Thursday, 13 October 2011 14:36
Effective resource allocation – spending money on what works to raise student achievement – is a top priority in districts today. With the ongoing fiscal crisis and fears of a double-dip recession making economic considerations even more important for districts nationwide, leaders should equip themselves with new strategies for improving how resources are used. Increasingly, DMC member districts are having strategic conversations that challenge past district practices and even conventional wisdom about where to find resource reallocation opportunities.
Some important lessons of strategic planning focus on the idea that deciding what not to do is perhaps even more important that agreeing on what to do. Our recent feature article by Superintendent Hector Mendez, of Texas’ Ector County ISD highlights a process that can help move a district from strategic planning to efficient execution. Mendez shows us that large-scale strategic planning initiatives can be moved rapidly from aspirational to the real world of getting things done. An important component of the process, which other DMC members are now replicating locally, is a built-in process for “strategic abandonment” – a decision-making framework that forces rigorous conversations about what’s not working, and how to redirect critical resources elsewhere.
Next week’s monthly DMC Webinar (free for DMC members) will focus on strategic abandonment, a key topic related to both resource allocation and innovation. In order to concentrate efforts on what works, districts are increasingly looking to jettison activities or programs that demonstrate little efficacy. Districts should implement processes to evaluate both if something is working, as well as why not. The webinar will discuss best practices and key frameworks of both what to do and how to do it. You can register here.
For further resources on strategic planning and resource allocation, we suggest these Spotlight articles from the DMC Best Practices library:
