behaviour, neatness, compliance with assignment expectations. Schools or systems may have other ways to communicate these ‘Hidden Curriculum’ expectations to students and parents outside of their academic achievement scores.
Clarification may be needed around the idea that assessment is based on “where they are at right now… can change over time”. An example where a student shows competency later in the year after that unit of study has been completed. This may raise some logistical questions around how this would work within a student information system or what impact this idea has on reporting. Once specific questions or logistical barriers surface, it is possible for a school or system to determine procedures so that they can have consistency.

As Tomas Guskey states, there is NO best practice in grading. There are ‘better’ practices that we want to embrace, but there is no universal, standardized and mechanical way to generate a grade for our students. This was an empowering point with teachers to know that their professional judgment, based on an understanding of curricular outcomes and observable student behaviours, is the most important assessment practice.

Along with what educators know, it is vital that we surface what they wonder about. Questions can frame teachers’ professional inquiry for a day of learning, as well as indicate what they need to be emphasized within the agenda. Typical questions around this topic may be:

How do I translate an outcomes-based assessment rubric into a %?
How do we gather, translate and score observations and conversations so that they ‘count’ like products?
What might a teacher daybook/unit plan look like using outcomes-based assessment?
Is all assessment outcome-based assessment?
What do we do if an assignment is late or not handed in?
What is the minimum/maximum number of indicators that we need to assess in order to maintain the integrity of the outcome?
How do we use outcome-based assessment in cross-curricular teaching?

It is important that participants choose which question(s) they are most invested in to solve, and provided time within a professional learning experience to discuss possible solutions with colleagues.

Assessment practices are founded on both beliefs and knowledge. A Talking Points Strategy can help to have small groups explore and surface their beliefs about assessment.

Starting with Curriculum

Learning targets are based on curricular outcomes. There are a number of different unit and lesson planning templates used in education. One useful process is to use a thinking map. This graphic organizer allows us to see the connections amongst curricular outcomes, instructional activities and assessment criteria.

Starting in the centre, teachers can identify the connections between the nouns (concepts) and verbs (observable behaviours) of the curriculum with the activities that allow students to show those behaviours. The assessment criteria should be related to the curriculum rather than the activity.

For example, in Saskatchewan Science 10, one part of the SCI10-CD1 Outcome: Assess the implications of human actions on the local and global climate and the sustainability of ecosystems. Some of the indicators related to this outcome might be addressed in the following progression:

By unpacking into a circular thinking map, it is possible to see how the concepts and observable behaviours work together. This will lead to a holistic view of curriculum that eradicates the question of how many indicators are important to address.

Principles of Assessment

Rick Stiggins has developed a set of key ideas related to classroom assessment:

(Chapuis, Commodore, Stiggins, 2016)

From Criteria to Rubrics

There are a variety of assessment tools, including checklists, portfolios, and rubrics. They all rely on clear learning targets or criteria for student success. What does success look like? What are we looking for?

Expanding on clear learning targets, Sue Brookhart shares some of her ideas on building high-quality rubrics.

Sue Brookhart’s ideas have been incorporated into this simple editable Rubric Worksheet.

Formative and Summative Assessment

Too often, formative assessment is defined as ‘things that are not marked’, while summative assessment is defined as “things that are graded at the end of a unit”. This implies that learners can only show understanding that ‘counts’ at the end of a unit of study. So what happens to all of their thinking, work and brilliance along the way? Is it possible that a learning and assessment experience might be both or either for different students? Is it possible that formative and summative assessment are interconnected?

Definitions

One definition for assessment is the ways in which instructors gather data about their teaching and students’ learning (Northern Illinois University, Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center). This definition implies that assessment’s purpose is multi-faceted – to inform students and teachers regarding student understanding as well as to inform teachers about their practice in teaching. Assessment, whether it is formative or summative, is a snap-shot in time that changes with instruction and understanding.

Formative Assessment

In his book, Embedding Formative Assessment, Dylan Wiliam defines Formative Assessment as:

“An assessment functions formatively to the extent that evidence about student achievement is elicited, interpreted, and used by teachers, learners, or their peers to make decisions about the next steps in instruction that are likely to be better, or better founded, than the decisions they would have made in the absence of that evidence” (Wiliam, 2011).

This definition implies:

Formative describes the function of the assessment rather than the form.
Teachers, students and peers might be involved in deciding how to respond to assessment information.
There must be a responsive action based on the data in order for the assessment to be formative. Responsive actions are instructional in nature.

If formative assessments are designed with no clear decision/action implied, then the assessment is not useful. The five key strategies for improving student achievement through formative assessment are:

Who	Where the learner is going	Where the learner is now	How to get there
Teacher	1. Clarifying, sharing and understanding learning intentions and criteria for success.	2. Engineering effective classroom discussions, activities, and tasks that elicit evidence of learning.	3. Providing feedback that moves learning forward.
Peer		4. Activating learners as instructional resources for each other.
Learner		5. Activating learners as owners of their own learning.

(Wiliam, 2011, p. 46)

Summative Assessment

Summative assessment is often described as providing information about or evaluating the attainment of understanding or achievement compared to a standard. Katie White (Softening the Edges, 2017) has created a holistic view of summative assessment as part of a larger assessment cycle.

“We engage in formative assessment, feedback and self-assessment regularly. Only after all this do we verify proficiency with summative assessment. It is at this point that we make professional judgments about whether to re-enter the learning cycle because proficiency has not yet been reached or to transition into enrichment or the next learning goal… Viewing summative assessment as part of a larger continuous cycle frees us to make decisions that are right for our learners and right for ourselves” (White, 2017, p. 139).

(The Learning and Assessment Experience at UNSW)

The goal of summative assessment is to evaluate student learning. When viewed as part of a cycle, we can see that an assessment intended to be summative may, in fact, become formative. Similarly, there may be times that an assessment intended to be formative might become summative if a learner is able to show proficiency during that experience.

If we view the terms formative and summative as how the assessment is used rather than the tool or the intent for use, it can help us to see all experiences as part of a larger assessment plan.

Brookhart, S. (2013). How to Create and Use Rubrics for Formative Assessment and Grading. Alexandria: ASCD.

Chappuis, S. J., Commodore, D. C., & Stiggins, R. J. (2016). Balanced Assessment Systems: Leadership, Quality and the Role of Classroom Assessment. Thousand Oaks: Corwin.

Guskey, T. R. (2019, February 28). Let’s Give Up The Search for ‘Best Practices’ in Grading. Retrieved from Thomas R. Guskey & Associates: http://tguskey.com/lets-give-up-the-search-for-best-practices-in-grading/

UNSW Sydney. (n.d.). Guide to Assessment. Retrieved March 12, 2019, from UNSW Student Home: https://student.unsw.edu.au/assessments

White, K. (2017). Softening the Edges. Bloomington: Solution Tree.

Wiliam, D. (2011). Embedded formative assessment. Bloomington, Indiana, United States of America: Solution Tree Press.

September 22, 2019 1

Tag: outcome mapping