KEY THEMES WORKSHEET (2005)

Format Essentials (Worksheet Instructions)

·     A key theme is a strength or an opportunity for improvement (OFI) that is common to more than one Item or Category (cross-cutting), is especially significant in terms of the applicant’s KFs, and/or addresses a Core Value of the Criteria. This worksheet provides an overall summary of the key points in the evaluation of the application and is an assessment of the key themes to be explored if the applicant proceeds to Stage 2, Consensus Review and/or Stage 3, Site Visit Review.

·     Organize the key themes into three sections to address the three questions concerning important strengths, significant opportunities, and key results.

·     Limit the worksheet to 2–3 pages.

·     Write comments that use complete sentences and that meet the Comment Guidelines.

·     Delineate comments with bullets.

·     Leave two lines between each of the comments.

·     Write comments that are “feedback ready.” These comments should consist of 1–3 complete, actionable, and nonprescriptive sentences that address the central requirements of the Criteria; cite specific examples from the application; are tied to the applicant’s KFs and/or the Criteria Core Values, as appropriate; and meet both the content and style requirements of the Comment Guidelines.

·     For questions a and b, comments should address the evaluation factors of approach, deployment, learning, and integration (A-D-L-I).

·     For question c, comments should address favorable and unfavorable levels and trends, comparisons, segmentation, linkage, and results that were expected but not reported (gaps).

Key Themes Worksheet (sample from the 2004 Sandy Hill School District Case Study)

The Key Themes Worksheet provides an overall summary of the key points in the evaluation of the application and is an assessment of the key themes to be explored if the applicant proceeds to Stage 2, Consensus Review and Stage 3, Site Visit Review. A key theme is a strength or opportunity for improvement (OFI) that addresses a central requirement of the Criteria, is common to more than one Item or Category (cross-cutting), is especially significant in terms of the applicant’s key factors, and/or addresses a Core Value of the Criteria.

The Key Themes Worksheet should respond to the three questions below:

a. What are the most important strengths or outstanding practices (of potential value to other organizations) identified?

·     The district uses a systematic Strategic Planning Process (SPP) that is aligned and well integrated with its performance excellence approaches in key areas (e.g., its leadership system, process design and management approaches, and faculty- and staff-focused processes) and includes input from a variety of sources (e.g., student achievement data and performance reviews). The school board, senior leaders, faculty, and staff participate in the development and deployment of action plans, which are delineated at the district and school levels. The alignment and integration evident in the SPP may help the district maintain its focus on the future while addressing its strategic challenge of being agile and responsive to changing performance expectations.

·     The district supports its vision to be a learning organization through the widespread deployment of the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) improvement cycle throughout the entire district. There is evidence of PDSA application and improvement in the district’s Leadership System, SPP, Student and Stakeholder Requirements Determination and Satisfaction Determination processes, Performance Measurement and Analysis Process, Human Resource System, and learning-centered and support processes.

·     The applicant’s emphasis on measurement, analysis, and knowledge management (KM) is aligned with and supports key organizational processes. Using the Performance Measurement and Analysis (PMA) Process, the district has a systematic approach to selecting, collecting, aligning, and integrating data and information for tracking daily operations and overall organizational performance. In addition, a three-phase project initiated in 1999 to better transfer knowledge and best practices among students, teachers, and key stakeholders has resulted in the development of an on-line KM system.

·     The applicant’s approaches to personal and organizational learning support its vision of evolving as lifelong learners and a learning organization. The district has adopted a team-based, continuous learning approach to improvement, an organizational culture of sharing best practices, multiple vertical and horizontal communication vehicles, and many opportunities for learning for all employees (e.g., a five-day orientation of new employees, a mentoring program for teachers, and Basic Technology Training for all employees). The district-wide Employee Development Plan (EDP) identifies strategies and action plans for education, training, and development that are aligned with the district’s strategic objectives, Comprehensive Education Plan (CEP), and School Improvement Plans (SIPs).

·     The organization has established criteria to identify key learning-centered and support processes, and it applies a systematic process to design and deliver key curriculum/instruction services, including using multiple inputs to determine requirements and establish performance goals, as well as the use of a Curriculum and Instruction Management Process to control and improve the processes and ensure they meet key requirements. Key processes, plans, and actions are consistent and aligned, and data and knowledge management systems support alignment. In addition to the specific approaches to understand and manage its learning-centered processes, the district uses a number of other approaches to focus the entire organization on student learning, including resource allocation based on impact on student learning, reduction of administrative costs and redirection of funding to learning-centered processes, and a School Excellence Award to recognize schools that achieve high levels of performance on student proficiency tests.

·     The applicant has developed a systematic process for organizational performance review. It regularly reviews and improves organizational performance at all levels, and it selects and uses performance measures that are linked to key success factors, strategic objectives, action plans, and key learning-centered and support processes. Using several criteria, the district translates organizational performance review findings into priorities for improvement and innovation, and it uses a variety of leadership communication methods to deploy this information to all key stakeholders.

b. What are the most significant opportunities, concerns, or vulnerabilities identified?

·     Although the district focuses several of its key strategic challenges through its SPP, action plan deployment, and performance review, there is little evidence of approaches to address some of its strategic challenges, key success factors, key changes, and market/student segments. These include the emerging online education requirement, the adult learner market segment, the English as a Second Language (ESL) and special education student segments, and the poverty-based gaps in levels of readiness to learn found mainly in Region 3. Without systematic approaches to address all the factors, challenges, and segments described as important in the Organizational Profile, it may be difficult for the district to ensure that it creates and balances value for all students and stakeholders.

·     The district appears to be in the early stages of identifying requirements for measuring, controlling, and improving its support processes. For example, systematic processes are not evident for converting information from the Student and Stakeholder Requirements Process into requirements for support processes or for incorporating new technology and organizational knowledge, cycle time, productivity, or cost control into their design. In addition, it is unclear how input from suppliers and partners is incorporated into determining requirements for or managing support processes, or how the district improves these processes to reduce variability and keep them current with organizational needs and directions.

·     It is not evident that the district has in place systematic, well-deployed processes for several key Human Resources (HR) areas. For example, it is not clear how it uses the Job Design and Fulfillment Process to organize and manage work and jobs to promote cooperation, initiative, empowerment, and innovation, and it is not evident that a systematic/well-deployed process is in place to reinforce the use of new knowledge and skills on the job, develop a succession plan for supervisory positions beyond the District Leadership Team (DLT) and District Extended Leadership Team (DELT), create career progression plans for faculty or staff, or collect input on education and training. These gaps may inhibit the district’s ability to address its strategic challenge of attracting and retaining highly qualified employees.

·     Although the applicant has identified a variety of student segments, stakeholder groups, and employee categories and types, this segmentation is not reflected in its approaches to determine the relative importance of stakeholder requirements, to listen and learn (especially in its “pockets of poverty” and adult education segments), to determine contact requirements (e.g., for ESL and New Chance for Success [NCS] students), to determine student and stakeholder satisfaction, to identify safety issues and maintain safety in different work environments, or to differentiate well-being and satisfaction factors for different types of employees. Without differentiating its approaches to address its diverse student, stakeholder, and employee segments, the district may find it difficult to improve beyond its current levels of performance and reach the benchmark status to which it aspires.