Adaptive Strategic Planning for Education Leaders

"Leading change work is not just a programmatic thing. It is actually learning very different ways of working together and organizing to collaborate towards a shared goal."

— Maurice Swinney, Ed.D. former Chief Equity Officer, Chicago Public Schools, Chief Innovation Officer, Chicago Beyond

The Future of Strategic Planning: An Adaptive Approach for Changing Times in Education

Education has entered a period of rapid change driven by major social, environmental, economic, political, and technological shifts. School districts of all sizes and demographics now recognize the need for a more nimble and adaptive approach to educational change management—one that responds to the complexity and uncertainty they face while bridging the relational and political divides present in communities across the country.

Adaptive Strategic Planning for Complex Times: A Guide for Education Leaders

The National Equity Project developed Adaptive Strategic Planning for Complex Times: A Guide for Education Leaders as a resource for education leaders to draw on to design and manage change under complex and uncertain conditions. The guide provides recommendations that integrate the technical and adaptive dimensions of change, and are responsive to each community's unique history, strengths, and challenges. The process can be used flexibly across different time horizons depending on need, time, and budget. The guide also provides a robust set of education leadership tools leaders can use to build trust, innovation, and ongoing adaptation.

This guide covers key questions of district strategy leaders, including:

  • How can we approach education strategic planning in ways that build community, increase belonging, and foster innovation?

  • How can we expand the role of leaders in our system and community to increase engagement and connection across real and perceived differences?

  • What mindset shifts do we need to make to prepare to respond to changing conditions and uncertainty?

Learn ways to:

  • Meaningfully engage community members throughout the strategic planning and implementation process

  • Build trust across diverse community perspectives

  • Design flexible goals that remain relevant despite changing conditions

  • Create implementation structures that allow for continuous learning

  • Transform conflict into creative problem-solving opportunities

  • Recognize and leverage existing community strengths and resources

  • Measure progress using both quantitative and qualitative indicators

  • Develop leadership capacity at multiple levels within your system

  • Shift from rigid planning cycles to adaptive, responsive frameworks for educational change management

  • Balance short-term needs with long-term vision

Developed in Partnership with Education Leaders

In 2024, the National Equity Project (NEP) and Education Resource Strategies (ERS) engaged with current and former superintendents and others responsible for education strategic planning from across the country to articulate a new, more responsive approach. Over and over we heard the need for a strategic planning approach that embraces complexity and uncertainty, utilizes design cycles that build community while fostering innovation, and structures implementation in ways that anticipate ongoing opportunities for learning and emergence.

NEP & ERS co-developed The Future of Strategic Planning: An Adaptive Approach for Changing Times to articulate the need for an approach to planning for the only constant – change. ERS also developed From Static to Strategic: A Guide to an Effective and Empowering Planning Process.