Meet and Confer, Student Performance, and District Vision and Purpose

In a district committed to a continuous school improvement model, the district mission and vision provide the basis for all activities that comprise 4K-12 public education in a particular community.  Time must be spent at the beginning of the continuous improvement process to ensure that the development of a district mission and vision is collaborative and involves all stakeholders. Given that schools are in the business of educating students, student performance must be at the heart of a school district's purpose as expressed in its vision.

Once a district vision has been created, the real work of translating student performance into measurable goals at the building level begins. Far too often, the strategic planning (visioning) process takes place at an administrative level as does the goal setting.  These goals are then presented to building staff members who are expected to embrace them.  More recently, there has been an renewed focus on building leadership teams and involving teachers in the goal setting process as part of a collaborative effort.  Such efforts are certainly worthwhile, but care must be taken that goals developed by the building leadership team are informed by what is taking place every day with teachers and students in the classroom.

One mechanism to ensure that goals are informed by what is taking palce at the classroom level is the meet and confer process. Having the opportunity for staff members in all positions to provide feedback regarding their day-to-day work not only helps to make employees feel valued but also contributes to the relevance of building goals. Such meetings can only be successful when there is a level of trust and when all parties commit to norms that allow feedback to be shared in a solution-focused way. Although striking the right balance can be tricky, only when employees feel free to provide honest feedback in a constructive way will the meet and confer process effectively inform the continous school improvement model.

Reflecting on my learning in this class in relation to the district vision and purpose, student performance, and the meet and confer process, human resources administration in the public school setting seems to largely have to do with providing the appropriate support to employees to allow the district to achieve its vision and increase all students' performance.  When done right, human resources provide the tools for administrators to act ethically in the larger political, social, economic, legal, and cultural context and facilitats effective instructional leadership and management of learning.