District Leadership: District Governance

The Broad Prize Framework for School District Excellence

District Governance Requirements

The board works collaboratively, efficiently and effectively to fulfill their responsibilities for district governance and oversight.
The board and district leaders work effectively with each other and with educational partners, including schools, unions, state-level associations and parent groups.
The superintendent provides skillful leadership, focusing on providing a critical link between the district and schools, and the district and the community.

Best Practice District Governance Documents

Holding the Superintendent Accountable – Miami-Dade County Public Schools

The school board in Miami-Dade County Public Schools has chosen to link the superintendent’s performance evaluation directly to the district’s goals.

1 – Org Chart - Board of Education Depicts the organization of the district’s governance structure.
What to Notice The org chart only includes the superintendent, not the rest of the district organization, implying that the board does not interfere with management, except via their oversight of the superintendent. The board has an audit committee which helps them hold the superintendent accountable, and a Miami-Dade student participates in an advisory capacity.	Questions to Ask To what degree do board members engage on management issues? Do they go around the superintendent? How was the current superintendent hired? Who led the process? Did it go smoothly? How were the other committees identified? Who participates in the committees, and how is their participation determined? How does the school board measure its own performance? How does the school board communicate with district leadership?
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2 – Mission, Vision and Values - District Lays out district’s mission, vision, and values.
What to Notice This one-pager is attractively produced. The language is clear and compelling.	Questions to Ask Who developed the mission, vision and goals? Was the board involved? What was the process? Did this document precede the arrival of the current superintendent?
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3 – District Goals Describes goals and measurable objectives for the Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
What to Notice The district articulates six clear-and-compelling goals that cover student achievement, community involvement, operational effectiveness and human resources. Then, in the following pages, the document breaks the goals into measurable objectives and metrics. Notice that the language is very positive throughout and that there are strong links with the mission, vision and values of the district.	Questions to Ask How were these goals developed, and what was the process? How often are these goals and metrics revisited? How are goals prioritized? Who tracks the district’s performance on the measurable goals? In what document does the district review its progress? How public is this process?
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4 – Superintendent’s Evaluation Template Offers a rigorous tool for evaluation of the superintendent’s performance.
What to Notice The tool is built around the district’s six major goals and the measurable objectives that map to those goals. Notice how specific the goals are on the first page, especially the student achievement targets. Notice also that some of the objectives are quantitative (like the student achievement targets), and others are qualitative (like the redesign of the Alternative Education Program).	Questions to Ask Who developed the tool? Was the current superintendent involved? What is the process for annual goal-setting? Who takes the lead in evaluating the superintendent? Is the whole board involved? Are any external consultants or facilitators hired? How does the board monitor progress toward goals throughout the year? What has the superintendent’s track record been? Is this document—or any portion of it—distributed to the public?
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Setting and Implementing Board Policy – New York City Department of Education

In 2002, the New York state legislature changed the law regarding the make-up of New York City’s board of education. As a result, eight of the 13 members of the board are appointed by the mayor, rather than being elected by popular vote, and the remaining five members are appointed by the city’s borough presidents. New York’s new board—now known as the Panel for Educational Policy—is responsible for setting educational policy consistent with the mayor’s reform objectives.

1 – Bylaws for the Panel for Educational Policy Sets forth rules by which the panel conducts official business and sets district policy.
What to Notice The document defines what the panel is responsible for and how it will conduct business. Notice that the chancellor of the school system functions as the chairperson of the panel. The document also outlines a specific role for student advisory members. Section 1.2 describes the responsibilities of the panel as a whole and of individual members. The overriding focus is on policy-setting, meaning that panel members are expected to avoid getting into the day-to-day management of the district.	Questions to Ask What are the advantages and disadvantages of an appointed board of education? Why did New York move to this model? How has it changed district governance? What does it mean to “set policy” for the district? How does a board member know where the line is between policy-setting and micromanagement? What does it mean for the chancellor of the school system—equivalent to a superintendent—to be the chairperson of the board? Does the board have a role in the appointment of a new chancellor?
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2 – New Promotion Policy Describes significant changes to New York’s approach to student promotion for the third, fifth and seventh grades.
What to Notice Issued from the chancellor’s office, this document officially changes the district’s policy on student promotion. The district decided to end the practice of “social promotion,” under which students would move up in grade level, even if they had not mastered the content of their original grade level. As this document says on the first page, students must now “meet or exceed the New York City promotion standard in order to advance to the next grade.” On the second page, in the abstract, the chancellor ties this new policy to the district’s strategic plan—Children First—as well as the state’s standards-and-assessment movement. The document clearly identifies the responsibilities of different stakeholders—including the chancellor, district staff principals and teachers. It also identifies specifically which students the promotion policy applies to. At the back of the document, the chancellor offers several tables which redefine the promotion standard.	Questions to Ask Why did New York decide to end “social promotion”? What kind of process did the district use to make this major decision? What kind of opposition did the district receive? What PR strategy did the district use in order to overcome opposition? What role did the Panel for Educational Policy play in the discussion and drafting of the document? How did promotion rates change after implementation of the new policy?
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3 – Administration Manual - Grade 3 Promotions Appeals Describes process for student promotion appeals, including description of evidence and criteria used to determine student’s readiness for promotion.
What to Notice The document re-states the district’s promotion policy and the thinking behind it. Students have multiple options for demonstrating proficiency to ensure that a student’s poor performance is not format-specific, as described on page two. Specific action steps are described for each of the summer months. Notice page seven, which describes specific evidence and benchmarks that can be used to evaluate student’s on each of the assessment options. Page eight identifies specific action steps for implementation of the process in a given school.	Questions to Ask How does a manual like this complement a document like the chancellor’s memo above? How is the manual distributed? Who is responsible for leading the implementation at the school site? What training do they receive? Who initiates a promotion appeal? What percentage of appeals are won/lost?
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Setting Board Norms – Aldine Independent School District

