Governing Effectively via a Framework for School Governance
(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) The board has a responsibility to expect clear evidence that implementation has been carried out. This evidence should be provided not only for the district as a whole, but also for each individual school. The type of evidence that will be gathered should be determined and agreed on before the policy is implemented. That way, the expectations are clear up front, and the staff isn’t being asked to provide confirming data after the fact. Read More …
(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) Because board members assume a strategic role and usually aren’t educators themselves, they’re in a poor position to objectively assess an educational program’s effectiveness. But the programs’ outcomes (as reflected in student achievement data that reveal the degree of progress toward meeting school district goals) are fair game for board questioning. The board doesn’t so much assess educational programs as it challenges school staff to justify their effectiveness. ― Mark Van Clay and Perry Read More …
(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) Scenario: During a work-study session following annual release of state test score results, the Riverdale school board reviewed a staff report on the data. “This year’s scores are depressing,” grumbled Ethelda. “Student achievement declined across the board, and that is unacceptable. We have to do something.” Mary Lu responded “Don’t forget that one result does not make a trend. We really need to wait and see what trends develop so we can make informed Read More …
(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 …
(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) “Where previously such admonition from the chair had to come from that person’s own belly of conscience, this policy gives them fodder for the canon of board leadership, to call to task any trustee who has trodden from the path of policy proviso and gotten off into areas which the board has agreed are off limits.” ― Gene Royer1 The above is a description of board policy that grants authority to the board chair Read More …
(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) The board is responsible for its own performance and commits itself to continuous improvement. The board will assure that its members are provided with training and professional support necessary to govern effectively. As a means to assure continuous improvement, the board regularly and systematically will monitor all policies in this section and will assess the quality of each meeting by debriefing the meeting following its conclusion. ― San Diego SD1 The above policy is Read More …