Governing Effectively via a Framework for School Governance
(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. ― James Madison1 To be fully effective, the board controls Read More …
(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) This advice from The Key Work of School Boards challenges a board when monitoring district performance to carefully consider its response, including what to do about the monitoring. Scenario: At the school board conference, a vendor was selling ties and buttons. Two particular buttons stood out. One said, “It’s the board’s fault!” and was selling at a brisk pace. An even bigger seller, the other button, intended for sale to board members, said “It’s Read More …
(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) The only way a board can responsibly do its job without meddling is by monitoring very well…The best boards keep their noses in the business and their fingers out. – Jim Brown1 The board meets its obligation to account for district success when it monitors district performance in order to hold the superintendent accountable for managing the district, assuring reasonable progress toward achievement of district goals and complying with expectations about how those goals Read More …
(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 …