The Education Reform Act (1988) and recent legislation aim to raise levels of pupil achievement, in particular through the introduction of the National Curriculum and improved self-management by schools.
For govemors, heads and teachers, bringing together these changes will require, as part of the new partnership, strategies for managing development and change to make the school more effective. School development plans are a means of realizing this goal.
The distinctive feature of a development plan is that it brings together, in an overall plan, national and LEA policies and initiatives, the school's aims and values, its existing achievements and its needs for development. By co-ordinating aspects of planning which are otherwise separate, the school acquires a shared sense of direction and is able to control and manage the tasks of development and change.
This book, based on the DES project, draws on the experience of LEAs and schools which have pioneered school development plans. Besides giving advice on constructing and implementing a school development plan, the authors provide a full and practical account of how planning and development need to be managed, and what this implies for the way the school is organized at present. They also describe how schools can be supported in this process, and how development planning fits into current movements for school improvement and effectiveness.