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Highline Public Schools
15675 Ambaum Blvd. SW Burien, WA 98166

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Highline Public Schools
15675 Ambaum Blvd. SW Burien, WA 98166

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Form 1810 - SCHOOL BOARD SELF-ASSESSMENT TOOL

The essential purpose of a school system is to educate all its students to high levels through high quality instruction:  All means all.

The essential purpose of a school board (board of education) is to be responsible for representing the community in policy leadership that will insure all students a high quality education, collaboration with and supervision of the superintendent, and stewardship of the system’s resources.

In order to maintain a laser-like focus on improving student achievement and, thus, on achieving the essential purpose of the school system, the school board’s functions are most usefully directed toward the system’s strategic plan and the board’s professional competence. The strategic plan includes five major components: learning environments, effectiveness of staff; achievement of students; allocation of resources; and the engagement of neighborhoods and communities.

Below are some statements that a school board can use to assess the extent to which it is providing thoughtful and effective leadership.  While the school board itself must, of course, be responsible for and committed to providing thoughtful and effective leadership, the superintendent and administration must also play key roles in assisting the school board in fulfilling its essential purpose.  As a result, some of the statements reflect actions the board itself needs to take while others reflect ways in which the board needs to work collaboratively with the superintendent and others in the system.

1-Strongly Disagree 2-Disagree 3-Somewhat Agree 4-Agree 5-Strongly Agree

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1.   Performance Results

A.  The Board has set goals for itself and the system that are aligned with the vision and values that have been formally adopted.

 

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B.  The school system’s vision, values, and goals (strategic plan) are used as the basis for reflection and deliberation on matters of policy.

 

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C. The school system’s strategic priorities are aligned with and grounded in its vision, values and goals.

 

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D.  The evaluation of the superintendent is aligned with the board’s monitoring of the effective implementation of the strategic goals and priorities (LEARN).

 

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E.  Appropriate data is being requested and that information is being used in the  board’s monitoring of school and school system progress as related to LEARN.

 

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F.  The board regularly monitors the progress of groups and subgroups of students, the progress of individual schools, and the progress of the system to ensure that this progress is aligned with the vision, values and student achievement goals, especially as related to the growth and learning of all students.

 

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G.  The board obtains and uses appropriate information and data needed to carry out its stewardship role effectively in maintaining the fiscal health of the school system and the quality of facilities needed to support quality teaching and learning.

 

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H.    The board works with the administration to ensure that the system’s fiscal decisions support the strategic priorities of the system (LEARN), including the annual budget.

 

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2.   Professional Competence as a School Board

A. The board has and uses an effective process for evaluating its own efforts to function as an effective board.

 

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B.   The board has formally adopted a code of ethics in board policy to guide how its members behave individually and collectively in fulfilling their responsibilities.

 

 

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C.  The board has effective tools and strategies for staying “in-role” and avoiding attempts to manage the school system (See “Role of School Boards: Setting the Context”).

 

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D.   The board has and uses effective and efficient processes and procedures for doing board work (meetings, calendars, consent agendas, study sessions, policy review, etc.).

 

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E.  The board uses effective strategies for working productively with each other and with the superintendent.

 

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F.  The board knows and honors the differences between acting/speaking as a whole board, as subcommittees of the board, and as individual members of the board.

 

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G.  The board communicates clearly and regularly with a broad base of stakeholders regarding the school system’s progress toward meeting the learning needs of all students.  The board seeks community input on a regular basis to assess the satisfaction of all stakeholders.

 

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H. The board uses advocacy and other strategies to help mobilize and sustain community support for school system progress toward graduating all students so they are “ready for college, career, and citizenship.”

 

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