Governing Effectively via a Framework for School Governance
(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) The role of trustees is to hold what approximates absolute power over the institution, using it operationally only in rare emergencies – ideally never. Trustees delegate the operational use of power to administrators and staffs, but with accountability for its use that is at least as strict as now obtains with the use of property and money…In essence, this view of the use of power holds that no one, absolutely no one, is to be entrusted Read More …
(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) Superintendent job performance will be monitored systematically only against the Superintendent’s job expectations, which are reasonable progress toward organizational accomplishment of the Fundamentals stated in Board Policy 1800 OE-1, and the organizational operation within the boundaries established in the other Operational Expectations set forth in Board Policy 1800. ― Mercer Island SD1 Written policies such as the example shown above direct and guide the superintendent’s actions on a continuous basis by establishing clear expectations. Read More …
(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) Prime evidence of flawed board governance has been high superintendent turnover. Between 1994 and 2004, 35 urban districts serving near 11 million students appointed 135 superintendents and interim superintendents. These turnovers usually resulted in further destabilizing districts desperately attempting to raise test scores and meet state standards. ― Thomas Glass1 If we are to judge its success a hiring process that ends with candidate selection and contract signature ends too soon. Many boards are Read More …
(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) “To start the role clarification process, a board can adopt or revise policies that specify what the board can expect from the superintendent and what the superintendent can expect of the board.” ― NSBA1 Boards should periodically review the board-superintendent relationship. A breakdown in that relationship is inevitable when the superintendent’s role, and how it differs from the board’s role, lacks clarity. Clarity in her role starts with alignment of board policy, the contract, Read More …
(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) …when district leaders are carrying out their leadership responsibilities effectively, student achievement across the district is positively affected. – Tim Waters and Robert Marzano1 In a landmark study of district leadership, Marzano and Waters reported a significant relationship between student achievement and certain district leadership factors, such as the goal-setting for achievement and instruction, the length of superintendent tenure, and delegation of authority in a manner that they call defined autonomy. Their lessons for Read More …
This month’s edition (February 2023) of the American School Board Journal included a feature article that I wrote, describing leadership, including school board leadership, as a 3-legged stool. Here’s how they introduce the topic: School boards must balance responsibility, authority, and accountability to successfully govern, writes board trainer and long-time school board leader Rick Maloney. Here’s a link to that article: The Three-Legged Stool