Fostering Academic Excellence: Yes, the Board Has a Role

Most independent schools claim that academic excellence is their lodestar, which if true, means guiding all strategic decisions and day-to-day operations with this objective in mind. While this aim seems straightforward, why does it so often prove difficult to achieve? 

The lack of a clear vision of academic excellence means that a purposeful collaboration between Heads of School and Boards of Trustees on cultivating an environment of academic excellence can be difficult. Too often, Boards are passive, deferring to the Head on all academic matters under the misconception that pedagogy and curriculum fall solely within the purview of the administration. Unfortunately, this then leaves Heads – already shouldering myriad responsibilities – left to shoulder the academic excellence burden alone. This dynamic represents a missed opportunity for schools to fully leverage the respective strengths of the Head and Board toward fulfilling their most fundamental promise to families.

Why is academic excellence one of the more challenging areas for the Head of School and Board to negotiate?

Heads often fear that if they share too much regarding the quality of the academic program that Board members – who, by and large, are not educators –  will not appreciate or fully understand what is being presented. Board members might pick through the data – quantitative or qualitative – and come to faulty conclusions. This fear is not groundless. Board members are not generally academic diagnosticians.  Unfortunately, these faulty diagnoses can then cause Board members to become anxious. When that happens, they aren’t necessarily skilled at keeping a poker face. They let this anxiety leak out and whether intentional or not, that anxiety spills onto the shoulders of the Head.  Most Heads have more than enough to worry about and inviting more is not in their best interests. So, it’s rational that Heads often want to keep their Boards at arms length on the academic front.

At the same time, Trustees are responsible for ensuring that the school is delivering a quality academic program. Most schools communicate to families and to the public that they are a community of academic excellence. The Board has an obligation to hold the Head accountable for ensuring that excellence is delivered. Yet, many Boards have little idea if the academic program is genuinely strong. Often that is because little or no information is shared with the Board on this front. The information may exist and is not shared, but too often the school hasn’t engaged in any type of rigorous practice that assesses its academic performance.  

The limitations of “meeting every student where they are at”

How many schools do you know that say they “meet every student where they are at”? That may be the extent to which the school articulates academic excellence. It’s a phrase that feels right and good on some level, but it’s a vague notion that doesn’t define or prioritize a direction moving forward. It’s a phrase that doesn’t lend itself to focused initiatives and accountability measures. 

So What is a Board and a Head To Do?

First off, Boards and Heads have to engage in conversation/debate/discussion about what constitutes excellence for their school. “Excellence” can mean many things and circling around a common understanding is a first step. For some, that might be as simple as standardized test scores in a particular range, while others may see matriculation to leading secondary schools, colleges, and universities as a sign that all is well because prestigious institutions clamor for their students.  Chances are good, however, that there will be many markers of excellence  – both quantitative and qualitative.  Excellence doesn’t develop overnight, but it can be lost fairly quickly. So deciding on some markers that are tracked over time is important.  

I’ve never been at a Board meeting that finances were not touched on in some fashion and this is appropriate given the Board’s fiduciary responsibility. Yet how many times have you been at a Board meeting where there was little digging into the academic program? Perhaps there was a mention that the school play was successful, that the robotics team won 2nd prize in a regional competition, or that lots of parents came to the 8th grade capstone presentations. All good information for the Board to have, but these kinds of things in and of themselves don’t paint a clear picture as to whether the academic program is strong.

This brings me back to: “What constitutes excellence for your school?”  Where do you want to be?  Who is your school for?  Is it actually possible to properly serve every student who might walk through the door? These are critical questions for Boards to grapple with. 

Heads and Boards together need to constantly work on building an understanding of the academic landscape both inside and outside the school. The more a Board understands the program, the student body, the faculty, and the competition, the better it is able to allocate resources where they will make the most impact.

So how can Heads and Boards better wrap their arms around delivering an excellent academic program?

• Dedicate a portion of every board meeting to the academic program. Make sure this section of the meeting is well planned, substantive, and has a clear objective. What do you want the Board to get out of this portion of the meeting? How does this portion of the meeting help the Board understand the academic program over time? Without a planned portion of the meeting, Board members are left to evaluate the academic program through the eyes of their own children – and their unique journeys, which may or may not be representative. Or Board members may harken back to their own student days years ago. Neither allows a Board to survey the current academic landscape of the entire institution.