In Aldine Independent School District, the board of education sets the organizational standard for putting students first and for ethical and professional action. The Board Procedure Manual articulates a set of ethical standards that all board members have agreed to uphold. In addition, the document outlines clear procedures for how the board conducts its business as well as all board-adopted policies.

1 – Board Procedure Manual Document describing the board’s ethical standards, operating procedures, and adopted policies.
What to Notice The Board Procedure Manual starts with the board members’ “commitment to service,” which uses language that comes directly from the district’s mission statement. The commitment to service includes a set of rigorous ethical standards, as well as the “board member’s creed.” Notice that the ethics and creed specifically guard against board members’ micromanagement of the superintendent and the district’s executive team. The commitment to service uses value-laden language throughout. In the second section, the Board’s Operating Procedures articulate specific behavioral guidelines for board members that are consistent with the standards of ethics and the creed. Board members are given concrete recommendations for actions in three areas: communications, meetings, and the board’s development as a team. The communications section gives very specific advice for board members in how to address complaints from the community. Aldine clearly prefers that the district’s management team address community complaints, rather than board members handling complaints directly. Note also that, consistent with what it expects of the district, the board is also responsible for evaluating its own performance and setting board goals. In the third section, the document provides all board-adopted policies. Note that roles and responsibilities are clearly articulated, and standing committees are established to address specific ongoing issues of importance.	Questions to Ask How did the board come to adopt the ethical standards and creed? Who was involved in its development? What is the process for revising the manual? How does the board acculturate newly-elected board members? Does the board provide any specific training for new members? How does the board assess its own performance relative to the standards laid out in this document? Does the board conduct an annual retreat or other meetings specifically devoted to improving its own performance? If so, who facilitates the meetings, and how is the agenda determined?
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Setting Board Norms – Northside Independent School District

The board of education in the Northside Independent School District has established a common set of expectations for the role of board members and their communications with district stakeholders. These guidelines are designed to build the public’s confidence in the board and ensure a rigorous, healthy process for making difficult decisions.

1 – Board of Education Operating Procedures This document lays out the expectations and norms for board members’ relationships with each other and other district stakeholders.
What to Notice The board of education in Northside established these guidelines to ensure that board members treat all stakeholders—including other board members—with respect and to establish an environment in which the board can fulfill its policy role effectively. On the first page, notice that changes to the operating procedures require a 100 percent vote of the board. On page three, the document explicitly forbids members from publicly criticizing other members. In addition to avoiding controversies which might damage the public’s confidence in the board, such a policy makes it easier for board members to be honest with one another in private. Also, sections III and V implicitly address issues of the board’s role. Board members have to be sensitive about their communications with district staff members, since this could be seen as undermining the superintendent’s authority, and citizen complaints are referred directly to district staff, instead of being routed through board members.	Questions to Ask What kind of process did the board use to arrive at these operating procedures? How did they achieve 100 percent agreement on these guidelines? What were the most difficult pieces, and how did they overcome disagreements? To what degree do board members adhere to these guidelines? What are the processes to hold board members accountable for their behavior? What role does the board president play? For example, what would happen if a board member were to intervene with a district executive on behalf of a complaining citizen? What is the superintendent’s relationship with the board? How does he or she build a trusting relationship with individual members and with the board as a whole? What role does he or she play in ensuring that the board sticks primarily to policy matters and does not intervene in the operations of the district?
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