Valuing superintendent input

This week, we had a very lively Superintendent Advisory Council meeting. I really value input from superintendents since they are the primary point of contact between the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) and implementation of Senate Bill 1 (2009) and the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) waiver requirements.

During the meeting this week, we spent most of our time discussing the next-generation superintendent standards being developed by the Kentucky Association of School Administrators (KASA). Also, we discussed the expectations for annual summative documentation of local board evaluation of the superintendent.

The Superintendent Advisory Council serves in an advisory role and, during the meeting, the group did offer several recommendations for implementation of new superintendent standards and evaluation procedures. I will go over these recommendations on Monday, April 29, during my monthly superintendent webinar.

There has been a significant amount of confusion and misinformation about the expectations for superintendent evaluation procedures. It is my intent to clarify the procedures in a letter to board chairs and superintendents in late May or June.

Our Kentucky superintendents do a terrific job in spite of increasing budget difficulties. It is my hope that we will be able to align the teacher, principal and superintendent evaluation procedures to drive a model of professional learning and professional growth. Working together, I know we can do this in Kentucky.