School Comprehensive Education Plan 2026-27

Before working on this document, school teams should have:

1. Completed the Five-Part Needs Assessment, which consists of:
   • Activity 1: Analyze: Data Variation Identification
   • Activity 2: Analyze: Data Variation Share and Explore
   • Activity 3: Analyze: Survey Data
   • Activity 4: Listen: Student Interviews
   • Activity 5: Envision: Reflect and Synthesize

2. Met with their NYSED/District/BOCES liaison:

• Following Activity 1: Analyze Data Variation Identification
• Following Activity 5: Envision: Reflect, Synthesize, and Plan after identifying the Key Strategies and before writing the implementation plan.

3. Met with their district to share ensure alignment and coherence between the school’s improvement vision and the district’s vision.

Schools must identify the evidence-based, high-impact levers, known as “Key Strategies,” they believe will improve current outcomes.  Each Key Strategy should represent a change in the upcoming year compared to previous years.  The Key Strategy should fall into one of the following categories:

1. Something new to the school; or
2. An existing strategy being expanded to reach a wider audience; or
3. An existing strategy being refined or adjusted from previous years.

To ensure effective implementation, school teams must be strategic in selecting the number of approaches they plan to use to improve outcomes, avoiding the temptation to implement too many initiatives.  To assist this process, NYSED has provided the following guidance:

• At least 1 Instructional Key Strategy must be identified.
• Non-Instructional Key Strategies are optional.
• Total number of Key Strategies (Instructional and Non-Instructional combined) must be between 2 and 5.
• Non-Instructional Key Strategies should not outnumber Instructional Key Strategies.

These Key Strategies should be aligned with the data reviewed and student interviews from the needs assessment. Teams must also explain the rationale for each Key Strategy selected on the provided template.

Schools may find Hattie’s High Impact Teaching Strategies and the resources gathered at Visible Learning, especially the Teaching Strategies, to be helpful resources when considering Key Strategies.  The Diagnostic Tool for School and District Effectiveness (DTSDE) Framework and Phases of Implementation may also be useful when considering different options to pursue.

For each Key Strategy, the school team needs to outline its implementation plan for the upcoming year.

• For new strategies, the plan should detail how the strategy will be introduced and rolled out.
• For expanded strategies, the plan should explain how the expansion will occur.
• For refined strategies, the plan should highlight how this year’s approach differs from previous years.

Each plan should include a sequence of activities that build upon one another. In the column to the right of each activity, include the target date for implementation.  This will help the team track progress during the 2025-26 school year. 

After identifying their Key Strategies, school teams should set success criteria and benchmarks to evaluate progress throughout the year.

Each Key Strategy must include at least one Early Progress Milestone to provide early feedback on the strategy’s success. The data, which could be implementation data and/or outcome data, should directly align with the Key Strategy.

Each Key Strategy must include at least one outcome-based Mid-Year Benchmark and End-of-The-Year target that is directly related to the strategy. 

In addition to setting Mid-Year Benchmarks and End-of-Year targets for each Key Strategy, the plan must also establish overall Performance Targets that reflect the anticipated improvement from the combined impact of all strategies. While the Key Strategy Progress Monitoring will track data specific to each individual strategy, the Performance Targets serve as broader indicators of overall school improvement.

The plan template allows school teams to revisit and update their plan throughout the year. A designated section tracks progress for each Key Strategy and for the Performance Targets, allowing teams to record outcome data or evidence alongside original targets. This section should remain blank when first writing the plan and will be updated throughout the year as the team assesses the success of the plan.

NYSED has created the SCEP Rubric to help teams identify areas for improvement in their plan.  The rubric can be a valuable reference tool while writing the plan.  After completing the initial draft, schools should self-assess using the rubric before finalizing their plan.

• Assembling Your Improvement Planning Team
• NYSED Improvement Planning website