It’s All in the Competencies:

1. It’s All in the Competencies: Effective Evaluation for Boards and School Leaders National Alliance of Public Charter Schools July 1, 2013 Russ Williams and Carrie Irvin

2. Agenda • Overview of session • Why evaluate? • Context for competency-based evaluation • Good goal setting • A calendar for effective evaluation

3. Overview • How many of you are school leaders? Board members? • How many of you are evaluated by your board/evaluate your leader? • Are the evaluations formal and written down? • Are the evaluations based on annual goals? • Who leads the evaluation/who participates in it? • What are the biggest reasons why you don’t do it?

4. Why evaluate? • It is the board’s responsibility to ensure that the school recruits and retains an exceptional leader • No one else but the board is ultimately responsible for making sure your school has the great leader it needs • How do you know your leader is or is not exceptional if you do not evaluate her/him? • Would you ever not evaluate someone who works for you in your job? Would you consider terminating or promoting an employee without a record of positive or negative evaluations?

5. Acting on evaluation data • Why do boards really need to know if their leader is exceptional? • Exceptional leaders must be recognized and rewarded—or they will leave, and great leaders are hard to find • Good leaders need support, training, and the opportunity to become exceptional—or the quality of the school will suffer • Weak leaders need to be identified and replaced sooner rather than later—or you put the success of the school at risk

6. Don’t evaluate in a vacuum • Effective evaluation is not a one-session, one-conversation item to check off the list at the end of the school year • It is an ongoing process that includes: • Updated job description • Annual goals set collaboratively between the leader and the board and voted on by the board • Regular check ins and reports to the board on progress towards the goals • Well-rounded evaluation process that involves structured input from different constituencies (including the leader) • Formal delivery of evaluation with recommended goals for the following year

7. Competencies • Personal • Believe all students can achieve • Ethical practice • Delegate = distributed leadership • Interpersonal • Clear expectations/performance mindset • Develop your team – trust, collaboration, communication • Listen to your staff!

8. Competencies • Educational • Implement, evaluate and adapt instruction • Resource allocation to meet needs of all students • Community of practice informed by data & performance • Organizational • Budget supports instructional program/mission • Leverage your board • Focus on outcomes, not inputs

9. Competencies • Strategic • Articulate the shared mission consistently • Systematic use of data to inform progress/needs • Accountability at all levels • Communicate regularly with all stakeholders

10. Goal Setting • Charter school boards are responsible for setting the long-term and annual goals for their charter school • Annual goals align with the longer-term vision and strategic plan and set a roadmap for ensuring that the school delivers on the promises articulated in the school’s charter • Difference between bad goals and good goals • Goal-setting templates can help

11. Some Bad Goals • “85% of students will achieve proficiency by EOY.” •  year-to-year changes in proficiency rates are not valid evidence of school or policy effects • See http://shankerblog.org/?p=5470 • “fill all open teaching positions by July 1” • Date is arbitrary, goal lacks meaningful quantifiable information (e.g. drive X applicants per opening)

12. Some Good Goals • Move from a Tier 2 to Tier 1 school as reported on the DC Public Charter School Board’s Performance Management Framework (PMF) in November. • Both campuses earn an accountability score that ranks among the top 10% of charter schools in surrounding jurisdiction that serve similar grades. • 100% of all XYZ Public Charter School seniors are accepted to college by June. • All subgroups of XYZ charter school students (for example, free and reduced meals, Special Education, English Language Learners, and breakdown by race) will outperform local public system student scores by 15 percentage points.

13. Calendar for Effective Evaluation • Summer: Goals established and voted on • October: Report to the board on progress towards goals • December: Mid-year formal check-in on goals with Board Chair • February: Report to the board on progress towards goals • May: Report to the board on progress towards goals; gathering of input from other stakeholders • June: Complete evaluation; hold preliminary discussion of results with leader; revise report if necessary; present final evaluation report and next year’s goals to board

14. Real-life implications • When it goes well: Aligned goals – all stakeholders can articulate Outcome orientation – focus on student performance Board feels informed & knowledgeable It is actually taking place!

15. Real-life implications • When it does not: “A Cautionary Tale of What Happens When Boards Do Not Evaluate the Leader”