Case Study: Batavia City School District
Executive Summary
Christopher Dailey, superintendent for Batavia City School District in Batavia, NY, looked to streamline his district’s superintendent evaluation process. The former procedure changed from year-to-year and required the superintendent to provide a great deal of information to the board. Dailey found SuperEval at a conference and brought it back to the board for review. After piloting it for a year, Dailey remarks that using SuperEval has been an excellent experience. Overall, SuperEval streamlined the evaluation process, which can now be completed in less than a month. Even better, the process freed up more time to concentrate on the students.
Challenges
One of the largest challenges for Dailey was that the evaluation process previously took months from beginning to end and it changed every year. Another challenge that Dailey faced was gathering enough evidence (or examples) to support his evaluation ratings.
How SuperEval Helped
SuperEval supports self reflection.
The SuperEval process urged Dailey to be even more reflective than in the past, with tools that allowed him to collect and attach evidence to support his self-reflection and ratings. It then allowed the board to look at those documents to help them better understand Dailey’s progress on specific evaluation items.
SuperEval helps demonstrate superintendent duties, responsibilities and outcomes.
Dailey notes that previously the board may not have grasped the extensiveness of a superintendent’s duties, due to the fact that board members are not present at school everyday. SuperEval allows his board members to see the different aspects of the superintendent’s job, developing the whole picture of what’s going on, how well the superintendent did that year, and identifying areas that may need improvement. It clarifies what is being evaluated, how it is evaluated, and, ultimately, what the final rating is.
SuperEval is easy to use.
Dailey states that the ease of use for a superintendent is tremendous. In our interview, he advocates for how simple it is to scan and upload various kinds of documents and evidence-based material into SuperEval. It’s easy to upload PowerPoint presentations, letters, and news clips, which are effortlessly attached to backup his self-reflection.
Besides being easy for the superintendent to use, Dailey’s board commented to him that SuperEval is very easy for them to use as well. Board members simply click on an assessment to find the evidence. While the board varies in tech-savvy skills, as a group they determined it was logical and simple. The process allowed the board to reflect on the superintendent’s performance, their role in the process, and provide the evaluation in a timely manner.
SuperEval helps superintendents get more done in less time.
Dailey points to the time-saving features as an important aspect of the online evaluation tool. Once all the evidence is attached, the board can generate reports at the click of a button — information that would previously take the board president hours to compile. The entire process is very user-friendly and can be completed in under 30 days.
Results, ROI and Future Plans
In the end, SuperEval is a tool that leads to a great dialogue between the school board and superintendent. Now, Dailey sets aside time about every three weeks to upload documents, notes and evidence in order to stay organized throughout the year. Using SuperEval permits him to be proactive in developing and uploading the material, rather than spending much of May and April compiling the information.
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About this Article:
All information was gathered during an interview conducted in September 2017 between PLS 3rd Learning and Christopher Dailey, superintendent of schools for the Batavia City School District.