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

Natick's Strategic Plan

Over the next several meetings the School Committee will focus much of its time on the progress being made in our district goals. For example, tonight  Goal #2 will be discussed.   These goals are an essential anchor for my work on this board with the hope that they always reflect deep listening to our students & families and our professionals.   As we go through these goals, I am looking for the SMARRT objective under each of the 4 main goals and interested in how a district adapts a 5 year plan in the middle of the course. As a new member, I have some basic questions to understand the document and how to best serve it:  Who helped take the plan from yearly district goals to our multi-year  strategic plan ? What's the process like to form these goals? What is the process like to evaluate them? Has the change from yearly goals to a multi-year strategic plan helped us be more prepared financially for things coming down the line?  What is the proces...

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...

Let’s Have a Vision for Elementary Schools.

Faced with some monumental school facility and space decisions, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the quote that Dr. Nolin has below the signature line in her email:       The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on                building the new.     The emphasis in the quote is on what can come next. It is not about holding on tightly to what was, nor looking at an issue through only a technical, logistical lens but on moving forward with vision .  The administration, under advisement of the School Committee, is charged with setting that vision. The School Committee is charged with protecting that vision using the three roles within our domain - budget, policy and supervision of the Superintendent. All of us are working for the kids that are here today and those who will be here in the future.   Thankfully this time, as our School Committee grapp...