A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

To make progress continuous, you'll want to set targets, or milestones, for at least each year. And you'll want to plot those milestones over a multi-year timeline that leads to the goals of your community and schools.

This timeline can help keep efforts on course, as your community and schools ask, at least annually: "Did we do what we said we would do in our plan this year? Is it making a difference in student learning?"

You'll want to report answers to the public. In doing so, you'll want to inform public expectations about the pace of change and about what else needs to be done. This is also an opportunity to make sure that school leaders are accountable for moving change forward.

In deciding how to measure progress (at least annually), your community and schools will want to:

• Develop Milestones, and Communicate Them. Has your community developed a good set of milestones, or "indicators of progress," for major elements of its comprehensive plan? Have key stakeholders been involved in setting the milestones that must affect their work and lives, if the plan is to succeed? Have the milestones been communicated to all teachers, students, parents, and citizens? Can everyone in schools -- and everyone involved with the schools -- identify the milestones?

• Continuously Improve Progress. How are we identifying obstacles in the path of our progress? Do we have a system for re-examining the comprehensive plan annually, to monitor obstacles and progress? Do we have a process for making changes in the plan each year, if necessary, so that we can accelerate the pace of progress? What happens if we discover that we are not making progress? How will we explain to the public what happened, and what WILL happen to put us back on track?

• Report Progress. Has a system been established for reporting progress on at least an annual basis? How will we report on progress in a way that renews the community's commitment to the improvements? How will we use information on our progress -- in addition to reporting to the public at least annually -- to keep stirring everyone's desire to reach our community's goals and to do the hard work of helping every child reach world-class academic standards?

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