You want improve your organization’s improvement system. You want to target things like stakeholder involvement, staff focus, and staff accountability. And you want to start by analyzing what’s currently going on.

Question: What can you do?

Answer: You can take the following self-assessment (customized for a school). Rate each item, using the following scale:

4: Strongly agree • 3: Agree • 2: Disagree • 1: Strongly disagree

Stakeholder involvement
___ Students support the improvement plans.
___ Parents support the improvement plans.
___ Staff support the improvement plans.
___ Leaders support the improvement plans.

___ Students are involved in implementing the improvement plans.
___ Parents are involved in implementing the improvement plans.
___ Staff are involved in implementing the improvement plans.
___ Leaders are involved in implementing the improvement plans.
___ Stakeholders support and are involved in implementing the improvement plans.


Staff focus
___ Staff talk about organizational improvement.
___ Staff make proposals regarding organizational improvement.
___ Staff work on organizational improvement.
___ Staff hold each other accountable for organizational improvement.
___ Staff are disappointed when improvement goals are not reached.
___ Staff focus on organizational improvement.


Mission-driven improvement
___ Our improvement plans are documented.
___ Our improvement plans target mission achievement.
___ Our improvement plans drive organizational improvement.
___ Our organization’s improvement is driven by documented plans that target mission achievement.


Improvement plans guide work
___ Staff understand the improvement plans.
___ Staff know which improvement plans they are to implement.
___ Staff can explain their role in a given improvement plan.
___ Staff implement the improvement plans.
___ Improvement plans guide staff work.


Staff accountability
___ Leaders hold staff accountable to implement the improvement plans.
___ Staff hold each other accountable to implement the improvement plans.
___ Staff hold themselves accountable to implement the improvement plans.
___ Staff are held accountable to implement the improvement plans.


Now, ask yourself 5 questions about the data:

1. How many 4s, 3s, 2s, and 1s do I have?
2. What satisfies/concerns me about the data?
3. In terms of enhancing organizational improvement, how would I prioritize the 5 areas?
4. What might happen if I addressed the top priority area?
5. What will I do?

Pursue excellence. Enhance your organization’s improvement system. Today.