This book gives an education leader a practical path to organizational effectiveness, shared sense of direction, and clear focus on outcomes for students. Setting a clear direction, structuring personnel for the greatest productivity, engaging everyone in meaningful work, tracking organizational performance, and encouraging innovation are fundamental concerns for every kind of education organization—schools, districts, state agencies included. Yet, education leaders struggle to give due attention to these organizational matters while also tackling the challenges of meeting the needs of their students. They are searching for a path leading to both organizational productivity and excellence in learning for students, a path that enlists the passions and efforts of all personnel. Strategic Performance Management (SPM) integrates strategic planning with performance management into a seamless process by which an education organization develops and operationalizes a strategic direction. This direction goes beyond the basic elements of vision, mission, values, goals, and strategies to include careful analysis of the functions performed by the organization, its units, and its positions (roles) to facilitate effective placement, assignment, and training of personnel. SPM emphasizes planning through strategic thinking that enables the organization to make critical adjustments as needs and context change. It provides the flexibility to act in times of crisis. Most of all, it gets everyone moving in the same direction, aimed at goals for students.
