Transcript Expectations for a High Performing School Board

Expectations for a
High Performing
School Board
Scott Chase
10-19-05
1
Expect the Highest Quality Leadership
Students, parents, District staff, and Greece residents should
expect the highest quality leadership from the School Board:
• Drive the development of the District’s vision & mission
• Develop themselves as a governing body
• Improve the District’s image with the community
• Be responsive to the public they serve
• Focus on the use of information to gain knowledge and
make wiser decisions, & NOT try to run operations
• Promote & practice effective communications with the
Superintendent, staff, teachers, parents, students & the
Greece community
2
What to do isn’t new. It’s already defined!
• Extensive information already exists, tailored to public school
boards, that can be adopted immediately, which will:
• Set the Greece Central School District on an even better
path to improving student achievement
• Improve the trust within the District
• Improve morale within the District
• Improve the board as a governing body
• Information is based on fundamental leadership concepts and
best practices applied to a public school system
• Board members just have to want to do it!
3
Information Sources
• National School Boards Association publications &
web site: The Key Work of School Board’s Guidebook,
www.nsba.org
• NY State School Boards Association web site,
www.nyssba.org
• Monroe County School Boards Association reference
materials & web site, www.mcsba.org
• The American School Board Journal, $57 / year
• Five Habits of High-Impact School Boards, Doug
Eadie, 2005
4
Why do it?
Benefits include:
• Improved student achievement
• Increased parental involvement
• Increased administrative efficiency & financial stability
• Increased teacher & staff morale
• Stronger community support
• Higher school board member satisfaction
• Increased pool of highly qualified candidates for school
board
5
Key Areas of Focus
1. The governing work of the School
Board
2. Board member behavior
3. School District performance
4. Climate and Culture
5. School board membership
6
Governing Work of the School Board
Governing – means the School Board plays a leadership role, in
partnership with the superintendent & staff, in making
decisions that answer 3 fundamental questions:
•
Where should the GCSD be headed over the long term?
Vision, long range strategic goals, strategic change initiatives, long-range
capital improvements
•
What should the GCSD be now and in the short term? Purpose
of the GCSD, establishes general tone or organizational climate, policy
decisions to better lead & manage District operations
•
How well is the GCSD performing – educationally,
functionally, administratively? Financials, external relations
7
Governing Work of the School Board
•
Governing should be the number one focus of the SB
•
The capacity to govern effectively needs to be
developed; it requires developing the board as a
governing entity
•
Every board that is committed to governing at peak
performance must also be committed to its own
continuing education
•
Effective governing requires the board, superintendent
and top administrators to work together, collaboratively
as a close-knit leadership team
8
Governing Work – 2 Key Governing Products
• A detailed vision statement:
•
Defines the desired future state of the District
•
An internal guide for planning & a powerful community
education tool
•
Adopting & updating the vision statement is one of the
most important decisions the school board makes
• A detailed district image statement:
•
Answers the question, “We the Greece Central School
District want to be seen as . . .”
•
Provides guidance in developing key messages to the
community
9
Destructive Board Member Behaviors
• Trying to “fix things” for your constituents rather than
referring problems to the district for a systematic fix
• Refusing to participate in board development, choosing
instead to revel in “lone wolf” notoriety
• Publicly criticizing the board or the superintendent with
the intent of promoting yourself & undermining public
confidence in colleagues
• Declaring your First Amendment right to say & do as
you please, without regard for the responsibility you have
assumed as a member of the board to work for the whole
• Circumventing the superintendent to give directives to
the staff
L. J. Dawson, R. Quinn, American School Board Journal, Sept. 2004, 28
10
School Boards should not focus on details
• As the leadership entity in making governing decisions,
the School Board must focus on the “big picture” and not
get involved with the day-to-day activities of operating the
school district.
• This means using information provided by administrators
and relying on their expertise for data collection, analysis
and interpretation
• The Greece community must realize and NOT expect the
School Board to focus on the details of operating the
District
11
Information Pyramid
Policy
(Wise Decisions)
World of
Information
User
Knowledge
Intelligence
Information
World of
Information
Provider
Data
Reality
Adapted from V.P. Barabba, G. Zaltman, “The Inquiry Center,” Planning Review, 19, No 2 (1991), 5
Real
World
12
Attracting “The Best” School Board Candidates is key
High-performance school systems, characterized by excellent
student achievement & strong community support:
• Develop a process for identifying strong potential board members
• Realize that school board elections should not be left to the
whims of the electorate
• Have board members who are clear about their role in policy,
budgeting & planning – they avoid engaging in micromanagement
• Have board members who are team players, with excellent
interpersonal skills
• Have board members who enjoy working with one another & the
superintendent
13
J. M. Cronin, R. H. Goodman, W. G. Zimmerman Jr.
What you can do
• Help new & existing neighbors to register to vote
• Make known your expectations of what the
School Board should be focusing on
• Write letters or ads, speak at board meetings
• Be an advocate for what the School Board should
be focusing on – help educate the community
• Share information through PTA channels
• Volunteer, in some form, at schools to see the
positive practices & achievements
14
References
• National School Boards Association website, www.nsba.org
• NY State School Boards Association website, www.nyssba.org
• Monroe County School Boards Association reference materials
and web site, www.mcsba.org
• Eadie, Doug, Five Habits of High-Impact School Boards, 2005
• NSBA, The Key Work of School Boards Guidebook, 2000
• J. M. Cronin, R. H. Goodman, W. G. Zimmerman Jr., “Finding the
Best, Attracting and retaining outstanding school board members”,
American School Board Journal, March 2004
• V. P. Barabba and G. Zaltman, “The Inquiry Center,” Planning
Review, 19, No 2 (March/April 1991), 5.
• D. Q. McInerny, Being Logical, A Guide to Good Thinking, 2004
15