Charter School Planning

The Charter School shall develop a strategic performance plan that has a continuous focus on innovating and improving the School's:

Student academic proficiency;

Student academic growth;

College and career readiness at the high school level;

Outcomes for at-risk and economically disadvantaged students as defined in IC 33-1001; and

Board performance and stewardship of monitoring student performance, including the Board's compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, and any terms of the School's performance certificate.

The Board of Directors and the Executive Director shall collaborate to develop the strategic performance plan and shall include community input. The Board directs the Executive Director to conduct outreach to each of the following groups, as appropriate, and to document the outreach methods, participation levels, and summary of input:

Students;

Parents;

Educators;

Local industry partners; and

The business community.

The strategic performance plan shall include a clearly stated vision and mission and will use either the State Department of Education's plan template or will provide the required data in a way consistent with the template. When the State template is updated, the School shall conform to the current template effective in the next plan update cycle.

The strategic performance plan will set clear and measurable goals for student outcomes and postsecondary achievement and include key indicators to monitor performance. The Board shall consider including student growth and proficiency goals established by the State Board of Education. The plan shall be data-driven and include student outcomes and growth data in literacy, math, graduation rates, achievement of individual postsecondary goals, and any other metric required by the State Board of Education. The Board may direct that other performance areas aimed at the achievement of other School goals also be included.

All metrics and progress measures shall be disaggregated by student subgroups, (such as race/ethnicity, economically disadvantaged, English learners, students with disabilities, and homeless status), when required by state and federal law. The plan shall include targeted strategies and subgroup-specific measurable goals to reduce achievement gaps.

If the School's combined enrollment of special education students, homeless students, economically disadvantaged students, students enrolled in an alternative high school, and English language learners is 25% or more, the Board may apply to the State Department of Education to request approval to use alternative measures. Any such request must include rationale, evidence of validity, and be posted publicly.

The Board may direct the Executive Director to seek flexibility from the State Department of Education if the School attains high, sustained levels of academic achievement. Any flexibility or waiver requests must be included in the plan and posted on the School website.

The strategic performance plan shall include evidence-based strategies to meet each goal. For each strategy the plan shall identify the evidence basis, a timeline, required resources, responsible parties, fidelity measures, and interim milestones.

Additionally, the plan will outline the Board's plans for continued learning on the topics of Board and leadership development in monitoring student performance. The plan shall specify Board professional development goals related to governance and data literacy, and the Board shall annually report completed training.

Beginning in the 2027-2028 school year, the Board shall adopt the strategic performance plan, and the Executive Director shall submit the adopted plan to the State Department of Education by October 1 each year, or by the date required by State rule if different. In each subsequent year, the strategic plan shall include a report on measurable progress made on all the Board's established goals. The plan shall cover a period of no less than four years, including the fiscal year in which the plan is submitted, and the Board shall update the plan each summer. The plan shall also be made available to the public on the School website. The Executive Director shall file quarterly dashboards and an annual progress report with the Board. All reports shall be posted on the School website and included in Board packets.

Measurable progress in the plan may be shown with measures including, but not limited to, the following:

Year-over-year improvement in student academic growth, proficiency, graduation rates, or postsecondary readiness;

Measurable improvement among identified student subgroups, including at-risk students and economically disadvantaged students;

Implementation of evidence-based strategies identified in the strategic performance plan, including documented changes to curriculum, instruction, assessment, professional development, or resource allocation; and

Improvement toward interim benchmarks or milestones established in the strategic performance plan if long-term outcome targets have not been fully achieved yet.

The plan shall identify the data sources, frequency of measurement, treatment of small cell sizes to protect privacy, and statistical methods used to determine measurable progress.

At least quarterly, the Executive Director shall provide the Board with a written dashboard and narrative addressing progress on at least two priority areas, including disaggregated data, implementation of fidelity, and recommended adjustments. These reports shall be included in the Board packet, discussed at a regular or special meeting, and noted in Board minutes.

Cross References:
§ 1645 Board Development Opportunities
§ 4130 Public Access to Charter School Website

Legal References:
I.C. § 33-320 Continuous Improvement Planning and Training
I.D.A.P.A. 08.02.01.801 Planning and Training