Evaluation Process
Provides for both accountability and growth, and the strengthening of the relationship between the Board and the Superintendent. The written evaluation report will affirm specific accomplishments and identify growth areas. Some growth goals may address areas of weakness while others will identify areas where greater emphasis is required due to changes in the environment.
- Provides for an annual evaluation of the Superintendent’s performance.
- Highlights the key role of the Superintendent as the Chief Education Officer for the Division to enhance student learning and success for all children.
- Recognizes that the Superintendent is the Chief Executive Officer. The Superintendent is held accountable for work performed primarily by other senior administrators, e.g., fiscal management.
- Emphasizes the need for and requires the use of evidence for evaluation purposes. Evaluations are most helpful when the evaluator provides concrete evidence of strengths and/or weaknesses. The Performance Assessment Guide identifies quality indicators, which describe expectations in regard to each assigned role.
- Is aligned with and based upon the Superintendent’s roles and responsibilities. The Board policy is consistent with this evaluation document.
- Is linked to the Division’s goals and the Ministry’s Three Year Education Plan requirements.
- Sets out standards of performance. The quality indicators in the Performance Assessment Guide set out initial standards. When growth goals are identified, additional standards will need to be set to provide clarity of expectations and a means of assessing performance.
- Is also a performance-based assessment system. Such an evaluation focuses on improvement over time. The second and subsequent evaluations include an assessment of the Superintendent’s success in addressing growth areas identified in the previous evaluation.
- Uses multiple data sources. Objective data such as audit reports, accountability reports, and student achievement data are augmented with subjective data provided in surveys.
- Elicits evidence to support subjective assessments. This must be the case when the Board provides feedback regarding Board agendas, committee and Board meetings, etc.
- Ensures Board feedback is provided regularly. Such feedback will be timely, provided annually, supported by specific examples and will focus on areas over which the Superintendent has authority.
The Superintendent will maintain an electronic evidence binder which will be provided to the Board approximately one (1) week prior to the evaluation workshop. The purpose of the evidence binder is to provide evidence that the quality indicators identified in Appendix B have been achieved. Therefore, evidence will be organized in regard to the quality indicators.
The Board and the Superintendent will be present during a facilitated evaluation session. The Superintendent will be invited to ensure the Board has full information and may choose to enter into discussion to ensure the evidence provided has been understood. The Superintendent will only be absent from the room just prior to the evaluation and for the period when the Board constructs the conclusion section. The evidence examined will be in the form of internal reports or external reports. An external report is one from an external source such as an auditor or the consultant who would conduct Leadership Practices interviews. An internal report is one that comes through the Superintendent. A prime example would be a personnel Management accountability report. The Board will review the indicated evidence and determine whether, or to what extent, the quality indicators have been achieved. In addition, the corporate Board will supplement the evidence contained in the evidence portfolio with agreed-upon direct Board observations. For example, this would be most evident in the section Superintendent/Board Relations.
During an evaluation workshop, a written evaluation report will be facilitated, which will document:
- The evaluation process;
- Evaluation context;
- Assessments relative to the criteria (quality indicators) noted in Appendix B;
- An examination of progress made relative to any growth goals or redirections identified in the previous year’s evaluation;
- Identification of any growth goals if deemed appropriate; and
- A “conclusion” section, followed by appropriate signatures and dates.
The assessments contained in the evaluation report will reflect only the corporate Board position. This report will be approved by Board motion. The actual report is a confidential document. A signed copy will be provided to the Superintendent and a second signed copy will be placed in the Superintendent’s personnel file held by the Division.
Evaluation Criteria
The criteria for the first evaluation will be those set out in Appendix B: the Performance Assessment Guide. In subsequent evaluations, the criteria will be those defined by the Performance Assessment Guide as listed or revised after each evaluation, plus any growth goals provided by the Board in the previous written evaluation report(s). Such growth goals may be areas requiring remediation or actions which must be taken to address trends, issues, or external realities. For the Role Expectation “Leadership Practices”, an external consultant will collect data relative to leadership practices by interviewing all principals and all “direct reports”. “Direct reports” are defined to be those individuals who report directly to the Superintendent on the Division’s organizational chart.
The Board my choose to include in the evaluation process, targeted surveys to elicit evidence for the purpose of professional growth.
Appendix B is the Performance Assessment Guide, which is intended to clarify for the Superintendent the performance expectations held by the corporate Board. This guide is also intended to be used by the Board to evaluate the performance of the Superintendent in regard to each job expectation. The Board will review the indicated evidence and will determine whether, or to what extent, the quality indicators have been achieved.
Timelines for Evaluations
Evaluations will be conducted annually.