Educators play an invaluable role in our future as they shape young minds and support the citizens of tomorrow through steps of their growth and development. Educational leaders and administrators are likewise invaluable as they create the right conditions for students and educators to thrive. If you want to take the next step from educator to educational leader, a program like the online Master of Science in Education (MSE) with a concentration in Educational (Ed) Leadership and Administration from the University of Southern Indiana (USI) may be ideal.
USI’s online MSE – Ed Leadership and Administration program offers a foundation that serious educators benefit from, alongside a specialization geared toward a future in administration and leadership. This program suits educators looking to transition within their organizations or level up their skill set.
Successful educational leaders must have strong strategic planning skills for their institutions to provide the foundational elements students need. The ability to set goals, unify a vision and motivate staff and faculty to achieve those goals are central to the project of all administrators.
What Is Strategic Planning in Education?
Strategic planning is a key component in education leadership and administration. Educational leaders draw on these skills to develop and tweak processes to help teachers and students receive the best experience within a school setting. Such leaders need a strong overview of an institution’s organizational structure to apply their skills effectively.
Strategic planning hinges on two aspects: setting a goal and finding the best way to achieve it. It is all about defining what a successful workplace looks like in the future and figuring out the necessary steps to build it. Within an educational context, strategic planning still relies on having a vision and breaking down a process into strategic steps that an organization can pursue. Of course, one difference in an educational approach is that students are involved. Rather than satisfying customers or shareholders, the quality of a student’s education is an inherent part of the goal.
Due to the involvement of students, parents, educators, administrators and community leaders, strategic planning in this setting requires collaboration from many different stakeholders. This can make strategic planning a tricky prospect but more gratifying when successful.
Measuring Success in Strategic Plans
Envisio recently outlined why strategic planning is necessary for schools. It touches on fundamental reasons for planning but also notes that “a strategic plan defines how success is measured.” This means that strategic planning cannot work without a way of tracking success. This could include using defined benchmarks and tools — such as software and surveys — to measure progress.
Employing a strategic plan is often helpful for educational organizations looking to measure changes because it creates a framework for this. Once an institution understands its objectives, it can pinpoint the details that will change as those goals are met. For example, Envisio uses a case study where a university sought to improve its rates of diversity, equity and inclusion among students. Data tracking helped to show them how student demographics changed with time and strategic plan implementation.
Writing for Academic Briefing, Dr. N. Douglas Lees highlights these points in an article on formulating impactful and credible strategic plans. Dr. Lees emphasizes that staff buying into the plan is of utmost importance when it comes to collaboration and goodwill within academic institutions.
Graduates of the online MSE – Ed Leadership and Administration program from USI have the tools to bring strategic planning insights to their organizations and teams. USI’s program addresses strategic planning skills head-on with its School Improvement Models and Processes course and Curriculum and Learning for Educational Leaders course, preparing graduates to take on strategic challenges.
Learn more about USI’s online MSE with a concentration in Educational Leadership Administration program.
