Superintendent Evaluation Rubrics

Effective boards engage in a continuing process of self-assessment and use the results to identify opportunities for improvement. The board’s willingness to engage in self-assessment acts as a model for the rest of the district. It indicates that board members take their responsibilities seriously. Their interest in self-improvement sets a tone for others in the district to engage in an ongoing review of their own performance. This research-based instrument supports an effective school board evaluation process.

This superintendent evaluation rubric was modified for use by the BOCES Boards and their district superintendent (DS). BOCES (Boards of Cooperative Educational Services) in New York State are the educational service agencies. The BOCES DS is the chief executive officer of the BOCES and is responsible for the BOCES as well as the component districts. The DS also serves as the regional representative of the New York State Commissioner of Education. This evaluation instrument reflects the professional practices of a BOCES DS and creates the basis for the district superintendent evaluation process.

The New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA) recognizes that boards of education have a legal obligation to conduct annual superintendent evaluations. More importantly, NYSSBA realizes that superintendent evaluations are one of the most important responsibilities of the school board. An effective superintendent evaluation helps drive school improvement and student achievement, develops a positive relationship between the school board and superintendent, demonstrates accomplishments of the district and sets annual priorities. The superintendent evaluation process is not a means to an end, but rather an ongoing and dynamic process. Decisions regarding both process and instrument should reflect a cooperative effort between the school board and superintendent.

PASA team members looked at several superintendent evaluation instruments that were being used across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Additionally, the team also looked at the growing body of literature on superintendent evaluations, work being done in other states, particularly in Iowa, and at the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) and Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) standards. The team borrowed extensively from these sources to develop this model superintendent evaluation instrument. The items in this model are consciously aligned with the Pennsylvania Inspired Leadership Standards. Each standard is followed by several indicators that would reflect success in meeting the standard.

This BOCES district superintendent evaluation rubric is a derivative of The Council’s Model Superintendent Evaluation Rubric. The primary purpose of the district superintendent evaluation is to foster the development and advancement of the BOCES district superintendent’s leadership of the BOCES as follows:• Focus the BOCES on goals and priorities

• Lead to transparent measures of performance and reasonable targets
• Surface and resolve tensions or issues
• Serve as a record of strong performance over time
• Clarify areas where the board-district superintendent relationship can be improved

This district superintendent evaluation reflects the current practice in education to use a rubric style evaluation to determine levels of leadership performance. Each section contains particular indicators with specific criteria to rate the performance level. The levels are scored on a scale range of highly effective, effective, developing, and ineffective. The superintendent evaluation is also a tool for the BOCES district superintendent’s use in creating and maintaining a solid leadership team with the board members. The superintendent evaluation process gives the board and the district superintendent an opportunity to reach detailed agreement on the leadership targets for the upcoming year. The school board evaluation of the current year performance will also bring to the surface issues that may need attention by the district superintendent in the upcoming year.

The Council’s Model Superintendent Evaluation helps boards and superintendents to develop thoughtful, constructive superintendent evaluations that advance district goals and keep the leadership team healthy.

Conducting an annual superintendent evaluation is one of the school board’s most important functions. It’s also mandated by law (8 NYCRR 100.2(o)(1)(vi) requires a superintendent evaluation on an annual basis). The superintendent evaluation is the instrument through which the board provides feedback to the superintendent, how (s)he is performing, whether its goals for the district are being achieved and what needs to be done if they are not. Past superintendent evaluations are something the superintendent may rely on both internally and externally as evidence of excellent performance should school board goals or compositions change dramatically.

This model superintendent evaluation format has been designed to reflect the current practice in education to use a rubric style evaluation to determine levels of performance for the superintendent. Each section contains indicators with specific criteria to rate the performance level. The levels are scored on a scale of highly effective, effective, developing, and ineffective.

A strong superintendent evaluation process:

• Enhances the performance of the superintendent.
• Focuses the district on goals and school improvement priorities.
• Leads to transparent measures of performance and reasonable targets to meet.
• Clarifies areas where the board-superintendent relationship can be improved.