Domains Rubric

	Ineffective	Basic	Proficient	Distinguished
1. The board ensures it is ready to govern.	The board:  Is self-serving or serves special interests  Takes no responsibility for the organization  Never considers its purpose as a board  Lacks a clear approach to governing  Doesn’t believe all people can learn at high levels;  Uses poverty an excuse  Has no system by which it operates  Has no rationale or overall plan for what it does in board meetings	The board:  Claims responsibility for the organization, but tends to let the CEO carry the burden  Rarely discusses the board’s purpose apart from that of the CEO  Adopts a primarily management role  Puts full authority in the CEO's hands  Does not know organizational results efforts in detail, leaving it to the staff  Maintains a system of management, yet has no discernible system for governing	The board:  Considers itself ultimately responsible for organizational performance, and to serve others  Views its role as different from that of the CEO  Believes all people can learn at high levels  Has adopted guidance for its own processes  Takes a strategic approach to board work  Expects staff to align with board’s governance role  Establishes an approach to governing that forges strategic and operational guidance and accountability into one coherent system	The board, in addition to proficient indicators:  +Dedicates itself to a servant-leader role  +Adopts a growth mindset that values effort to overcome obstacles to learning  +Believes in the potential of all people, staff, and board members to grow  +Focuses meetings on strategic work vs. reviewing/approving staff activity  +Documents its systematic governing approach  +Actively pursues professional development to maintain and enhance its governing approach
2. The board exercises strategic voice on behalf of the community.	The board:  Fails to connect with the community  Acts/reacts in inconsistent, ad hoc ways  Operates without evidence of a plan  Does not seem to know what the community thinks is important  Doesn’t understand student learning  Fails to speak out for community values  Sets policy ‘rules’ that do not have underlying values	The board:  Engages community to inform, not listen  Has goals, but doesn’t tie them together  Approves strategic plan, but does not use it in board work  Considers the CEO responsible for vision  Focuses on annual board goals to the detriment of stable, long-term goals  Doesn’t always communicate values in policy language	The board:  Seeks contact with community to learn from it  Main interaction with the community is listening  Writes a strategic plan with non-negotiable goals for achievement and instruction  Refers to strategic plan in board decisions  Puts priority on student learning over other goals  Ensures its own goals and the supt’s goals align  Reflects community values in its policy language	The board, in addition to proficient indicators:  +Nurtures an ongoing community connection to learn its values and vision for results  +Ensures long-range goals for organizational success remain the district’s #1 priority  +Repeatedly reinforces vision of organizational success  +Can explain organizational improvement initiatives and its own role in their execution  +Aligns organizational and individual goals with those of the strategic plan  +Incorporates values in policy/other board work
3. The board gives operational guidance.	The board:  Micro-manages staff work  Ignores policy when making decisions  Directs activity without saying why  Has no distinction between board/staff  Doesn’t respect the chain of command  Focuses on activity rather than results  Operates without principles or rules in running its meetings  Allows its members to spring frequent surprises on staff and other members	The board:  Sets policies to direct staff work, but pays little attention to those policies  Gives inconsistent guidance to CEO/staff  Focuses on directing staff work  Ignores guiding its own board work  Is primarily a ‘figure-head’ board  Submits to ‘care and feeding’ by a board-savvy CEO  Directs, but fails to lead  Avoids surprising staff or one another	The board:  Adopts policy to guide the district and the board  Consults policy when making decisions  Aligns resource management with board-approved goals  Ensures staff know what the board expects for staff work  Sees to it that collegial cooperation is well managed by the chair, who ensures the board follows its own guidance	The board, in addition to proficient indicators:  +Sets clear expectations for staff work, board work, and individual board members as well  +Keeps focus of the organizational vision on achievement vs. administration of the district  +Spends most meeting time on organizational results and policy vs. making management decisions  +Supports the chair’s role in guiding and maintaining its documented governing process  +Empowers the CEO and staff to get results while working within parameters set by the board
4. The board accounts for performance.	The board:  Rarely checks to see if staff are complying with policy, nor if results are achieved  Does not hold CEO accountable  Fails to consider data in decision-making  Never reviews its own performance, nor that of its members  Uses blame and shame rather than formative feedback  Fails to set criteria for success, nor to collect data for use in judging success	The board:  Checks to see if staff are following policy  Holds staff but not the CEO accountable  Lets CEO control info flow to the board  Lets staff decide what organizational results data mean  Sometimes reviews its own performance  Describes an intent to account for organizational success, but doesn’t take steps to measure results	The board:  Reviews results of board goals at least annually  Monitors staff for compliance with expectations  Evaluates supt against clear criteria  Is not afraid of negative data  Reviews its own performance and that of its individual members  Compares data vs. criteria to evaluate the district’s and the board’s performance  Responds to data by declaring signs of progress	The board, in addition to proficient indicators:  +Regularly reviews board work on a routine schedule in board meetings  +Holds CEO accountable for organizational results, with priority on mission-critical organizational results  +Uses data (both + and -) as a diagnostic tool  +Uses principle-guided parameters  +Evaluates CEO, itself, and its board members with an eye toward growth in their capacity  +Responds to data, noting progress and adjusting criteria for the next cycle of monitoring

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