A Memo from the Board of Education President
To: | Superintendent |
From: | President, Board of Education |
Re: | Learning the System |
Overview
It is with great optimism and promise that you begin the journey as our incoming superintendent. Your experiences and understanding of complex organizations and how the uniqueness of school communities impact the leadership of systems will be instrumental for a successful and productive transition. Similar to all communities, ours has unique characteristics connected by a long history of supporting education and fully grasping its importance to the vibrancy of our community. As we discussed, understanding these systems will be instrumental to your success which is our success in leading the system and continuing the prominence and importance of education in our community.
Members of the school board are longtime residents of this community who can provide invaluable insights. These community insights will be beneficial as you develop your entry plan to understand the context for your leadership. With a well-developed plan, I believe that you can obtain valuable information as well as make great connections to our community before you begin the superintendency and in your first months once you assume the role as our superintendent.
Several possible topics for our discussion could include 1) demographics and how they have changed, 2) our rapid growth, 3) the change in government which now has a mayor and city council, 4) the similarities of neighboring communities, and the political dynamics that have shaped our community expansion.
I look forward to our conversations and mutual work. Please let me know if you have additional topics that will help you shape your entry plan and to better understand the community and the context for leading a system to improve.
Person Responsible
President, Board of Education and Superintendent
Introduction
In the United States, there were in 2019 approximately 16,921 public school districts, an estimated 99,154 traditional public schools, and 7,011 charter schools that enrolled approximately 56,772 million students (National Center for Educational Statistics, [NCES] 2019a) who were taught by approximately 3,168,115 teachers (National Education Association, 2019).
Each one of these public schools and their systems have a unique context predicated on size, demographics, and a host of other internal and external variables. This chapter examines system context. As a leader, the superintendent must understand the context of the school district, the communities it serves, and the characteristics of the student population. With this contextual understanding, clarity of programs, personnel, the budget, and the relationships to the vision, mission, and beliefs that connect to the strategic plan must be the focal point of efforts.
Context Matters ⊠A Lot
The work of the superintendent and central office is framed within the context of a district and the diversity of the communities it serves. Learning the context of the system is important because the âcontemporary superintendentsâ work must focus on developing coherent, district-level management systems characterized by effective teamwork and expanded communication networksâ (Björk, Browne-Ferrigno, & Kowalski, 2018, p. 180) as a way âto support the work of teachers and principalsâ (p. 184). In Chapter 3, The Pivotal Role of the Superintendent, is examined in the context of the work needed to lead school systems.
Learning the context of the system serves as a guidepost for the work of district leaders. It is a common practice for superintendents new to the system to develop a 90-day entry plan to learn about the district and its culture. The 90-day plan serves as a way for the superintendent to transition into the work of the district by hearing the voices of internal and external constituents. The entry plan gives solid footing about key areas in the district. The entering superintendent reviews historical documents and develops communication channels with the board of education, central office leaders, and the community including school-level personnel and external communities. As a starting point, the superintendent would, for example:
- Request key documents from division leaders to gain insights through an overview of current areas of responsibility, major initiatives underway with projected timelines, and completion progress on upcoming system responsibilities with pending deadlines.
- Review significant or potential problem areas and major decisions that will need to be made not only in the near future but also during the first year in the position.
- Create, administer, and analyze results from a district-wide environmental survey to gain a comprehensive picture of district culture.
- Establish key communication channels with internal and external stakeholders to engage in conversations with local businesses, city, faith-based leaders, etc.
- Become schooled on budget development, learn about financial projections, and other processes with the end goal of allocating resources for what the system needs to focus on student learning.
- Learn policies and governance structures to start the process of developing trusting, productive, transparent, and collaborative relationships with the board of education.
- Start to develop a culture of mutual accountability focusing on equitable outcomesâacademic, developmental, and emotionalâfor all students in the system.
- Ensure strategic plan targets are at the forefront of all efforts.
- Study the history of collective bargaining, prior negotiations, and agreements with the union if applicable.
Through these processes and perhaps more, the superintendent reviews data to understand trends, develop and prioritize goals, and start the processes to establish relational trust with internal and external stakeholders.
However, sitting superintendents and district leaders must also keep examining the context of their systems as they change over time for a variety of reasons including, for example, shifts in student demographics (Grooms, 2019), attrition, retirements, a proliferation of new hires within the system (Ingersoll, Merrill, Stuckey, & Collins, 2018), and changing expectations based on state or federal legislation (Rigby, Corriell, & Kuhl, 2018). These changes shape the context and point to the necessity for the superintendent and central office leaders continuously to monitor changes and respond based on data, knowledge, and understanding of shifting needs and changing priorities. In Chapter 5, Central Office Transformation, the distinctions between change and transformation are made to support efforts needed to focus, mobilize, and situate leadership to forward the mission, vision, and strategic plan.
By examining the system context, leaders can better understand their current areas of responsibility, the major projects that are underway, and pending decisions that need to be made. By understanding the system context, clarity can be brought to goal...