Maximizing Your Board’s Effectiveness: WSSDA’s Toolkit for Summer Success
During summer, school is out, but board development is in! It’s similar to legislative advocacy; when the legislative session is over, everyone goes home, but that’s when most of the groundwork is laid to prepare for the next session.
This summer, spend some time working together to improve your board’s practice. Veteran board members and WSSDA tools are here to help your team take proven steps to maximize your board’s effectiveness.
A Formula for Success
The formula is simple. Your board needs to assess itself, examine data on your district’s student success, identify board practices that are research-proven to have the biggest impact on the student outcomes, and set goals.
The Toolkit
Fortunately, WSSDA provides a toolkit to help boards carry out the formula. Step one is assessing the board’s work. For free, every board in Washington state can use WSSDA’s online board self-assessment survey, which is based on the Washington School Board Standards. The anonymous online survey takes less than 20 minutes for each board member to complete. This tool will help show where your board is in alignment and where it might want to do some work. If taken annually, the survey results can show you’ve progressed or changed over time.
“The extensive reports based on our responses for the current year while also looking at the trend in prior years, help us identify where we are working as a strong team, as well as areas where we want to set goals for our own continuous improvement in service to our students,” said Yakima Superintendent Trevor Greene.
You can take the survey results and work with them internally, or you can request an experienced facilitator from WSSDA to help your team interpret the results and begin formulating a plan of action. “The skilled facilitation provided by WSSDA during a 3-hour work session allowed us to have conversations that the board-superintendent team rarely has” continued Greene. “Reflection on our own practices and their alignment with our district’s strategic plan are an important tool to support our strategic plan with a strong governance team.”
The next item in your WSSDA toolkit is a workshop or retreat facilitated by WSSDA’s leadership development staff and consultants, many of whom are former or current school board members. WSSDA’s skilled facilitators come to your district to cover the topics most important to your board-superintendent team. They custom-design the content to meet your needs and goals. Most in-district workshops are three hours and can be done in a board work session format. Retreats are bit longer ranging from half a day to a full day.
Another tool to maximize board effectiveness is OnBoard. OnBoard is a professional learning system for school directors developed by WSSDA. Onboard courses are offered virtually and in-person throughout the year and at the WSSDA Annual Conference. These courses equip directors with critical knowledge in a variety of areas like school finances or budgeting and enable directors to meet legislated learning requirements about educational equity. Five OnBoard courses will be offered in person at the November WSSDA Annual Conference.
Finally, WSSDA’s New Director Network provides monthly webinars on different topics along with relevant resources. Whether you’re a new board member or simply looking to brush up, you’re welcome to join. Each lunchtime webinar is recorded for later viewing if you miss one.
Invest in Your Own Growth
In harnessing the wealth of resources provided by WSSDA, from the comprehensive self-assessment survey to tailored workshops and a virtual and in-person learning platform like OnBoard, school boards possess the means to embark on a transformative journey of self-improvement. And summer is an opportune time to do it. Let’s seize this opportunity to invest in our collective growth, ensuring that our boards emerge stronger, more effective, and better equipped to navigate the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Reach out to WSSDA’s Leadership Development staff to learn more.
NOTE: This article was first published in the Spring 2024 issue of WSSDA Direct. Visit wssda.org/direct to see all the latest issues of WSSDA’s newsmagazine.
WSSDA Welcomes Two New Staff Members
On June 17th, the Washington State School Directors’ Association (WSSDA) had two new staff members begin work. Heather Curl started a new position for WSSDA as a leadership development specialist, while Christine Geary succeeded Abigail Westbrook as director of policy and legal services.
Director of Policy and Legal Services
Christine Geary began her career in the K-12 classroom and, throughout her thirty-year career in law, has remained true to her passion— the education of our children. She has been involved in K-12 in multiple ways, from classroom teaching (English) to district-level administration and even as principal of a small early-childhood school. She has been a featured speaker at the state and national level with programs on issues relating to student safety across our diverse states and school districts. In addition to her Juris Doctor degree, Geary earned a Master of Arts in Education, Curriculum, and Instruction.
