Arizona Department of Education Strategic Plan FY 2015-2016 (092915) FY 2015—2016 Strategic Plan ADE Purpose Ensure all Arizona children have the knowledge to determine their future, are prepared to achieve their goals and be successful citizens. ADE Mission To serve Arizona’s education community, and actively engage parents, to ensure every student has access to an excellent education Values         092915 Integrity: honesty, transparency, highly ethical behavior Respect: be courteous and considerate, value others Help each other succeed: collaborate, support others, inspire accomplishment Dedication to excellence: high standards, high expectations, great results Efficiency: maximize use of time, effort and resources Continuous improvement: always learn, innovate, and improve Customer focused: understand needs, deliver quality service, exceed expectations Effective communication: share information, actively listen, ensure understanding 2 FY 2015—2016 Strategic Plan Our Future Expectations The Arizona Department of Education supports a world-class education system that embraces and supports students of all abilities and backgrounds to become Arizona’s college and career-ready graduates who:  Demonstrate strong literacy, numeracy, communication and technology skills—the world is changing rapidly; to remain successful our graduates must be able to effectively apply a variety of skills in a real-world environment.  Demonstrate cultural competency – graduates will be able to understand, appreciate and interact with persons from cultures and/or belief systems other than their own, thus increasing their ability to successfully navigate the increasingly diverse global community.  Demonstrate strong critical thinking and reasoning skills – today’s graduates must possess both the persistence and creativity needed to effectively solve problems.  Become artistically literate— a graduate who is artistically literate is able to respond to or critique genres of art and music, and connect these to their lives and the world around them.  Be physically literate —ensure that every student is exposed to daily physical activity and opportunities to learn, establish, and maintain life-long health enhancing behaviors.  Articulate career and post-secondary goals—the most successful students have a clear direction for post-secondary education and careers, are able to enter post-secondary courses without the need for remediation, and have been provided with opportunities to develop and implement strategies for their future success.  Are civic-minded—ready to participate and lead in a representative republic. To help schools achieve these types of graduates, we commit ourselves to: I. Supporting schools to ensure higher student achievement through innovations in technology, accountability systems, incentive systems and supportive services; II. Providing efficient & effective services that alleviate administrative burdens and costs; III. Listening to educators, parents and students to meet their needs through the delivery of outstanding services; and IV. Making ADE a place where its staff is empowered to help schools and their students achieve their highest potential. 092915 3 FY 2015—2016 Strategic Plan ADE Goals and 2015-2016 Objectives Goal 1: Improve Student Achievement and Opportunities for Success Strategy: A. Accountability: High performing schools lead to high performing students. Objective: i. By June 30, 2016, implement the state accountability transition plan and the ESEA waiver to meet state and federal requirements. Lead: Accountability, Support & Innovation (ASI) Strategy: B. School Improvement: Underperforming schools receive comprehensive services and targeted support. Objectives: i. By June 30, 2016, through the Aligning Efforts COP and the Integrated Support Team COP, all ADE academic program units will collaboratively support LEA and school systems, leaders and teachers in improving student outcomes by targeting support and services to underperforming schools. Lead: ASI Strategy: C. Graduation Rate: High graduation rates indicate success along the entire pre-K through twelve, and adult education systems. Objectives: i. Increase the graduation rate from 76% in 2015 to at least 79% for all high schools for the FY16 school year. Lead: Data Governance ii. Increase the graduation rate from 48% to at least 51% for all Priority and Focus high schools for the FY16 school year. Lead: ASI iii. By June 30, 2016, the percent of adult learners age 16 and over achieving a High School Equivalency diploma will increase from 32% to 50%. Lead: Adult Education Strategy: D. Post-Secondary Engagement: Enrollment in post-secondary programs without the need for remediation indicates success along the entire pre-K through twelve continuums. Objective: i. Identify the percentage of