The hard work and the money spent by and for education in the last 50 years does not, it seems, to allow us to deliver required and ethical value for the money. We are charged with assisting all learners to be productive citizens of tomorrow, but, loaded down with non-core curriculum and social requirements, the educational ship is creaking and…

As a vital part of the educational enterprise, plans must be made to define the future we want to create for tomorrow's child and to enable educators to deliver on the promise. Planning is just a substitute for good luck. Not relying on luck, educators must identify valid and valuable measurable objectives for education and then enable educators…

Most organizational strategic plans are not strategic but rather tactical or operational plans masquerading as "strategic." This article identifies the basic elements required in a useful and practical strategic plan and explains why they are important.

In learning-centered community colleges, planning, like all processes, must measurably improve learning and learner performance. This article shares Valencia Community College's approach to revising its strategic planning process based on the Organizational Elements Model to: 1) focus strategic planning on learning results that add value for…

For any strategic planning effort to succeed, administrators must choose carefully the size or scope of the proposed plan and who will benefit from it. This article outlines the major elements and assumptions of three planning dimensions--micro-, macro-, and mega-planning. Once scope is determined, the group is ready for 12 other steps that will…

Every organization needs a plan for achieving its objectives; however, strategic plans are often developed for the wrong reasons. This book presents self-help tools for school leaders interested in assessing the efficacy of their school's strategic plan. Chapter 1 explains why it is important to review educational strategic plans. Chapter 2…

Discussion of educational planning defines three main planning modes and explains how to integrate them for educational systems planning with the organizational Elements Model (OEM). The Outcome Indicators Project (OIP) of Florida's Division of Vocational, Adult, and Community Education (DVACE) is described as an example of educational planning.…

Defines a basic framework for educational strategic planning that serves both learners and society. Discusses Mega Planning's critical success factors, common planning errors, and basic elements of scoping, planning, implementation, and continuous improvement/evaluation phases. Strategic objectives should drive curriculum objectives, and these in…

Total Quality Management Plus (TQM) goes beyond customer satisfaction to consider quality of life, environmental conditions, crime rates, and health and well-being. Steps to integrate such concerns into the TQM process include being ready for challenges, creating a quality system to collect performance data, defining the ideal school and world…

In megaplanning, a type of strategic planning, the primary clients and beneficiaries are the community and society at large. Outlines a 12-step planning model. (MLF)

Ways that school administrators can develop or improve their strategic thinking and learning skills are presented in this guidebook, which forces the planner to change his or her actual thinking about planning before taking action. Chapter 1 deals with overcoming single-issue thinking and becoming proactive. Basic concepts and tools are provided,…

This paper deals with a possible way of separating six modes of needs assessment (Kaufman, 1972) into two types. The most common, internal, looks at needs from within the organization, and external needs assessment looks at needs from the outside of the organization doing the study. (VT)

Strategic planning identifies results, based upon an "ideal" vision, to be achieved at three levels: individual, organizational, and societal. This article recommends a megalevel educational planning model that helps planners contemplate societal outcomes in a practical way. A holistic, proactive planning process involves scoping, data…

Roles, perspectives, and skills of superintendents and their fit to the Organizational Elements Model (OEM) are examined by defining the elements in the model and providing examples of applications, analyzing superintendents' roles in the planning process, and discussing a method of determining the roles of superintendents in different situations.…

Discusses the rapid growth and expansion of distance education programs and provides a framework for defining, planning for, and achieving useful results from distance education programs today and in the future. Describes the Organizational Elements Model (OEM) that includes planning, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. (Contains…