School Board Meeting - Evidence for Continuous Improvement

Since our class on June 7^th, I have attended three school board meetings.  The first of these took place the following week on June 11^th.  This was a special meeting to discuss changes to the plan for our new middle school building.  

The regular school board meeting that I attended took place on Monday, June 16^th.  As with most of our board meetings, the agenda included the passing of updated job descriptions, financial reports, and resignations.  Also included in this month’s agenda were updates on building improvements that are taking place at the existing elementary/middle school and an update on the building design that was presented on June 11.  Most of the meeting was routine and discussion was informational.  However, when it came time for the principal reports, the board members began to ask questions that showed concern for student learning and achievement.  (This typically happens every month.)  For example, at this month’s meeting the middle school principal reported on the outcome of the new after-school program that was implemented this year.  He provided data that showed changes in the numbers of students with failing grades from previous years compared to this year.  Following this report, several school board members asked specific questions about the data and requested follow up data after year two.  Likewise, when I reported on high school graduation stats, one school board member asked specific questions regarding those students who did not graduate and what was being done as follow up.

Over the last three years, I have noticed that the questions of our School Board members have become more direct and specific regarding data and student achievement.  In fact, the School Board recently implemented a requirement for all new programming proposals, part of which is a data component to document the effect of the program on student achievement.  I believe that this focus has occurred because of the fact that over the last three years, our board has been attending workshops that emphasize the need for continuous improvement and the use of data.  Another reason for this change in focus is because of the fact that we have been providing our Board with an opportunity to exam our school data each summer with an annual data retreat.  Which leads me to the third school board meeting that I attended since our last class…

On July 9^th, the administrative team presented our data retreat information to the School Board.  At the retreat, we provided data on our ACCESS, AIMSWeb, and WKCE scores.  Along with the data that was presented, the administrative team provided analysis, summaries, and proposals for action based on the data.  Throughout this presentation, the School Board asked questions that showed that they wanted to clearly understand the data and were genuinely interested in the achievement of our students.

 

In summary, it is evident that the Arcadia School Board has adopted some of the principals that evoke a mindset of continuous improvement.  Based on the seven components outlined in Chapter 12 on “What will it take to get there?”, I believe that our current board is moving in the right direction but has plenty of work ahead in fully implementing this approach.  My superintendent’s role in moving the Board in this direction has been more of a “coming along side of” rather than leading the movement. All of the data collection and reporting is done by the principals and pupil services director—the current superintendent appears not know where or how we get and manage the data.  

Three Steps that I would take as a Superintendent to improve the Board's focus on Continuous Improvement:
1.  As superintendent, I need to be able to model the use of data, being proficient in the use of the WISEdash site, and accessing district assessment reports such as MAP.  I also need to be a leader in the use of data so that the administrative team will see the superintendent as one who "walks the walk" and the school board will have increased reliability the validity of my decision making.
2.  As superintendent, I will guarantee that School Board meeting agenda items will include data whenever possible for decision-making purposes.
3.  As superintendent, I will provide opportunities for the School Board to learn how to read data reports and provide regular updates on school programs that are data-focused.