Some of her primary duties for WSSDA will be providing legal support to the WSSDA Board of Directors, Executive Director, all WSSDA Committees, and all WSSDA departments; guiding the revision and/or development of model policies, procedures, and forms; developing and approving content for WSSDA’s Policy & Legal News quarterly magazine; and developing and updates legal resources, and guides for school boards.
“I am grateful to have this opportunity to work with and serve the individuals who give so much of themselves to our students through their work on school boards,” said Geary. “I look forward to collaboration with all our members.”
Leadership Development Specialist
The second new hire is Heather Curl, Ed.D. She comes to WSSDA with several years of experience working in the domain of adult education. In addition to teaching courses in equity, policy, leadership, change, pedagogy, curriculum design and research, she has experience teaching English and social studies in K-12 educational institutions.
Curl has published on a variety of topics in education, including student and teacher leadership, social mobility, and theories of change. To her new role, she brings a passion for civic dialogue, student voice, adult learning, and constructivist pedagogy (where instructors encourage students to build their own knowledge through experiences and activities instead of being lectured on abstract concepts). But Curl also relishes the daily opportunity to learn something new and grow. She holds a M.S.Ed. and Ed.D. in Teaching, Learning, and Curriculum from the University of Pennsylvania.
The bulk of her responsibilities at WSSDA are to identify the professional learning needs of school directors, design ways to meet those needs, evaluate the efficacy of WSSDA’s tools and techniques for meeting those needs, and to continuously improve them.
“I am thrilled to be joining WSSDA,” said Curl. “I am excited to support the important work school boards do in Washington state and to work with an amazing set of professionals committed to student learning and positive educational opportunities and outcomes.”
Commitment, empowerment, board development, and more in the latest issue of WSSDA Direct
The feature story of this issue showcases the Sumner-Bonney Lake School Board and district staff’s strong dedication to the promise they made to every student. You’ll also learn how your board can maximize its productivity during the summer break.
Read about this in the latest issue of WSSDA’s Direct newsmagazine.
Register for the 2024 WSSDA Annual Conference
Registration is officially open for the 2024 WSSDA Annual Conference happening in Spokane Nov. 21-23.
The theme of WSSDA’s 2024 annual conference, “Perspective,” invites us to embark on a profound exploration of the many lenses through which we perceive the world. In the realm of education, where our communities (and our boards) encompass a wide array of voices, navigating perspectives is not merely a challenge but a necessity. (Read more about perspective.)
New for 2024
- Conference starts on Thursday
- School Spirit Day is on Saturday
- OnBoard trainings won’t require pre-registration
Day 1
The first breakout sessions of conference begin just 30 minutes after the pre-conference sessions conclude. That evening, all are invited to the President’s Dinner and, for young people, the Student Dinner.
School Spirit
On the concluding day of conference, everyone is encouraged to show their school spirit by dressing in their favorite school’s colors or mascot-emblazoned wearables!
Ease of Entry
And finally, the OnBoard trainings are available simply by arriving a few minutes early to secure a seat. View the draft agenda for all scheduling details (until we launch the conference app in the fall).
With engaging keynoters, relevant and practical pre-cons, close to 70 breakout sessions, Onboard learning experiences, and capacity for an additional 100 conference registrants, we can’t wait to kick it off!
Exciting Opportunity: WSSDA Accepting Applications for Executive Director
The Washington State School Directors’ Association (WSSDA) is seeking a transparent and collaborative leader as its next executive director. The ideal candidate will challenge the status quo, bridge divisions, and unify the efforts of school boards statewide while continuously developing an appreciation of what makes them each unique.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, with those received by June 18, 2024, receiving priority consideration. All applicants will be notified of the outcome of the search.
This Opportunity Guide is a comprehensive resource, providing a complete description of the position, the organization, and instructions for applying. The firm managing the search process is KEES. Any questions may be addressed to mtaylor@kees2success.com.