INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE STRATEGIC SYSTEM SNAPSHOT | MINI
The Strategic System Snapshot | Mini is a self-diagnostic survey. It is broken up into seven sections, which map to the seven elements of The Strategic System framework. They are:
- Standards and Instructional Resources
- Teaching
- School Design
- Leadership
- School Support
- Funding & Portfolio
- Community Engagement
ERS has identified these areas as central to maximizing student performance. In each section, you’ll read a series of statements that could describe your district. Choose the answer that best reflects your opinion of how well your district performs in that area—from Strongly Agree/Agree, to Disagree/Strongly Disagree. You can also mark “Don’t Know” if you don’t personally have enough information to make a call. It is very useful for a group to take the The Strategic Snapshot | Mini—for example, within a district leadership team or a school board. Each person answers individually, and results are reported collectively, so you can see how others answered and learn about areas you may not be familiar with.
When you're finished with all seven sections, the results page provides your average score across each area, and compare your district to “best practice” districts.
The Strategic Snapshot | Mini is an evolution of our popular Resource Check tool – it’s the same concept, with updated language that aligns with our Strategic System Snapshot diagnostic.
GO DEEPER
- Learn more about the switch and how to access past Resource Check assessments.
- Read how one Michigan district used Resource Check to write their strategic plan.
What do my results mean?
The Strategic System Snapshot | Mini will give you a sense of the relative strengths and areas of challenge for your district.
- Sections where you have a low score are potential challenges for your district. These are good places for further investigation and discussion, to understand why your district’s current practice looks the way it does.
- Sections where you have a high score are potential strengths for your district. You may also want to investigate or discuss a specific high score, to understand why your resource use is strategic and what outcomes your district achieves with it.
Are you part of a group?
We recommend multiple people complete the survey and that they come together to discuss results to identify areas of agreement and disagreement. This can help increase everyone's understanding of your district's resource use and what areas to prioritize going forward. Learn more about viewing your group’s results.
What can I do with this information?
To learn more about the areas you determine should be priorities for action, see the District Design section of our website. Here, you will find more resources to help you analyze your current resource use and take action.
WANT TO LEARN MORE?
Education Resource Strategies is a national nonprofit that partners with district, school, and state leaders to transform how they use resources (people, time, and money) so that every school prepares every child for tomorrow, no matter their race or income. Our Strategic System for Strong Schools is a framework for understanding how districts can most effectively allocate people, time, and money. To learn more, start with Strategic School Design.