Special Note: It’s been brought to our attention that not everyone received the March edition. We will resend that next week to all impacted subscribers.
QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES
Question: My client regularly monitors progress toward their Goals, but when it comes time to evaluate the superintendent, they treat the process like it’s disconnected from monthly monitoring. How can they ensure the annual evaluation is a reflection of the performance they’ve already been reviewing? -- Coach in Michigan
TESBC: You are completely correct: monitoring and evaluation are an ongoing process, not separate events. I’m going to take a guess at what I suspect is the real issue: the board has accepted all of the monitoring reports throughout the year and then wants to render a less than stellar evaluation for the annual? If this is the case, just know that we see this constantly. There are a few things that can be done about this.
First and foremost, modify the script and/or the template for monitoring sessions and monitoring reports to include a reminder that monitoring is a micro evaluation of the superintendent that’s conducted monthly. Keep reminding people of that.
Next, take the superintendent evaluation sheet and add it as an additional document in the board item for monitoring sessions. As you go through the year and data becomes known, fill it out and keep it up to date with the data month by month. This way, when the annual evaluation comes around, the board has been watching the superintendent’s evaluation sheet slowly get added to so there is no surprise.
Finally, during the board’s quarterly self evaluation, take a moment to notice where the superintendent is at in their evaluation as well. This continues to ground the board in the idea that — so long as the superintendent is meeting their metrics — superintendent performance is indistinguishable from school system performance, not synonymous with board member opinion.
Question: Why do we have both a governance calendar and an implementation timeline? -- Coach in Illinois
TESBC: Because they do two very different jobs. An implementation timeline is for things the coach and governance team are working on together and the governance calendar is for things the board is doing at its board meetings. There is a lot of overlap between these two, but they are distinct. As an example:
Collective bargaining belongs on a governance calendar but does not belong on an implementation timeline
Coach/chair check-ins belong on an implementation timeline but probably do not belong on a governance calendar
Goal & Guardrail setting workshop would be on both
The governance calendar exists to discipline the board’s work in board meetings. It’s about ensuring the board consistently does its job in board meetings no matter what distractions arise.
It’s worth noting that while the ESB framework discusses a monitoring calendar, it doesn’t cover what happens when a board adds all of its other board meeting items onto the monitoring calendar: it becomes a governance calendar.
The implementation timeline exists to guide the board’s progress over time. It’s about how the board improves its focus on improving student outcomes.
It’s worth noting that the coach has a great deal of ownership of the implementation timeline as the coach is often the de facto project manager for it. That definitely should not be the case for the governance calendar.
INTERESTING READS & LISTENS
Rick Maloney goes deep into the board’s role in holding the superintendent accountable for performance.
Thoughts about doing school board evaluations in public.
Interesting to hear international perspectives on school board governance.
BOARD MEETING ANALYSIS
A subscriber asked us to watch the January meeting of a school board in Maine. Here are the highlights from the School Board Meeting:
Total Minutes: 97mins
Minutes Focused on Student Outcomes: 0mins
Key Topics: Reconsideration of a prior vote, Cyber security, K–3 technology access, Employment, and Superintendent update .
What Coach Celebrates:
The board followed formal parliamentary procedure in handling the motion to reconsider.
Public input was provided twice, reinforcing community voice in governance.
Agenda transparency was clear and publicly posted
What Coach Recommends:
Adopt 1–3 SMART Goals for student outcomes and build a monitoring calendar so that at least 50% of board time is invested in monitoring progress toward those Goals .
Develop Interim Goals with regularly updated data to enable monthly monitoring conversations .
Shift questioning during meetings from operational inputs (devices, cyber tools, staffing logistics) to strategy- and results-focused questions tied to specific student outcome data .
Reorganize the agenda so Goal Monitoring is placed immediately after opening procedures, signaling that improving student outcomes is the board’s primary work .
UPCOMING OPPORTUNITIES
Effective Superintendent Search Process
During our monthly free 30-min webinar, we'll go over what to do before, what to do during, and what to do after a superintendent search. We’ll cover the role of search firms, effective interview question design, and more.
11am central on Friday, April 10, 2026
Did you miss last month's 30-minute free webinar? Email Greg for a make-up session on any of our growing list of topics, including governance policy, delegation policy, effective budgeting, superintendent evaluation, professional services management, strategic planning, consent agendas, and more.
BONUS MATERIALS
For paid subscribers, here are links to additional resources (to gain access to the links below, please consider subscribing):
Additional details about the analyzed meeting:
Board Meeting Video
Meeting Agenda
Strategic Plan
Time Use Analysis
Guidance documents related to this issue:
Effective Superintendent Evaluation
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