No position will be immune to creation of standards — including superintendents. Standards for a school district’s chief executive have been in the developmental stage since the passage of SB 2 in 2004.
The standards have now been approved and distributed to boards of education across the state. In developing these standards for superintendents, Ohio is ahead of the nation in the creation of such a body of work.
Standards alone are not enough. To have a definite impact on teaching and learning, it is essential that comprehensive systems of accountability and assessment be developed and utilized.
The need for ongoing assessments as part of an accountability system is valuable for students and professional staff. In each case learning and professional growth can be maximized.
For many years, school boards have used a variety of instruments to evaluate the performance of their school chief, most of them only marginally focusing on the work superintendents do. During the 2009-10 school year, the Ohio Superintendent Evaluation System was rolled out for consideration.
Across the state, 25 districts/ESCs are piloting this customizable process for assessing the effectiveness of district/agency leaders.
This system was designed by Ohio superintendents to promote high levels of leader effectiveness, professional growth and ongoing dialogue between superintendents and their boards of education.
The system aligns the new superintendent standards, current evidence on effective leadership and can be customized to align with local priorities and goals.
The Madison-Champaign County ESC Governing Board has been working with consultant Rick Fenton to develop the OSES, which would further the unique work done by an agency superintendent. Madison-Champaign ESC is one of two ESC’s which have agreed to pilot the evaluation process for the 2010-11 school year.
In June, the board adopted a standards-based job description for the superintendent. At the same meeting, working with Fenton and the superintendent, the ESC board developed five annual goals on which the superintendent will be evaluated.
These goals were developed by a review of stakeholder surveys that were conducted with district representatives of the nine districts served in both Champaign and Madison Counties.
The superintendent will use these goals to develop a work plan for the upcoming school year. The work plan will be presented to the Governing Board in either July or August. The board will then conduct a mid-year and an end-of-year evaluation of the superintendent based on the progress of this work plan.
As an ESC superintendent and a former local superintendent, this system of evaluation will allow me to focus on a finite number of objectives for the purpose of evaluation.
The outcome of this new system is development of more effective school leaders, leading to more effective classroom instruction, which will result in improved achievement for all students.
Dr. Kaffenbarger is the superintendent for Triad Local Schools
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