Purpose
The purpose of the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) Strategic Planning Initiative is to envision the future, prioritize issues, and create strategies that will lead toward the Department’s success in meeting its Mission, Aims and Goals.

Goal
The goals of the initiative are to:

• Understand the key strategic business, financial and operational issues facing IDOE
• Understand the potential for alignment with the new administration in order to jointly accomplish education objects and institutionalize sound practices
• Understand the potential for alignment with the people served and decision makers in order to jointly accomplish education objects and institutionalize sound practices
• Leave a strategic IDOE blueprint for moving forward

Overview
In October 2005, the Indiana Department of Education engaged Crowe Chizek and Company LLC, an accounting and consulting firm experienced in leading planning efforts for the public sector, to facilitate a strategic planning effort for the Department. The purpose of this project was to develop an agency–wide strategic plan to identify core issues (the why), to determine and prioritize strategies to address the core issues (the what), and to identify potential resource options to support the plan (the who). More than 50 interviews and focus group sessions were conducted with individuals from both within IDOE and from outside stakeholder organizations between November 2005 and March 2006.

The driving force behind the plan is ensuring that IDOE is well-positioned to assist Indiana schools in raising student achievement and to provide better information to policymakers and the public. After nearly a year of intensive work, the result is a Department-wide strategic vision offering nearly 60 recommendations for aligning, guiding, strengthening and improving the agency’s efficiency and performance.

The IDOE strategic plan is designed as a "work in progress" that will evolve and be regularly revisited over the next three to five years as IDOE makes progress toward these objectives and sets new goals in the future.