A veteran sixteen-year Head noticed that many of his peers were being evaluated by their Boards. He suggested to his own Board that perhaps it was time that he was evaluated also.
The Board agreed with the suggestion. Key trustees met with focus groups of teachers, parents, alumni and students to ask for feedback on the Head’s performance.
One month later the Board met again with the Head to provide feedback. The Board Chair’s first comment was: “I regret to say that we will not be renewing your contract.” The incredulous Head asked why. The Board Chair gave two telling answers:
While this unfortunate message draws laughter when the story is told, the key elements remain all too sad and all too true. Many heads are not evaluated annually. They should be. Boards forget or put the topic on the back burner. Heads are at fault as well because they tolerate this state of affairs. The board and board only should evaluate the head.
Only the most naïve (or lucky) of schools would involve faculty and other representatives outside of the board in the evaluation of the head of school. Faculty quickly learn that they can pay a head back for any unpopular decision the head may make and that they have that opportunity annually through a head evaluation process to the Board. Fewer than 10% of all independent schools seek faculty feedback as part of a head evaluation process. There are solid reasons for this.
Heads evaluated by the faculty learn quickly not to rock the boat, make many changes, demand accountability or terminate an incompetent teacher because the price he or she will pay may be a heavy one.
Who should be charged with the evaluation of the Head? The board. Boards often ask: “How can you assess a head’s performance if you do not ask the teachers and the parents for their evaluative feedback?” The answer is: Look at all the indicators of school success. If they are up, or most of them are, then you have all the “outside assessment” you need.
Those outside indicators, or benchmarks of school success include: enrollment demand, retention of students and teachers, parent morale established through parent opinion surveys, test scores such as AP exam results, alumni loyalty, all forms of giving, school and college placement, community reputation, school spirit as reflected through athletics and other extra curricular programs; and many other indices.
How SHOULD a head of school be evaluated? The answer is simple, and over 70% of all independent schools follow this model. It does not require long checklists, “instruments”, a 15-item job description or a personality inventory. It includes these simple seven steps:
The evaluation/compensation committee should then set the head’s compensation for the coming year or undertake a formal contract renewal. This should occur AT LEAST 12-18 months before the head’s current contract ends. One of the common occurrences on boards is to ignore the head’s evaluation and compensation until long after all other staff members have been reviewed. The head, whose evaluation and compensation process should come first, is often last or forgotten entirely.
This process is open, fair, clean and honest. It should occur annually. It will make the head feel valued and help the head to grow and improve. It should also develop more “buy in” by the board.
This process is not bureaucratic. It should not be. Check lists are the bane of any head evaluation process, and we counsel against them. The process described above will affirm, guide, support and critique, as necessary, the head of school.
John Littleford
Senior Partner
© 2024 Littleford & Associates. All Rights Reserved.
Potrected by Google reCaptcha – Privacy – Terms