1. 0 ©2015 U.S. Education Delivery Institute While there is no prescribed format for a good delivery plan, it should answer 10 questions What a good delivery plan doesBy answering the following questions Articulate the aspiration1. Is the vision clear? What does success look like? How will things be different? 4. Assign leadership, management, and accountability Who is responsible for ensuring the successful implementation of each activity and/or day- to-day activities? Who will ultimately be responsible for delivering on the plan as a whole? 3.Identify the relevant “delivery chain” relationships What is the delivery chain for each activity? Who are the actors and what actions do they take along the chain? Are weaknesses identified and addressed? Set a trajectory for implementation5.How will you measure success? What is your end target for this measure? What are your intermediate targets? How do you know that your activities produce these results? Prepare to manage stakeholders and users 9.Who are the relevant stakeholders, and how will you engage, communicate with, and “manage” them effectively? Incorporate benchmarking7.What comparisons can you use with historical, internal, external, and other sources to evaluate past performance and build predictions about future performance? What forums will you use to share best practices on an ongoing basis? Describe the resources and support required 8.What personnel, financial, technological, and other resources are required for the plan’s success? If they are not currently available, how will they be obtained? What support is needed from senior management and leadership? 6.Detail performance managementWhat data will you use to determine whether your activities are on-track? How will you monitor these indicators? What are the milestones in implementing your activities? Anticipate and prepare for risks10.What risks and constraints might throw the work off course? How will they be managed? 2. Identify the relevant activitiesWhat activities will you introduce, improve, or remove to reach your aspiration? How will these activities work together to form a coherent whole? How are they sequenced?

2. 1 ©2015 U.S. Education Delivery Institute Rubric for assessing delivery plans Delivery plan criteria Key questions Weak planStrong plan 1.Articulate its aspiration Is the vision clear? What does success look like? How will things be different? ▪ No reference to system aspiration, or does not align with it ▪ System aspiration clearly articulated ▪ Linkage of the success of the plan to the achievement of the aspiration 4.Assign leadership, management, and accountability Who is responsible for ensuring the successful implementation of each activity and/or day-to-day activities? Who will ultimately be responsible for delivering on the plan as a whole? ▪ Overall plan has multiple owners ▪ Activity ownership is not defined, or multiple owners are assigned to each activity ▪ Overall plan has a single accountable owner who is the primary author of the plan ▪ Each activity has a single accountable owner who is directly involved in implementing the activity 2.Identify the relevant activities What activities will you introduce, improve, or remove to reach your aspiration? How will these activities work together to form a coherent whole? How are they sequenced? ▪ No specific activities are identified ▪ Activities are clearly defined and contain a balance of “improve, remove, introduce” ▪ Activities form a coherent whole and are sequenced to account for impact and feasibility 5.Set a trajectory for implementation How will you measure success? What is your end target for this measure? What are your intermediate targets? How do you know that your activities produce these results? ▪ No linkage drawn between activities and impact on measure of success ▪ Timetable does not contain specific milestones ▪ Measure of success is clearly identified ▪ Trajectory is based on solid evidence about impact of activities and/or relevant benchmarks 6.Detail performance management What data will you use to determine whether your activities are on-track? How will you monitor these indicators? What are the milestones in implementing your activities? ▪ No indicators other than the primary measure of success ▪ Timetable for implementing activity is vague or non-existent ▪ Indicators are clearly defined, plus linked to sub- indicators and leading indicators as necessary ▪ Implementation timetable contains specific, time- bound milestones ▪ Plan exists for regularly monitoring progress 7.Incorporate benchmarking What comparisons can you use with historical, internal, external, and other sources to evaluate past performance and build predictions about future performance? What forums will you use to share best practices on an ongoing basis? ▪ No benchmarks defined in plan for any purpose ▪ No opportunities for those executing the plan to learn from each other and other systems ▪ Benchmarks used throughout plan to justify the choice of activities, targets, and trajectories ▪ Plan includes mechanisms to search for new benchmarks, both internally and externally 8.Describe the resources and support required What personnel, financial, technological, and other resources are required for the plan’s success? If they are not currently available, how will they be obtained? What support is needed from senior management and leadership? ▪ Resources not mentioned or are vague/unrealistic ▪ Resource requirements give a clear picture of how the plan can be achieved with the resources available, or specify how the needed resources can be obtained 9.Prepare to manage stakeholders and users Who are the relevant stakeholders, and how will you engage, communicate with, and “manage” them effectively? ▪ No stakeholders are noted. Or stakeholders are noted without details on how they will be managed ▪ Relevant stakeholders are identified ▪ Each stakeholder is analyzed to assess role, current perspective, and desired perspective ▪ Approach is detailed for communicating with and managing each stakeholder 10.Anticipate and prepare for risks What risks and constraints might throw the work off course? How will they be managed? ▪ No risks detailed, or risk assessment is unrealistic, with no attempt at real solutions for management ▪ Clear-eyed assessment of multiple risks ▪ Approach is detailed for managing each risk 3.Identify the relevant delivery chain(s) What is the delivery chain for each activity? Who are the actors and what actions do they take along the chain? Are weaknesses identified and addressed? ▪ No delivery chains defined, or delivery chains give an inaccurate/incomplete picture of realities on the ground ▪ Each activity has a defined delivery chain that identifies influence, relationships, and strong and weak links ▪ For each activity, details are provided on what actions are taking place throughout the chain and what will be done to address weaknesses

3. 2 ©2015 U.S. Education Delivery Institute The delivery plan criteria and rubric contain several technical terms that require definitions. ▪ Aspiration: A focused vision that articulates how things will be different (and better) in the future. This vision is used to guide and inspire a system’s work. ▪ Activity: A program, initiative, or other coordinated set of actions (strategies, policies, practices, analyses) that are designed to reach a desired goal. ▪ Delivery Chain: The set of actors (people or organizations) that are needed to implement a given activity. The “chain” recognizes that relationships between actors can involve managing, training, consulting, marketing, distributing, and many other actions. ▪ Trajectory: A best estimate – given available evidence – of what performance will look like over time. The trajectory ideally shows how impacts from different activities build over time to reach the end target. ▪ Indicator: A measurable variable or statistic that can be used to monitor progress toward activity objectives and/or implementation milestones. ▪ Milestone: An action or event that marks a significant change or accomplishment along the path of implementation. ▪ Benchmarking: Using comparisons to evaluate past performance or build predictions about future performance. Comparisons are often quantitative and can be made with historical, internal, external, international, functional, or other sources. ▪ Stakeholder: Any group or individual with a vested interest in the process or outcome of your work.