Such a privilege to sit on
the District Governance Program panel with Tari Thomas, Superintendent of Ralph Mahar Regional and
presenter Dorothy Presser, MASC Field Director.
From the web site: “The
District Governance Program [DGP] is designed to focus on continuous
improvement and to help school committees and superintendents develop new
strategies for teamwork and collaboration that will enhance student
achievement. [It] helps build a better understanding of the roles and
responsibilities of the school committee and those of the superintendent.”
How is it structured? Like a school house…
·
Building the Foundation (Operating Protocols)
·
Raising the Frame (Vision and Goals)
·
Installing the Infrastructure (Monitoring Progress)
·
Setting the Walls (Effective Meetings)
·
Laying the Roof (Sustaining Progress)
How does it work? Districts contact Dorothy and indicate the
desire for assistance in improving their governance. Dorothy meets with the
Superintendent and Board Chair to determine the district’s current governance
status, evaluate its unique needs, and create a plan for tackling challenges. (Tari found this process particularly insightful and useful.)
In the interest of student achievement, districts should
seek:
·
a vision of high expectations
·
accountability
·
strong relationships
·
data to monitor progress
·
to lead as a united team
Practices that support success:
·
varied and purposeful meetings (try for 1/quarter that is
not a business meeting)
·
strong self-governance
·
having a board professional development plan
·
strong Superintendent/Committee collaboration (MASC has info
on this)
High-functioning governance teams (administration and
Committee):
·
abide by their unique roles
·
agree on how to operate and communicate
·
devote time to the work
·
plan and execute efficient business meetings
·
have frequent, informal conversations
·
share trust and mutual respect
These are things we talked about as being useful in Melrose
(and apologies to Tari as I don’t have specifics for hers – am sure she’d be
happy to talk with you about them):
· Adopting
norms and protocols that reflect the behaviors of the Committee. (We used the
DGP’s headings: “Who we represent; How we conduct business; How we’ll treat
each other; How we’ll communicate; How we’ll improve; Limits of power; What
happens when things go wrong.” You can find them here: http://tinyurl.com/q6c8zpq.
We put a copy into a clear notebook sleeve and have one at every Committee
member’s desk for each meeting.
· Determining and
employing overarching goals, SMART goals, and action items http://tinyurl.com/neyxbmz).
· Use of a rolling agenda
(pp 241-244 here: http://tinyurl.com/nl8s3zk.)
· Use of a
consent agenda for common and regular reports (like monthly budget summaries,
field trips, warrants, meeting minutes, personnel reports, cafeteria reports,
maintenance reports, etc.) that generally don’t generate much dialogue among
Committee members since they are posted in packets the Friday prior to Tuesday
meetings and members can contact the Supt. with questions in advance. In the
introduction to the Consent Agenda in a meeting, the Chair always asks if
anyone wants to remove and item from the Consent Agenda, and if so, the Chair
determines where on the agenda that item will be discussed and voted.
·
Using By-Laws and policy (“B” section of most policy
manuals) to codify intentions around how meetings will be run (http://melroseschools.com/school-committee/district-policy-manual/).
·
Employing data dashboards (here: http://melroseschools.com/administration/district-dashboard/
and is a work in progress!).
·
Performing a yearly self-evaluation that can lead to
formation of goals for the following year. (Our 2015 process was approved last
night and can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/nl8s3zk
on pp. 162-170.) Virtually the same process was used last year at this time, so
you can see how members responded on the evaluation and the ensuing report that
led to goal formation early this year.)
Using a continuous cycle of goal setting, performance
monitoring, and self-reflection can support Committee accomplishment of the
work that improves student learning in a thoughtful, collaborative way.
