The Seven Outs: Strategic Planning Made Easy for Charter Schools

JUST THE WORDS STRATEGIC PLANNING are enough to make some board members and school executives feel swamped. The process is usually long, boring, and largely without results unless you count a five-inch-thick vinyl notebook collecting dust on a shelf as an achievement. Don t mire your board and executive in writing a plan that is tedious, dull, and loaded with administrivia - three adjectives that could have been invented to describe the typical strategic plan. This book offers another way - The Seven Outs.

Inside, you will meet the board and executive director of Breezy Palms Charter School, a fictional school that is in trouble with its authorizer. You will gain an insiders perspective on the root causes of the schools problems, as well as an overview of The Seven Outs. The ending may surprise you.

In the second part of the book, the author unpacks The Seven Outs so that your school will have a step-by-step recipe for conducting strategic planning. Once completed, the board and executive will know what the students are to accomplish and how well they are to accomplish it, and the board will know how to evaluate the outcomes.

Brian L. Carpenter is CEO of the National Charter Schools Institute in Mount Pleasant Michigan where he leads a team of professionals nationally known and recognized for the quality of their work and their familiarity with the distinct issues facing charter schools. As one of those experts, Brian regularly speaks at conferences and provides consultation and training to individual charter schools, state associations, and management organizations across the country.

In addition to numerous commentaries, articles, and monographs, Brian is the author of Charter School Board University, a widely acclaimed book on charter school governance. His newest book, The Seven Outs: Strategic Planning Made Easy for Charter Schools, was released in late September, 2008.

Brians leadership experience spans three decades, having joined the U.S. Marine Corp in 1977. Following seven years of active duty, Brian embarked on a career in the education sector that has included varied positions including community college instructor and counselor, Christian school superintendent, educational consultant, and charter school board member.

Brian L. Carpenter received his Ph.D. from Capella University in September, 2008.