Superintendent Performance Evaluation: Current Practice and Directions for Improvement

Every school district needs a system of sound superintendent performance evaluation. School district superintendents are and must be accountable to their school boards, communities, faculties, and students for delivering effective educational leadership. To assure that they are evaluated fairly, competently, and functionally, superintendents need to help their school boards plan and implement evaluation systems that adhere to the evaluation standards. Superintendent Performance Evaluation outlines some of the problems and deficiencies in current evaluation practice and offers professionally-based leads for strengthening or replacing superintendent performance evaluation systems. This book focuses on the on-the-job performance of school district superintendents as they implement school board policy. The decision to focus on performance evaluation reflects the importance of this kind of evaluation in the move to raise educational standards and improve educational accountability. Boards and superintendents are advised to make superintendent performance evaluation an integral part of the district's larger system for evaluating district needs, plans, processes, and accomplishments.

Table of Contents:
1 Introduction.- Context and Definitions.- Book Overview.- 2 Methodology.- 3 Conceptual Framework.- The Need for Consensus.- Administrator Competencies.- Generic Administrator Duties.- The Personnel Evaluation Standards.- The Evaluation Process.- 4 The Superintendency.- History.- Transition to an Industrial Society.- The Era of Scientific Management.- The Human Relations Approach.- The Behavioral School of Management.- Evolution of the Position.- Entry Requirements: Evaluation by Credential.- Duties of the Superintendent.- Administrative Skills Defined.- Functions of the Office of Superintendent.- Superintendent Contract and Tenure.- 5 Literature Review Findings.- What is the Extent and Frequency of Superintendent Performance Evaluation?.- What are the Purposes of Superintendent Performance Evaluation?.- What Criteria are Used to Evaluate Superintendents and Who Establishes These Criteria?.- What Methods are Used to Evaluate Superintendent Performance?.- Who Conducts Superintendent Evaluations and How Well Qualified Are They to Perform This Function?.- What Other Stakeholder Groups Provide Input Into the Evaluation Process?.- What is the Importance of Superintendent Performance Evaluation for the Effectiveness of the Superintendency and/or the School System?.- Summary of the Literature Review Findings.- 6 Description and Assessment of Superintendent Evaluation Models.- Board Judgment/Traditional Approach.- Descriptive Narrative Reports.- Formative Exchanges About Performance.- Stakeholder Evaluation.- Printed Rating Forms.- Report Cards.- Management by Objectives.- Performance Contracting.- Duties/Responsibilities-Based Evaluation.- Superintendent Portfolio.- Student Outcome Measures.- School and District Accreditation.- 7 An Emerging Model for Superintendent Evaluation.- Draft of an Improved Model.- Tasks in the Evaluation Process.- Grounding Evaluation in Communication.- Keying Evaluation to the Duties of the Superintendency.- Proposed General and Illustrative Specific Duties of Superintendents.- General Framework to Guide Collection and Use of Information for Evaluating Superintendent Performance.- Putting the Pieces Together.- Implementing the Model Within Normal School Year Calendars.- Superintendent/Board Interactions in the Context of an Annual Evaluation Calendar.- Main Superintendent/Board Performance Evaluation Activities in Each Quarter.- Differentiating Board and Superintendent Responsibilities for Superintendent Performance Evaluation.- Managing the Evaluation Process.- Concluding Comments.- Appendices.