Last Wednesday, the board held a noon work session where they reviewed the new evaluation document and reviewed a portion of Sheffer’s self-evaluation/ reflection of her performance. Sheffer provided an in-depth look at the new evaluation instrument and reviewed each of the seven standards on which superintendents are judged. Each standard has a number of indicators which support the standard. The new evaluation is down from ten standards used in previous years, but gives a more in-depth perspective of how a superintendent is actually performing. Sheffer provided the board with a number of documents as evidence of her completion of indicators under each standard.
Board members left Wednesday’s meeting with a copy of Sheffer’s leadership plan, her self-evaluation and electronic copies of documents which support her completion of the indicators.
On Monday night, they went into closed session to discuss as a group how they rate Sheffer’s performance. The new evaluation calls for a board to indicate a superintendent’s progress by rating that individual as exemplary exceeds the standard; accomplished- meets the standard; developing-makes growth toward meeting the standard; growth required-area(s) required to be addressed in a Professional Growth Plan.Following their closed session, Board Chair Jennifer Buckman read each standard and then provided the rank the board awarded Sheffer in each area. Following are the results of Sheffer’s evaluation by standard:
1. Strategic Leadership- The superintendent creates conditions that result in strategically reimaging the district’s vision, mission and goals to ensure that every student graduates from high school, is globally competitive in post secondary education and the workforce, and is prepared for life in the 21st century. Create a community of inquiry that challenges the community to continually repurpose itself by building on the district’s core values and beliefs about the preferred future and then developing a vision-Ranking-Exemplary
2. Instructional Leadership- The superintendent supports and builds a system committed to shared values and beliefs focused on teaching and learning where performance gaps are systematically eliminated over time and every student graduates from high school college and career ready Ranking-Accomplished
3. Cultural Leadership- The superintendent understands and acts on the important role a system’s culture has in the exemplary performance of all schools. Understands the people in the district and community, how they came to their current state, and how to connect with their traditions in order to move them forward to support the district’s efforts to achieve individual and collective goals. While supporting and valuing the history, traditions and norms of the district and community, the superintendent must be able to improve the district culture, if needed, to align the work of adults with the district’s goals of improving student learning and infusing the work with passion, meaning and purpose- Ranking-Exemplary
4. Human Resource Leadership-The superintendent ensures the district is a professional learning community with process and systems in place that result in recruitment, induction, support, evaluation, development and retention of high performing, diverse staff. The superintendent uses distributed leadership to support learning and teaching, plans professional development, and engages in district leadership succession planning-Ranking-Accomplished
5. Managerial Leadership- The superintendent ensures that the district has processes in place for budgeting, staffing, problem solving, communicating expectations and scheduling that organize the work of the district of the district and give priority to student learning and safety. The superintendent must solicit resources (both operating and capital), monitor their use and assure the inclusion of all stakeholders in decision about resources so as to meet the 21st century needs of the district-Ranking-Accomplished
6. Collaborative Leadership-The superintendent, in concert with the local board of education, designs structures and processes that result in broad community engagement with support for and ownership of the district vision. Acknowledging that strong schools build strong communities, the superintendent proactively creates with school and district staff, opportunities for parents, community members, government leaders, and business representatives to participate with their investments of resources, assistance, and goodwill-Ranking-Accomplished
7. Influential Leadership-The superintendent promotes the success of learning and teaching by understanding, responding to, and influencing the larger political, social, economic, legal, ethical and cultural context. From this knowledge, the superintendent works with the board of education to define mutual expectations, policies, and goals to ensure the academic success of all students-Rating-Exemplary.
In the board’s comments to Sheffer following the announcement of their findings, Buckman noted, “Mrs. Sheffer takes it all on herself and works hard to lead the district. We feel she should delegate more and not carry such a heavy load. As a Board, we feel it is wonderful to work with a superintendent that we trust and have confidence in her leadership of this school district.”Sheffer thanked their board for their confidence in her and the positive evaluation from the board. She responded, “I’m thankful for the active involvement from the community and our Board of Education. The have both set high expectations and support our continuous improvement mindset. It takes a unified team to prepare our students for a bright and successful future. “I’m committed to doing what’s best for our students. Every day we will continue to make great things happen for other people, as we continue to amplify our vision of a passion for excellence. I’m honored to serve as your superintendent and proud to call Union County my home.”