(49 Questions to Ask Your Board)
“School systems exist for one reason and one reason only: to improve student outcomes. [They] do not exist to have great buildings…happy parents…balanced budgets…satisfied teachers…student lunches…employment in the country/city, or anything else…None of those are measures of what students know or are able to do…Effective school boards care about these things too – the “how” it all happens – but they know that anytime school boards are focused primarily on the “how,” they have stopped being focused primarily on the “why” – whether or not children are better off.“
– A.J. Crabill1
Keeping student outcomes foremost is challenging in an education culture (organizational and societal) where adult interests regularly compete with student needs for the attention of policymakers.
Scenario: About fifteen years ago, at the urging of Paul, a usually reserved board member who rarely asserted strong opinions, the board put up a sign in the board room, facing toward the board table. Board members now see a constant reminder of their intent to focus on students, aware of the very human tendency to let this focus become blurred or to be drawn into working for one of many adult priorities. The sign reads: “Students Come First!”
When the board acts it must remind itself that the beneficiaries for whom schools exist are its students. Goals not formulated around students tend to be mere outputs rather than true system outcomes.
We can expect pressure from many quarters to focus on district operations or adult interests that are not directly aligned with student needs. Vendors and community members with special interests come to meetings with their own priorities. Having sought public input, boards feel obligated to listen.
Scenario: The New City school board invited a group of community leaders to meet and provide input about what kind of students our district should be sending out into society. We had developed three broad goals with related objectives in the areas of academic achievement, citizenship and character, and physical health and wellness. We gave a briefing on existing goals and current progress achieved on each, then opened up the discussion to find out what these community leaders thought we should be focusing on. Our desire was to refine our goals based on community input. The first comment, from the mayor, was a suggestion that the district set aside areas near our athletic fields that could be reserved for off-leash dog exercise areas! Our board chair smiled, thanked the mayor for the idea, re-asserted that we were looking for input about students, and asked “Next idea?”
The effective board sets non-negotiable expectations for student outcomes that are desired by the community. It writes a simply stated vision for student success that will stand the test of time and ensure that student learning is continuously the top district priority. In making decisions the board learns about students’ needs and the impact of those decisions on students. The board can track student needs through careful study of data. It maintains a strong focus on students in its school renewal efforts. The board orients its attention and dedicates time in meetings to the relentless pursuit of results for students: reviewing its student learning goals; studying how the district is working to accomplish them; monitoring results; and discussing what interventions the district is using in response to those results. It spends its meeting time focusing on student achievement. Student needs are considered the first priority in board decisions.
NOTE: The opinions expressed in these blog entries are informed by references cited herein, and the experiences of the author. Your comments are welcome additions to the conversation.
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Excerpt from:
- A Framework for School Governance (2018), Rick Maloney
Additional Reference:
- 1Great on Their Behalf (2023), A.J. Crabill
Next: Question #16 – Do Your Goals Focus on Results?