Strategic Plan

Our mission is to produce high-achieving students.
Our vision is that our system will be world class.

A system strategic improvement plan is updated annually based on data and progress. System leaders developed four goal areas which serve as the structure of the system strategic improvement plan: Student Achievement, Student and Stakeholder Engagement, Organizational Effectiveness, and Learning & Growth. Performance objectives and key performance measures were created for each of the goal areas to be used in reporting.

The Houston County Board of Education approved the first system strategic improvement plan and Balanced Scorecard on October 21, 2008. The system strategic plan includes utilizing the GSBA eBoardsolutions beginning in January 2009 to post and monitor the document. Additionally, eBoardsolutions will provide the system with a tool to create school based improvement plans and Balanced Scorecards aligned with the system goals.

Balanced Scorecard:

One result of the system strategic improvement plan is the Houston County Balanced Scorecard. The Balanced Scorecard has a three-fold purpose; it serves as a measurement tool, management tool, and a communication tool.

Communication is an essential ingredient in the effectiveness of any results-oriented institution or organization. The public desire for accountability requires that the communicated results are very clear, direct, focused and consistent. To reach this end a strategic approach to performance management must be employed. It is imperative that the approach is aligned, data-driven, action-planned, monitored and reported in a timely manner.

One of the leading performance management methodologies in business has been the use of a Balanced Scorecard developed by Robert Kaplan and David Norton of Harvard University. The Balanced Scorecard has become a roadmap that measures performance and translates strategies into action plans. Decision-makers are therefore better able to monitor their organization and focus on the measures critical to their success.

A recent revision of the Houston County School System strategic plan has resulted in the implementation of a Balanced Scorecard to increase organizational effectiveness and efficiency through a systemic and systematic alignment process. Additional benefits from the utilization of a Balanced Scorecard will include more effective communication with the public and a tool to document accountability measures and progress towards system goal areas.

Links to the Balanced Scorecard, Strategic Improvement Communication Tool, and Houston County Strategic Improvement Action Plan can be accessed from the Houston County website posted under Balanced Scorecard.