Evaluate Schools/Self
There is a need for school board members to assess themselves as one collaborative authority. They should do everything they can to create and maintain a culture of trust, starting with a process of evaluating their own performance and seeking ways to improve their practices. Parents, community members, business officials, and legislators expect the highest level of accomplishment possible, but not just from students; there is public demand for our school leaders to meet the needs of all learners. Many school board members do not have the formal training to evaluate programs much less the ability to evaluate the performance of their own school’s programs and outcomes. School board members need to engage in training where they meet outside their regular meetings for retreats; they need to learn about evaluation, what to evaluate, how to make data-driven decisions, and then strategically set goals that will impact student achievement.
Just as all other areas of school personnel are assessed and evaluated, school board members also need to engage in self-evaluation as well as training for improving school board performance. School board members should be evaluated as a whole school board, not as individuals. The school board should set goals and develop standards against which they will evaluate themselves. Each evaluation should drive the improvement process for their leadership and include strategies for improving the school board’s performance.
