District & School Improvement Services

Strategic Problem Solving Process

Strategic Problem-Solving for School Improvement is a tool and a process designed to assist school leaders in identifying and aligning targeted school improvement strategies into a coherent and strategic plan for school improvement. By engaging in a facilitated and research-based planning process, school leaders acquire the knowledge and skills needed to effectively integrate new and existing strategies and program components so as to decrease the 'noise' and incoherent 'reform by addition' approach to school improvement that is characteristic of many underperforming schools.

Strategic Problem-Solving for School Improvement is a school-based planning process in which school leaders (administrators and teachers) analyze the inclusion and/or integration of new or existing school improvement strategies and initiatives (e.g., school-wide initiatives, content specific initiatives, and targeted interventions) with current instructional or school-based programs to ensure a cohesive and integrated implementation of strategies and use of resources. The process is designed to supplement a school or district's existing planning process so as to ensure that planning efforts are meaningful and efficiently managed.

Facilitated by experienced Education Alliance professionals, school leaders engage in a collaborative and data based analysis of their school improvement strategies and initiatives in relationship to the needs of their specific student body, the socio-cultural context of their school, and the instructional programs already in place at the school. The strategic problem-solving process empowers the school to "step back" and re-examine its new and existing efforts for school improvement and how these efforts attend to the targeted needs of the school and its student population (e.g., for English language learners or for students with disabilities) and to assess whether new efforts are being "layered" onto already existing strategies and programs in the school in ways that create confusion or fragmentation, or dilute the school's mission and goals.

Other District & School Improvement Services

• District Organizational Assessment
• Strategic Mapping Process
• Designing Services for Underperforming Districts and Schools