ERIC Number: EJ1118484
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: N/A
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0145-9635
EISSN: N/A
Data-Driven Leadership: Determining Your Indicators and Building Your Dashboards
Copeland, Mo
Independent School, v76 n1 Fall 2016
For years, schools have tended to approach budgets with some basic assumptions and aspirations and general wish lists but with scant data to drive the budget conversation. Suppose there were a better way? What if the conversation started with a review of the last five to ten years of data on three key mission- and strategy-driven indicators: enrollment, development, and staffing? What if the assumptions supporting a school's financial model had been developed with the finance committee so they were agreed upon as a team--and not simply presented to the committee by the staff? What if the conversation were to set the next five years of tuition in order to accomplish the goals of the long-range strategic plan? Such a shift in process--grounding discussion and decision-making in data and trends, driven fundamentally by mission and agreed upon by board and staff--can result in higher-level, more strategic conversations, as well as a more efficient, effective, and well-understood budget. In order to navigate important decisions and find a strategic path toward a school's future, school boards need tools and information to ground and direct their thinking. This article provides guidance and necessary steps for independent school leaders to help them articulate and measure key indicators, build dashboards, gather and curate data so that they might craft data informed plans and solutions for independent schools that are aligned well with a school's mission and values.
Descriptors: Data, Decision Making, Budgeting, Budgets, Guidelines, Management Information Systems, Strategic Planning, Needs Assessment, Educational Indicators, School Statistics, Educational Practices, Change Strategies, Educational Planning
National Association of Independent Schools. 1620 L Street NW Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 800-793-6701; Tel: 202-973-9700; Fax: 202-973-9790; Web site: http://www.nais.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A