The Interface Between School Board Governance, District Vision, and Student Performance

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.