ACTION PLAN

AILEEN S. QUICHO & KIMBERLY ROSE N. YABUT

is a plan created to organize a district- or

school-improvement effort. It may take
the form of an internal school document
or a website that can be viewed publicly.
ACTION PLANS TYPICALLY INCLUDE INFORMATION
SUCH AS THE FOLLOWING:

The roles and responsibilities assigned

to staff members
The project timeline or the deadlines to
be met
The resources allocated to its execution
ACTION PLANS TYPICALLY INCLUDE INFORMATION
SUCH AS THE FOLLOWING:

The milestones or growth targets expected to

be achieved at specific stages of the plan’s
execution
The data or other forms of evidence that will
be collected for the purposes of 
action research or project evaluation
VISION (THE DREAM)

Your vision communicates what

your organization believes are the
ideal conditions for your
community.
MISSION (THE WHAT AND WHY)

Developing mission statements are the

next steps in the action planning
process.
An organization’s mission statements
describes what the group is going to do,
and why it’s going to do that.
THERE ARE GENERALLY TWO BASIC FORMS OF
ACTION PLAN:

Systemic Action Plan 

Project-Specific Action Plan 
SYSTEMIC ACTION PLAN
A systemic action plan is designed
to organize a comprehensive or
multifaceted educational-
improvement plan focused systems-
level changes—major redesigns of the
structure and operations of a district
or school, particularly its academic
program.
PROJECT-SPECIFIC ACTION PLAN

A project-specific action plan is similar

in all major features to a systemic action
plan, except that its scope would be
limited to a district program, grant-funded
initiative, academic department, or some
other subordinate part of a school system.
REFORM

In many cases, action plans are a required

component of a state program, a grant-funded
initiative, or a government policy. For example,
schools that are determined to be “low
performing” by a state education agency may be
required to create and implement an action plan.
REFORM

In many schools, a leadership team will

oversee the development and coordination of
the plan, but committees of students, parents,
and community members may also
participate.
DEBATE

Action plans may be debated, viewed with

skepticism, or criticized if they are perceived
to be poorly constructed, overly ambitious or
infeasible, inconsistent with the school’s
stated values and commitments, or biased in
favor of some students over others, among
many other possible concerns.
DEBATE

Top-down or unilateral action plans created

“behind closed doors” without the involvement
of teachers, students, parents, and other
members of the community may be more
likely to become objects of criticism,
particularly if poor communication also gives
rise to confusion or misunderstanding in the
community.
DEBATE

Top-down or unilateral action plans created

“behind closed doors” without the involvement
of teachers, students, parents, and other
members of the community may be more
likely to become objects of criticism,
particularly if poor communication also gives
rise to confusion or misunderstanding in the
community.