BoardWatch: Denver

A+ Denver's BoardWatch project was created to improve the governance practices of the DPS Board in a way that will lead to better academic achievement for Denver's students. 

This project is currently in ‘beta mode’. We are taking time to work out any kinks in our system before we go too public with our findings to make sure that our process is functioning correctly. We encourage any and all feedback on the rubric, website, process, training, etc. during this stage so that this becomes a useful tool for all.


Why?

School district leadership matters. Research has identified best practices in board governance. For example, effective boards are driven by a vision. They monitor progress toward goals; reduce time spent on operational issues; are data savvy and use data to drive decisions; and maintain positive and collaborative relationships with each other, the district, and the community. 

Denver Public Schools has a general fund budget of approximately $711 million for 2013-2014. The school board is ultimately responsible for allocating funds in ways that drive student achievement. By shining light on the board's governance practices, we hope to further engage the public in the important work of improving our public schools.

Public awareness is key to making this project successful. We need to create an informed community that has high expectations of the school board and is accountable for results.

What?

BoardWatch will produce evaluations of the board's governance based on five key metrics:
• Role clarity
• Focus
• Competency
• Transparency
• Conduct

These are the areas we’ve identified as indicators of an effective board. We look at the functionality of the board as a whole to determine their performance grades. This project is not focused on individuals or policy decisions - but rather the process by which decisions are made. When you have a solid governance process, your decisions are more likely to have a positive impact on outcomes and performance.

A+ Denver collects committee member evaluations from each meeting and aggregates the scores. We will periodically produce report cards containing these scores in an easy-to-read format to inform board members and the public of the ongoing performance of the board.

How?

Now to the meat of the work. We’ve created a volunteer-based committee that will attend board meetings (both regular and work sessions) and will evaluate the board based on the metrics listed above.

Committee members must attend an hour long training session before beginning to evaluate board meetings. The training frames the project and gives members information and context about the district characteristics and board member responsibilities. We believe that training is essential to ensure consistent reporting from members and to make sure they understand the goals of this project. We emphasize the need for members to be objective observers that look at each meeting individually and do not let policy decisions or opinions influence their grading.

Be sure to visit our BoardWatch Denver site and follow BoardWatch on Twitter.
If you would like to volunteer for BoardWatch or have any questions, please email [email protected].