MARLYN M.

VALMORIA

While the plan of action concept is

MAED 305

straightforward, the design, use, and

PROJ/PROGRAM PLANNING

purpose of action plans may differ

DR. DE OCERA

significantly from district to district or school

to school. That said, there are generally two

An action plan is a plan created to organize

a district- or school-improvement effort. It
may take the form of an internal school
document or a website that can be viewed
publicly. Action plans may be reviewed and
revised annuallybased on progress made
over the course of the preceding year or to
reflect evolving school goals and values
but multiyear action plans are also common.
Action plans typically include information
such as the following:

A schools improvement goals, such

as targets for improved student test
performance or graduation rates

The specific actions or strategies a

school will undertake to achieve its
goals

The roles and responsibilities

assigned to staff members

The project timeline or the deadlines

to be met

The resources allocated to its

execution

The milestones or growth targets

expected to be achieved at specific
stages of the plans execution

The data or other forms of evidence

that will be collected for the purposes
ofaction research or project evaluation

basic forms of action plan:

A systemic action plan is designed

to organize a comprehensive or
multifaceted educational-improvement
plan focused systems-level changes
major redesigns of the structure and
operations of a district or school,
particularly its academic program. A
systemic plan would map out and
organize the complexities of
coordinating such an initiative, typically
for the purpose of making sure that the
plan is coherently designed (all the
parts are feasible and work together),
aligned in both purpose and execution
(all the parts make sense and are
focused on achieving the same goals),
and understood and agreed on by all
those responsible for its execution.

A project-specific action plan is

similar in all major features to a
systemic action plan, except that its
scope would be limited to a district
program, grant-funded initiative,
academic department, or some other
subordinate part of a school system.
The potential downside of a projectspecific action plan is that it may fail to
take into account potential effects on
the larger system, or its execution may
result in redundancies or other
unforeseen conflicts with preexisting
plans or programs.