students on track to be College and Career Ready by June 30, 2016. Lead: Data Governance Strategy: E. Community and Parent Engagement: Highly engaged communities and parents provide support to LEAs to enhance services and build strong school systems. Objective: i. By November 30, 2015, at least 50% of program area units will support one of the six evidence-based principles of effective family engagement during family engagement month (November). Lead: ESS 092915 4 FY 2015—2016 Strategic Plan Strategy: F. Data Literacy: Educators, parents, and students who understand data are better able to adjust their practice in order to improve achievement. Objectives: i. Issue AzMERIT results by November 1, 2015 (for Spring 2015 AzMERIT), by December 18, 2015 (for Fall 2015 AzMERIT), and by May 20, 2016 (for Spring 2016 AzMERIT). Lead: Assessment ii. By June 30, 2016, all ADE program areas responsible for providing technical assistance or professional development will use the new ADE AELAS Professional Learning & Collaboration online tools (Blackboard Learn, Blackboard Collaborate, AZ Dash, Teachscape, Professional Learning Management System-LMS) to provide at least 50% of their service and support to the field. Leads: Associates/Division Leaders Goal #2: Develop and Implement Efficient and Effective Practices Strategy: A. Management of Grants: Well-managed grants and grants systems reduce redundancies for and increase timely feedback to LEAs. Objectives: i. By June 30, 2016, expand outreach to 125 LEAs from initial pilot of Single Point of Contact, and establish baseline rating of customer satisfaction. Lead: Grants Management Strategy: Data Governance: Well-managed data ensures that LEAs receive fewer data requests and increases security of student-level data. Objective: i. Reduce costs to both ADE and LEAs by decreasing the number of ADE data requests from 204 per year to no more than 150 by June 30, 2016. Lead: IT B. Strategy: C. Internal and External Processes: Streamlined and up-to-date processes reduce waste and rework, and add value to customers. Objective: i. By November 2015, all designated program staff will have participated in training sessions provided by Grants Management and Procurement. Leads: Procurement/Grants Management ii. By January 4, 2016, through a collaborative process that includes Division representation ADE-wide, all Divisions will standardize operating procedures (including accountability review and documentation), to ensure accuracy and compliance with state and federal grants regulations and requirements. Leads: Associates/Division Leaders ii. By June 30, 2016, all ADE program areas with content on the ADE website will upload 50% of content from their respective ADE websites for inclusion within the ADE Content Management System (CMS). Leads: Associates/Division Leaders 092915 5 FY 2015—2016 Strategic Plan Goal #3: Provide Exceptional Services to Support Great Schools, Excellent Teachers, and Successful Students Strategy: A. Agency Communication: Organized and comprehensive communication structures reduce confusion and enhance the agency’s service-oriented reputation. Objective: i. By June 30, 2016, at least 41% of all programs’ External Customer surveys will receive a rating of 4.25 or higher on effectiveness of communication. Lead: ODD Strategy: B. Customer Satisfaction: Exceptional service to internal and external customers results in high levels of customer satisfaction. Objectives: i. At least 25% of programs with a rating lower than 4.25 will raise overall satisfaction ratings on their customer survey by .15 or more over their FY15 overall satisfaction performance level. Lead: ODD ii. At least 33% of all program customer surveys will receive a rating of 4.25 or higher on overall satisfaction by June 15, 2016. Lead: ODD Goal #4: Build a Great Place to Work Strategy: A. Employee Satisfaction and Retention: A positive working environment leads to greater employee retention and high job satisfaction. Objectives: i. Increase the average, overall satisfaction rating of ADE as a great place to work from 3.63 to at least 3.78 by March 1, 2016. Lead: ODD ii. By March 31, 2016, establish a baseline of employee ratings on “In my work group, necessary information is communicated effectively and in a timely manner” for all work groups listed in the Annual Employee Satisfaction Survey. Lead: ODD Strategy: B. Employee Professional Learning: Job-related professional learning increases the employee’s ability to carry out their work, and increases job satisfaction. Objectives: i. By February 28, 2016, at least 70% of all ADE Divisions will have conducted a training needs assessment specific to their work, and developed a comprehensive training and development plan for all staff members within each work group. Leads: Associates/Division Leaders 092915 6