Throughout this class this summer, there have been several recurring themes through discussions, activities, and readings. First, it is imperative to create a climate and culture of community within your school district. This process begins with creating a mission and vision for your school district. This is accomplished through staff and community collaboration, with strong leadership from the district administrator. Second, all districts must engage in some form of continuous improvement model to continue to grow as a district. We found through examinations and discussions that there are several school improvement models that exist today, and it's the role of the superintendent and school board to implement the model that best meets the needs of the district. Finally, it is strongly encouraged that school boards adopt a model of policy governance from which the school district will be governed by. Again, there are different governance models out there, and it will take a collaborative effort between the school board and superintendent to find the model that best fits the district's needs and dynamics.
I would like to examine in greater detail the relationship between board governance, district vision, and student performance. I believe the most important foundation to establish is a solid governance model by which the board and superintendent operate under. Regardless of what governance model a board implements, I believe there to be six critical focus areas a school board must follow to be effective: (1) The Board clarifies the district purpose (2) The Board engages the community (3) The Board is directly responsible for only the superintendent (4) The Board delegates authority (5) The Board monitors performance through data analysis (6) The Board ultimately speaks through one voice. As our instructor Brad Saron stated several different times, "excellence in the classroom begins with excellence in the Board room."
If one is not in place, a superintendent needs to work collaboratively with staff and community to create a district vision. The district vision will provide guidance and inspiration as to what the district wants to focus on in one, five, or ten years. The district leader needs to engage staff and community to develop a shared vision, using student data, and must establish district goals around the vision. Ultimately, we must ask ourselves if our district vision is focused on student growth and performance.
The creation of a district vision is the initial step to implementing a district continuous improvement model. As we learned in class, there are a variety of improvement models that exists, ranging in complexity. The superintendent should examine all models closely, choosing a model that best meets the needs of that particular district. Community and staff engagement are critical components of continuous improvement, and those were examined time and again in several different models of continuous improvement used by districts across the state of Wisconsin, with the end goal always being increased student achievement.
The pillar to continuous improvement, and ultimately student performance, is a district that is governed by a school board governance model. The board provides directed autonomy to the administration and staff to make the daily operational and instructional decisions, and enacts policies that support building level leadership.
Monday, August 11, 2014
Interview with a School Board President
I recently interviewed our School Board President, focusing on Chapter 9 of the Key Works, "Climate and Culture". I feel creating a climate and culture of collaboration, professional and personal growth, and excellence directly impact increased student achievement, and in turn, will move us from a good school to a great school. I used the self-assessment questions at the end of the chapter to help guide our conversation.
Do district policies allow for flexibility at the school and classroom levels?
Over the past year and a half, our district has worked with Neola to re-write and modify our School Board policies. Much of our discussion centered around this process. Through that process, it was realized that many of the existing Board policies centered around the School Board as the final decision-making body in many of our policies and practices. It was the desire of the School Board to ensure that when appropriate, many of our policies reflected the value of building leadership and classroom teachers' autonomy in the daily educational decisions.
While I believe there is a level of micromangement by the School Board in our district, I believe that the Board, specifically the Board President, wishes to provide autonomy to the individual buildings. This is reflected in their commitment to re-write many Board policies to reflect this value.
Do we regularly make student achievement a part of our meeting agenda?
Through our conversation, it was quickly realized that this is an area of deficiency with our School Board meetings. Our Board does not regularly use data, and generally the only conversations that focus on student achievement are when our school receives an award -- School of Recognition, US News, etc. -- and in the spring when we received our State assessment scores and school report card. We discussed having student achievement discussion occur monthly during administrative reports. Those discussions will be supported with data when possible.
I realize that there are many areas that I need to improve on with sharing specific student achievement data with the School Board. For example, I will begin sharing the results our PALS assessments PK-2nd grade, STAR Reading and Math Assessments, and our grade level common assessments.
Is the School Board a vocal advocate for student achievement issues among local, state, and federal policymakers?
Admittedly, our School Board falls short in the area of advocacy within the political arena. Over the last several years, there have been many opportunities for Board involvement with state policymaking. The Board President was not able to put her finger on the reason for this lack of involvement, but realize this is an area that the Board needs to be more active in.
I believe part of the reason for this is a lack of leadership in this area from our district administrator. He has not traditionally been involved in state level politics, and has not made this a priority in the past. It we expect our Board to involve themselves in state educational policy decisions, I feel the district level leadership needs to also take an active stance in this area.
Are facilities adequate and designed to promote a sense of community?
Being a rural school district, housed in a K-12 building, a sense of community is naturally promoted through our physical facilities. Outside the physical facilities, our conversation focused on many operational and instructional changes that have been made to promote a sense of community. For example, our Board has supported a schedule change to add an Advisory period to our schedule to build that sense of community. Our elementary incorporated PLCs a couple years ago, with the support of the Board. The Board has also promoted and supported the use of district resources to create programs, assemblies, et. al. to recognize student achievement and accomplishments.
