How to measure outcomes?
The issue of how school boards are measuring, assessing and reporting on operational effectiveness was also brought to my attention. This issue had surfaced in the Ontario Auditor General's Annual Report concerning school boards. According to the report, each school board has a multi-year strategic plan outlining its goals. “However, most school boards did not have measurable indicators and targets for all their stated goals.”
My Response
I would like to expand my thoughts on this beyond my reply to the e-mail that was sent my way. Coupled with transparency, accountability is the zeitgeist of the day. I believe that these are both important goals to strive for any organization. As trustees, we shape policy and make decisions on spending priorities; the new board will be tasked with developing the next strategic plan. It is imperative that we are held accountable for our decisions and for ensuring that the strategic plan is actionable and comes to fruition.
The only way to know that is through developing meaningful metrics for the process – what are the measurable outcomes? Those metrics then become the basis for the next round of planning – did it work or did it not? If it worked, great! If not, let’s regroup and rethink. Anecdotal evidence is not appropriate for decision making nor is it adequate for reporting to constituents.
From my personal employment experience I would, however, highlight one caveat. Keeping productivity statistics takes an inordinate amount of administrative time - time that must be taken from some other task. It will be important to determine what metrics are truly useful in order to ensure time efficiency for those who are tasked with producing them. We will need to ask the question of why before we start counting the cats in Zanzibar. I believe that any information that is gathered assessing operational effectiveness should, most definitely, be accessible to the public.
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