News Release from DoE

The state Board of Education on Tuesday unanimously approved an updated Hawaii State Department of Education Strategic Plan that builds on key strengths and reform initiatives to ensure all students graduate ready to succeed in college or careers.

“Our plan sets bold and clear student-centered strategies and targets through 2018,” said Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi. “It sharpens our collective focus on implementing a rigorous curriculum, and providing educators the tools to identify and address students’ needs in real time until graduation.”

The Strategic Plan aligns the three main DOE goals with three BOE committees (Student Achievement, Human Resources, and Finance and Infrastructure) to increase both accountability and efficiency.

Having a common and shared Strategic Plan will help the BOE and DOE support student success more effectively.

“I want to thank the Department of Education for the work that it has put into this updated strategic plan and the Board of Education for approving it,” said Gov. Neil Abercrombie. “At various levels, our state government is working in unison to transform our educational system with the main goal of creating a better system that supports teachers and fosters student achievement.”

“Student achievement is at the core of the BOE/DOE Strategic plan,” said BOE Chairman Don Horner. “To promote academic achievement, the plan sets clear expectations, while also aligning resources and strengthening educator development and support to achieve our goals.”

The updated Strategic Plan:

• Reflects a DOE and BOE commitment to Hawaii’s students. It recognizes that this is a critical time for students, parents, teachers, all DOE staff, and community partners coming together to transform public education in Hawaii.

• Explains what the DOE will do to ensure students can reach their fullest potential and attain their aspirations in the face of 21st century opportunities and challenges.

• Commits to supporting and nurturing safe schools, increasing technology resources, building stronger partnerships to support student learning, and promoting a broad-based education that supports the whole student and closes achievement gaps.

• Outlines well-defined student success indicators such as attendance, retention, graduation, and college-going rates.

The DOE and BOE incorporated the feedback of hundreds of stakeholders to improve the Strategic Plan.

Teachers, DOE administrators, students, parents, and leaders from the business, nonprofit, and public sectors all contributed to the Strategic Plan, including new Mission and Vision statements to guide the education transformation ahead.

Community groups praised the revised plan.

“Hui for Excellence in Education (HE‘E) is pleased to see the new Strategic Plan support family-school and community partnerships. The Coalition supports the DOE’s indicators of success as they align with those of our community. We look forward to working together on the implementation of the strategies,” said one group.

“Members of the Hawaii DOE Family-School Partnership Working Group are delighted to see that the Strategic Plan incorporates the term ‘family-school partnership’ which indicates that families and schools have shared responsibility and accountability in student success,” said another.

The working group recently recommended that this term be incorporated in the Strategic Plan to align with national best practice.

The DOE, the University of Hawaii, and the Office of Early Childhood are working to align their statewide education efforts so that students are supported from preschool to post-graduate education and career.

The updated Strategic Plan will be available at www.hawaiidoe.org