• Ensure there is robust data collection to help the Head and the Board understand the many elements that contribute to excellence. This data should be both quantitative and qualitative.

• Standardized testing results should be shared at Board meetings including where the school stands vis-a-vis other schools. Share the information by grade level. Your lower school may be thriving on this front, but your middle school may not.  Make sure you are tracking this data over time so that you can catch changes early and dig into diagnosing what might be going on. At the same time, do not do a massive data dump on the Board. Too much information not paired with any insight can be just as useless as no information. Pull the data that is important. What are areas of strength? Areas that cause concern? Are there hypotheses as to why the scores are what they are? Hypotheses should lead to diagnoses and action plans.

And let me say something about test scores. The pursuit of high test scores simply for the sake of high test scores is folly.  What you should care about is that your students are engaged in deep learning. Test scores in and of themselves will not tell you this. They are but one tool in an arsenal of tools that you use to evaluate your program. At the same time, dismissing test scores as useless is also folly. If your students consistently score below schools to which you benchmark, this situation is ripe for review.  (There is an excellent article I have used time and time again with my admin teams as to the role data can play – not as a be all or end all – but as a tool to help uncover the factors that lead to quality. It’s The Bell Curve by Atul Gawande.)

• Make sure you are regularly surveying various stakeholder groups. What does the faculty think of the academic program?  Where do they feel challenged and why? What do they see happening in their classrooms? How well do parents think their children are prepared? What do students think of the program? Do they feel challenged? Supported?

• Academic excellence is not a neck up endeavor. It really is a function of engaging the head, hand, and heart. There is an important place for joy. It’s highly unlikely students will consistently perform at high levels if they feel disengaged. How do you know if your students are genuinely engaged and not simply doing school? If they are not engaged, what might be contributing factors?  

• It’s important that all students at your school are thriving. Have you sliced the data? Based on gender? Race? Age? Grade? Newer students? Those that have been with you for years? Students on IEPs?

• Do you have expectations for your graduates?  For example, the Hamlin School in San Francisco ( K-8 Girls ) expects that all of its graduates will place into either geometry or Algebra II in their first year out of Hamlin. To ensure this is happening, they collect placement data on each graduate and this allows them to assess if they are doing what they say they do. Being able to report on this data is powerful evidence of academic quality that can help with retention of current students and help create a compelling case for prospective families.

• Inviting academic leaders, such as department heads or division directors, to share their perspectives on curriculum development, skill-building strategies, and student preparedness with the Board can give Trustees a more holistic view of the school's academic endeavors.

• Setting up a Trustee visit day specifically to help the Trustees better understand the academic program.  I began these visits early on with my Trustees.  Class visits.  Meetings with teachers, instructional coaches, Directors of Teaching and Learning, and Division Heads.  Meetings with students. Opportunities for Q & A. I happened to have a very strong and supportive board and these visits were important to help ground them in our work. The visits were organized but not highly managed so Board members could get an authentic view of the strength of the academic program and areas of challenge. The post-visit Board meetings were always engaging and full of robust discussion.

If your school hasn't  been doing many of the above activities, there may be some hesitation on the part of the Head of School to begin to do so fearing that the results may cause Trustees to be critical of the Head. Too many Trustees begin from a place of blame rather than a place of curiosity.  It’s crucial that Board members approach this work with a growth mindset. All organizations, whether schools or businesses, have areas that can be improved, but those areas need to be identified, prioritized, and resourced.

When a Head of School and Board can have candid conversations and be thoughtful partners with one another, the stage is set for developing strong action plans. Schools should be places of progress culture – always moving forward. When progress is being made – when it is clear and palpable – lots of positive things happen. Board members become more engaged. A Head feels more supported and energized. The faculty feels like good things are happening now and more good things are on the horizon.  Students and parents feel the momentum and enthusiasm builds. The community knows it’s on a solid and exciting trajectory.  

Since partnering on academic excellence can be one of the more challenging areas for a Head and Board to negotiate, building the muscles to do this work well means you’re investing in a powerful strategic partnership – a partnership that will serve your school for generations to come.