Annual plan and targets

The annual plan

The annual plan is the annually updated section of the charter. It details in a series of action plans what needs to be done during the current year, related to the charter/strategic goals.

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Targets in the annual plan

Consider the annual plan as the overall school development plan for the year. One section must detail the targets for improving teaching and learning. The other sections should align with and support these improvement targets, but they may also cover other issues, such as property, personnel, and curriculum development.

Targets for improving teaching and learning

These targets must be related to the strategic goals and strategic plan for the current year.

Attributes of targets

Identifying targets

Targets for the current year may combine previous years' targets that need to be continued with some new targets.

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Examples of targets

Some measurable learning outcomes:

• 90 per cent of students will be reading at or above their chronological age
• 50 per cent of NCEA Level 1 students will achieve 80 or more credits
• all Māori students will achieve at levels comparable with their year-level peers.

Factors that may lead to improved learning outcomes:

• improving attendance – for example, aiming to reduce non-attendance levels by 4 per cent
• improving outcomes for Māori students – for example, having staff undertake professional development to develop teaching programmes that reflect cultural norms of Māori students
• using new assessment tools – for example, having all staff teaching years 4–6 participate in workshops to enable them to use asTTle as an assessment tool.

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Identifying targets

If you are starting this process for the first time, a small number of targets is recommended, as it is likely that the first annual analysis of results will reveal further related targets. For instance, a target for the first year may be:

To collate and diagnostically analyse Progress and Achievement Test (PAT) reading comprehension and vocabulary results for year 9 and 10 students.

As a result of the results analysis, further strategies may be planned for improving achievement in identified areas. In the second year, there may be several targets relating to the identified groups of students or to specific areas of concern or interest, such as building vocabulary or improving comprehension through developing inference skills.

View West Road School's annual plan, showing its annotated annual plan for 2004, the consequent analysis of variance, and the resulting 2005 annual plan (with explanatory notes).

View Bush View School's annual plan, showing its annotated charter, strategic plan, and annual plan (with explanatory notes). This annual plan does not meet legislative requirements.

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Examples of annual plans

Here are more examples of annual plans that meet legislative requirements.

This deals with the implementation of the Numeracy Project in a full primary school.

This shows how, over a 2-year period, a large primary school reported on its strategic goals to resource and improve the achievement of groups of students identified with reference to NAG 1.

This focuses on a broadly stated charter goal for a secondary school, and shows how achievement data and the analysis of variance informed future planning.

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Principals' stories about setting targets

Read these accounts of how three first-time principals worked with their staff to effectively use data to set targets, and plan for and monitor improvements.

Read about how a large, urban, multicultural school with an experienced principal used achievement targets to focus planning for improved student achievement:

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Reviewing plans and targets

These questions will help you to review your school's targets:

• Are the targets realistic and achievable within the timeframes set?
• Have the staff been involved in the analysis of data and setting of targets?
• Do the staff clearly understand the targets and what will be expected of them?
• Are the targets based on good-quality analysis of agreed student learning outcomes, and/or good analysis of factors that will lead to improved student learning outcomes?
• Are the targets able to be cross-referenced to good-quality baseline data from within the school and/or to national benchmark data?
• Is achievement against the targets able to be measured reliably?
• Are assessment tools identified that are appropriate for the measurement of the target (for example, NCEA credits, PAT, asTTle, numeracy project global development stages, and graded readers)?

These questions will help you review your school's annual plan:

• Is the annual plan clearly related to the strategic plan and goals?

• Does it answer the 'what? who? when?' questions and make clear the expected outcomes?

• Is it focused on clear actions to improve student learning outcomes?

• Do parts of it link with the annual plan from the previous year by reflecting the analysis of what was achieved and what still needs to be achieved? (Refer to the actual outcomes section of the previous year's annual plan.)

• Does it address developing the school's capacity to achieve its strategic goals (for example, staff development or required resources)?

Involving teachers in reviews

Read this account of how involving teachers in the analysis of achievement data and evaluating progress against targets can lead to worthwhile professional conversations and staff development, and help strengthen the professional learning community in the school.

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