Skip to main content

Evaluation Time

The School Committees of every community are charged with oversight for the budget, the policies and the evaluation of the superintendent for the districts they serve. Tonight, in Natick, we begin the Superintendent evaluation process. Virtual Meeting Link - 6:00 p.m.  

Background: 

Page 2 of DESE Model system guide for Superintendent Evaluation

These videos and this PDF explain the 5 step Superintendent Evaluation Process that Natick is piloting with other communities. It was developed in partnership with Superintendents, School Committees and the Dept. of Ed.  

While Natick has adjusted some of the evaluation to be in-line with the process outlined in the above resources, we are continuing to develop the full pilot program. 

Also, for a point of reference and a reminder that every superintendent goes through a similar process,  here is a slide deck from one of the initial meetings for the City of Boston's Superintendent evaluation (final evaluation 6/30). I appreciate the comment on slide 3 from the Boston School Committee putting this year's evaluation in context: "The fact that we have performance to evaluate is an accomplishment in and of itself."

Process: 

  • Next week, on Wednesday June 30th and Thursday July 1st, the Committee will meet without Dr. Nolin but in an open meeting, to discuss the evidence provided. 
  • Our chair will then write a summary document that will incorporate the points of the discussion, rankings and the committee's feedback for Dr. Nolin. Committee members will have a chance to weigh in on the summary provided. 
  • Then, a presentation of the evaluation will happen on Tuesday, July 27th to Dr. Nolin from the School Committee. 
  • In August, the committee will take a final vote on the evaluation and Step 1 of the process (self assessment) will begin for the 2021-22 school year.  

Parts of the Summative Evaluation (5th step in the cycle) 

1)   Performance Goals (determined by Sup. & approved by the committee in the previous fall)

Dr. Nolin's 2020-21 Professional Practice Goal 

Completion of the New Superintendent’s Induction program (final year).  I graduated from this induction program and successfully renewed my license.  As in prior years, I was also asked to present to new superintendent’s in this cohort and the cohorts behind this one due to my expertise in innovation and teaming.    MASS/Teacher’s 21 and Boston College continue to employ me as their doctoral program teacher for the superintendent training program, PSAP.  I also teach an SEL mini course in addition to my innovative teams course.  I continue to serve on the state superintendence women's leadership network board, the equity task force, and was recently elected to serve in the New England regional superintendents Association board where I will be a conference presenter in October in addition to leading the organization as a board member.  (NEASS). 

Dr. Nolin's 2020-21 Student Learning Goal 

During the 20-21 school year the superintendent will lead the creation, revision and implementation of systems, tracking, training and structures that promote safety (physical, social, and emotional) and consistency for all students, staff and families during the remainder of the pandemic/school year in collaboration with state, political, local, health and educational agencies.


District Improvement Goals

Natick uses the Strategic Plan for the district for this section of the eval.   

2) Standards & Indicators (agreed upon in the fall by the Committee and Sup.) 

Each committee is encouraged to agree with the superintendent in the fall about 1-2 indicators under each of the 4 standards that the Sup & Committee will focus on for the year.  The indicators Dr. Nolin for the 2020-2021 school year are in bold below:

The ratings for each of the indicators are all carefully determined using this rubric, for example when evaluating the curriculum goal in 1A:



Thanks for reading and staying informed!  








Popular posts from this blog

Statement on Recusal

Here are the remarks I gave last night when letting my committee know my decision to recuse:  After the School Committee meeting on October 15th, several individuals wrote into the SpeakUp Natick portal requesting that I recuse myself from voting on the possible closure of Johnson.  The substance of these messages, sent to the full committee, carried a familiar refrain. The messages - often using the same language – said some version of the following:  Catherine Brunell should recuse herself from deliberating and voting on the closure of Johnson because she lacks objectivity, as her children go to school there and she is from that neighborhood. I asked myself the question if there was any merit to the request for me to recuse myself and started to do some research about why people recuse  From what I can tell from the minutes, in Natick, It’s never happened before - not with the Kennedy, Wilson or the High School - not even for members whose children were to attend t...

Quick Summary of Key things for the Natick School Committee this week

  Quick Links for current items: Natick School Committee begins Coffee Hours - Take a moment to speak to one of your elected officials about the district’s strategic plan in the coming months!   Policy Questions?  Click here to see the Natick School Committee Policy Manual .  Every year it is accepted by the Natick School Committee as our guiding principles for our work. It sets expectations for communication, procedures and processes for most everything related to our schools.  While specific policies are updated every year, the last major revision/ reconsideration of policies was in the early 2000’s.   One goal of the current policy subcommittee is to begin to look at each section of our policy manual once a year for a more sustainable updating of these key policies.   Policy Subcommittee’s next meeting is Thursday, Feb 17th from 1- 3 p.m. on the 3rd floor of the Natick Town Hall.   Budget Season! Not a financial person? Rea...