Whether it's naturally occurring, or through the direct support of the School Board, our district is strong in the overall sense of building community.
Do teachers have the time and resources to achieve standards?
As stated above, the Board has been very supportive of schedule changes at all levels to help promote student achievement. The School Board has always supported the use of substitute teachers to allow classroom teachers release time to work on many initiatives, including curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The Board has also financially supported allowing staff to attend professional conferences and workshops.
I feel this is the strongest asset of our School Board. Many of our new programs and initiatives have gone unquestioned by the Board, and have been fully supported financially by the School Board.
As a Superintendent, there are many things that I could do to help the School Board promote a positive and productive school community and climate. First, I would do a book study with our School Board to lead discussions about the School Board's role in the daily operations and decisions of the school district. I would then collaborate with the Board to perform an analysis of Board policies to ensure a safe and collaborative learning environment, and ultimately to assure student achievement goals are being met. I would work with our Board President to develop a Board agenda that focuses on student achievement, and coordinate with other staff members to present student achievement data at monthly Board meetings. Finally, I would work with the Board to develop a district budget that incorporates staff development and student achievement goals, to always ensure the necessary resources are there to promote staff and student growth.
Do district policies allow for flexibility at the school and classroom levels?
Over the past year and a half, our district has worked with Neola to re-write and modify our School Board policies. Much of our discussion centered around this process. Through that process, it was realized that many of the existing Board policies centered around the School Board as the final decision-making body in many of our policies and practices. It was the desire of the School Board to ensure that when appropriate, many of our policies reflected the value of building leadership and classroom teachers' autonomy in the daily educational decisions.
While I believe there is a level of micromangement by the School Board in our district, I believe that the Board, specifically the Board President, wishes to provide autonomy to the individual buildings. This is reflected in their commitment to re-write many Board policies to reflect this value.
Do we regularly make student achievement a part of our meeting agenda?
Through our conversation, it was quickly realized that this is an area of deficiency with our School Board meetings. Our Board does not regularly use data, and generally the only conversations that focus on student achievement are when our school receives an award -- School of Recognition, US News, etc. -- and in the spring when we received our State assessment scores and school report card. We discussed having student achievement discussion occur monthly during administrative reports. Those discussions will be supported with data when possible.
I realize that there are many areas that I need to improve on with sharing specific student achievement data with the School Board. For example, I will begin sharing the results our PALS assessments PK-2nd grade, STAR Reading and Math Assessments, and our grade level common assessments.
Is the School Board a vocal advocate for student achievement issues among local, state, and federal policymakers?
Admittedly, our School Board falls short in the area of advocacy within the political arena. Over the last several years, there have been many opportunities for Board involvement with state policymaking. The Board President was not able to put her finger on the reason for this lack of involvement, but realize this is an area that the Board needs to be more active in.
I believe part of the reason for this is a lack of leadership in this area from our district administrator. He has not traditionally been involved in state level politics, and has not made this a priority in the past. It we expect our Board to involve themselves in state educational policy decisions, I feel the district level leadership needs to also take an active stance in this area.
Are facilities adequate and designed to promote a sense of community?
Being a rural school district, housed in a K-12 building, a sense of community is naturally promoted through our physical facilities. Outside the physical facilities, our conversation focused on many operational and instructional changes that have been made to promote a sense of community. For example, our Board has supported a schedule change to add an Advisory period to our schedule to build that sense of community. Our elementary incorporated PLCs a couple years ago, with the support of the Board. The Board has also promoted and supported the use of district resources to create programs, assemblies, et. al. to recognize student achievement and accomplishments.
Whether it's naturally occurring, or through the direct support of the School Board, our district is strong in the overall sense of building community.
Do teachers have the time and resources to achieve standards?
As stated above, the Board has been very supportive of schedule changes at all levels to help promote student achievement. The School Board has always supported the use of substitute teachers to allow classroom teachers release time to work on many initiatives, including curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The Board has also financially supported allowing staff to attend professional conferences and workshops.
I feel this is the strongest asset of our School Board. Many of our new programs and initiatives have gone unquestioned by the Board, and have been fully supported financially by the School Board.
As a Superintendent, there are many things that I could do to help the School Board promote a positive and productive school community and climate. First, I would do a book study with our School Board to lead discussions about the School Board's role in the daily operations and decisions of the school district. I would then collaborate with the Board to perform an analysis of Board policies to ensure a safe and collaborative learning environment, and ultimately to assure student achievement goals are being met. I would work with our Board President to develop a Board agenda that focuses on student achievement, and coordinate with other staff members to present student achievement data at monthly Board meetings. Finally, I would work with the Board to develop a district budget that incorporates staff development and student achievement goals, to always ensure the necessary resources are there to promote staff and student growth.
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