| Our Proposed Plans for the future as the new Board 227 takes its seat on April 9, 2013 As the new school board takes it seat following the April 09, 2013 elections, for the first time in many years, we will be free to engage a new school board in correcting the neglected issues that has kept our school district behind with less than three out of every ten of our students performing at grade level in the 2010-2011 school year. As the successful school board of the future. Going forward, following the April 09, 2013 elections, we plan to commit to a vision of high expectations for student achievement and quality instruction that will define clear measurable goals toward that vision. As an effective new board 227, we will make sure these goals remain district 227's top priorities meaning that nothing else detracts from them. Continuous improvement means the board meeting among itself first, discussing what needs to be done based upon data, and then meet with the superintendent to ask continuous improvement questions in addressing continuous school improvement policies. For clarity and understanding of our roles in continuous improvement, the board will then discuss the roles of the board and then the superintendent in continuous improvement. We can to develop a committee structure for team consideration in developing a plan for continuous improvement. We can do this first with the board and then with the superintendent. This makes for an effective school board 227 that will positively impact student achievement. It involves evaluating all functions of our board from internal governance and policy formulation to how we communicate with ourselves, superintendent, building administrators, teachers, students and the district 227 community. In the situation we're in presently, with little or no school district oversight in many years now, it's important that board 227 be proactive by hitting the ground running on April 9, 2013. He who gets behind in a race will forever remain behind or run faster that those who are far ahead. That's why it is essential to form working school board committees in the areas of accountability and evaluation, sound and equitable policies, frugal financial oversight and to follow a regular process to review student achievement data to ensure continuous improvement. The ways things are right now, as a low achieving board, the majority of our members are not even vaguely aware of the need for school improvement initiatives in the area of (1) assessment and evaluation, (2) financial oversight, and (3) sound and equitable policies or what we should be doing together as a school board, to understand what a measurable educational goal is or how to achieve one. As a result, there is not even a vague focus on formative goal assessment, addressing benchmarks, school renewal, or relevant continuous formative evaluation and monitoring for change and improvement at any level since it is not present at the board level. As an effective school board, we will demonstrate strong shared beliefs and values about what is possible for students and their ability to learn, and of school district 227's ability to teach its children at high levels. With our new school board, we will view poverty, lack of parental involvement and other factors as challenges to be discussed and overcome, not as excuses to blame the victims, our children, parents, and our community. As effective and proactive board members, we will expect to see improvement in student achievement quickly as a result of the above initiatives. Today, with our present school board, we see external pressures, our need for open communication, honesty, and transparency, among all board members, with our parents, students and community and lack of board encouragement of community and full board participation as the main reasons for lack of student success. Improving student achievement is, ultimately, the key responsibility of school boards. Everyone own accountability for student achievement. Responsibility for learning goes from the board and superintendent all the way, and including, students and parents. As a new school board on April 9, 2013, we will be accountability driven, spending less time unfocused on our goal in the thick of thin things. We will spend more time focused on goal policies to improve student achievement levels. As a high performing board 227, we will focus on establishing with vision with measurable goal achievement benchmarks supported by policies that target student achievement. Presently, the board's performance is characterized by poor governance and factors such as controlling targeted board members, parents, and community's freedom of speech, rights rather than encouraging full participation in solving our school district's under achievement for over two decades. The present school board is likely to cite excuses for not encouraging full board and community communication and barriers as excuses for not reaching out to the full board and its community. As a result, the vast majority of parents and community members don't know board 227 members at all. As an effective school board, we intend to develop collaborative two-way-communication-relationships with the full board, staff, parents, and community, and establish a strong two-way-feedback-flexible-communication structure to inform and engage both internal and external stakeholders in setting and achieving district 227's goals. As an effective transparent school board, board members will provide specific examples of how we have connected and listened to the community, and how school board members have received information from many different sources, including student achievement data, the superintendent, curriculum director, principals, and teachers, parents, and students. Findings and research can be shared among all board members and our community. It's important to be an open and transparent organization. As stewards of a public institution, we have an obligation to inform the public. By answering our first most essential question "Did we do what we said we would do?" school board 227 can verify fidelity of implementation and set the stage to answer the next question, "Did it work?" The key to determining whether something worked depends upon having clearly defined criteria for success. David E. Morgan School Board Member Rich Township High School District 227 Olympia Fields, Illinois 60461 |
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