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Illinois School Board Journal
July-August 2000
Ask the staff: Get the straight scoop
This is the debut of a new column to answer specific questions from school board members. The question addressed in this column was raised at a new board member workshop. Please send your question to the Illinois School Board Journal, 2921 Baker Drive, Springfield, Illinois 62703; fax it to 217/528-2831; or email to jbillings@iasb.com. You may also submit questions through your field services director or other IASB staff. Answers will be provided by the staff members most qualified to address each specific question.
This issue’s question is addressed by IASB Field Services Director John Cassel. You can contact John at jcassel@iasb.com
Question: As board members, how can we know we are getting the straight scoop on the district? How can we know whether we can trust what the superintendent tells us?
Answer: The school board is rightly concerned that it have a good handle on the life and performance of the district. The school board sits in trust for the whole community and is expected to hold the system educationally accountable. My advice is to use a two-pronged approach: one structural and the other interpersonal. Note that both considerations start with the board and take time.
Key indicators: The structural consideration is the place to start. Accountability begins with clear expectations. Only if the board is clear about what it wants can it determine whether the district is delivering.
The board begins by clarifying the district ends (goals, direction, purpose). Then the superintendent creates an action plan to achieve the ends. A key part of the action plan is an agreement on how results will be measured.
The board and administration must agree in advance on what constitutes progress and how progress will be measured; then the board can be assured they have a handle on key district indicators. Knowing what will be measured should give the board an important level of confidence. Too often, clarity of ends and monitoring of results are given short shrift. Both are at the center of what the board does. Together, they give the board a place to stand in assessing the district.
Trustworthy relationships: If the board is able to add the security of trustworthy relationships to clarity about goals and monitoring, they will have even more confidence.
A school board sits at the top of a bureaucracy. A prime impulse of all bureaucracies is to keep bad information from moving up. The board can do two things to mitigate this tendency. Nurturing good relationships, and especially a good trusting relationship with the superintendent, creates an atmosphere where information can be more freely shared. (Fear, on the other hand, heightens the staff’s need to bury bad news.) Quality relationships are not just about touchy-feely efforts to keep everybody happy. Quality relationships support good communications, good decisions and good education. The board should take the lead in creating and nurturing good relationships (which takes time).
In addition to good relationships, the board must use information and data wisely. The popular phrase is "use data to learn, not to blame." Boards and superintendents should create an atmosphere where bad news is not punished. A board that is willing to struggle and learn together, while insisting on the highest expectations, will likely be privy to all the key data and will achieve remarkable success.