Although this type of plan may seem overwhelming at first, it is important to remember that you don’t have to do everything all at once. Choose one or two areas that are priorities or that are within your current capacity to achieve and focus on those. With experience, you will be able to manage multiple goals and targets but always remember to keep it manageable. For MTCU, the Program Monitoring Report is the opportunity for us to tell our story and to highlight our results and achievements.

The Renfrew County District School Board has put a lot of effort into implementing CIPMS throughout its agency. Staff feel that the efforts have been well worth it, and they are confident that their programming has improved and that learners are reaping the benefits. They have worked towards clearly summarizing their activities, goals and objectives, action plans, results and timelines. Because it is difficult to plan until you know what you have already achieved, this agency went back into its records and documented what had already been accomplished. Although this required a significant time commitment from everyone involved, they all agree that it was time well spent and has helped them move forward.

The following chart is based on information provided from the Renfrew County District School Board. It shows how they documented some of their CIPMS efforts. This type of chart can help organize data, planning, goals, results and any needed changes into one document. It also relates directly to the CIPMS cycle introduced earlier and shown below.