District-Level Strategy

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District-Level Strategy

A well-crafted District-Level Strategy links your vision with your long-term goals and aligns them to a detailed action plan.

Our Approach

The District Management Council partners closely with school districts of all sizes to craft a District-Level Strategy that embodies the beliefs and priorities of the school community. A well-developed strategic plan includes the answers to the following three key questions:

Where do you want to take the district long-term?

The answer to this question reflects the aspirations and hopes of the community and the district. In essence, this is the district’s vision and mission.

How are you going to get there?

In order to turn a district’s ambitious goals into results, we work together to articulate a Theory of Change exemplifying the district’s underlying beliefs and priorities. Often, these are expressed as “if…then…” statements and describes the causal relationship between action and outcomes. The Theory of Change helps the district to clearly articulate its Strategy. DMC employs a systems-thinking approach to help develop a cohesive and prioritized set of initiatives.

How are you going to track your progress along the way?

Perhaps one of the most important parts of the process is to ensure that the district develop SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound) goals for each initiative. We help break down each initiative into actionable and measurable goals with targets and people responsible for achieving them.

All throughout this process, DMC works closely and collaboratively with the superintendent and the district leadership team. Finally, the district will have the option of utilizing DMC’s web-based dmDashboard to track all of these goals in an easy manner.

Learn More


					


	
Theories of Action: Aligning Priorities and Resources
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Unleashing the Full Power of Strategic Planning
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Developing and Refining a Theory of Action
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The DMC Difference

First, we believe that a strategic plan should be focused. In this environment of competing interests and dwindling resources, we believe in the importance of prioritizing the strategic initiatives into a small set (ideally less than five key priorities) of the most important levers for improving performance.

Second, we do not want to merely deliver a report. Our focus is on delivering results. We believe that our success should be measured by ensuring that the strategic plan becomes integrated and incorporated into district activities. It should become the roadmap to stronger performance.

Third, we bring both a deep and wide perspective to our work. We have extensive experience working closely with dozens of school districts around the country in crafting successful strategic plans. By combining deep experience from both the education and private sectors, DMC brings a multi-faceted approach to solving some of the most difficult and important questions facing the US.