Writing an action plan
An action plan is an important part of both the authorization and evaluation processes. In both cases, schools are required to present an action plan as part of the IB’s documentation. The action plan should be used to track progress against the school's goals as well as referring directly to the IB standards and practices.
After authorization it should demonstrate how the school is responding to the recommendations made from authorization (or the last evaluation). Once authorized it is anticipated that you will update this action plan at least annually.
The action plan is a tool the school uses to develop the implementation of the Diploma Programme in such a way that it continues to meet IB requirements. It helps to plan both for the short term (especially in addressing recommendations) as well as the medium and long term. The action plan helps a school be consistent regardless of staff or management turnover.
Good quality and sustainable Diploma Programme action plans take time, effort and planning to develop.
Professional Inquiry
- What is the role of IB action plans?
- What makes a an effective IB action plan?
- How do we develop action plans in a collaborative way, involving all key stakeholders in our learning community?
What is action planning?
"You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you are going because you might not get there." (Yogi Berra, American baseball player 1925-2015).
Action plans are helpful tools in prioritizing goals, identifying steps to take to achieve these goals, and thinking through the practical actions you need to take. Resources need to be provided to carry out the actions and someone needs to be responsible for leading, managing and evaluating the actions against a clearly set out timeframe.
Key questions to ask:
- Goal: What do we want to achieve?
- Objective: What specific change do we want to make?
- Actionable points: who, what, where, when and how?
- Resourcing: what resources do we need to put in place?
- Success criteria: How will we know when our goal and objective are achieved?
- Timeframe: when do we want to achieve our goals and objectives? Providing specific dates against the actions allows you to monitor your progress in achieving your goals.
Writing action based goals
There are many different ways of writing action plans. Here are some people have found helpful:
Example 1:
Action verb | Activity | Purpose | Date |
Example 2:
| Goal | Objective | Actions | Resources | Success criteria | Timeframe/Date |
Example 3:
Top tips for writing action plans
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Action Planning for Authorization
The Guide to school authorization: Diploma Programme provides a template for auditing your current provision with the requirements of the IB. This is a useful tool for identifying what you should have in your action plan for future development.
The IB acknowledges that for each school the implementation of an IB programme is a journey and that different schools will meet the various requirements as laid out in the Standards and Practices to varying degrees. For authorization the IB distinguishes between those practices which need to be already in place ahead of being awarded authorization and those practices which must show planning is in process.
Action Planning for Evaluation
At the heart of your preparation for the five year evaluation you are expected to carry out a thorough self-study. This forms the basis for you identifying strengths and areas for further development, which will inform your action planning process.
Activity: Creating an action plan
- Carry out an audit of your implementation of the IB Diploma Programme using the IB Programme standards and practices as a benchmark.
- Identify the practices that need further development.
- Create an action plan for each practice to be developed.
Tags: action planning, goals, authorization, evaluation