You have reached the ECRA District Leadership 360° Appraisal information and registration site. The District Leadership 360° is designed to evaluate superintendents and CEOs of school districts. The appraisal is a multisource assessment in which leaders complete a self-assessment and receive anonymous, confidential feedback from the people who work around them. The appraisal instrument is an easy-to-use online survey based on extensive research and best practices in appraisal.
District Leadership and the 360° Appraisal
The role of the modern superintendent is often analogized with that of an orchestra conductor and for good reason: a district leader “conducts” all aspects of the district’s educational, financial, and administrative performance; facilitates the performance of all personnel; and responds to and persuades an audience with varying ideas about the performance and leadership of the district. Like a conductor, he/she guides a shared vision of exemplary performance, manages disparate components and constituents to ensure progress toward that goal, and serves as a model for inspired leadership. The superintendent, in short, personifies the aspirations and responsibilities of the entire organization. It is no wonder that research literature on educational leadership shows a strong correlation between the quality of district leadership and the achievement of said school district.
The role of the superintendent, however, is in constant flux. For many years school boards and the school community had defined the superintendency almost exclusively by the leader’s ability to manage fiscal, physical, and personnel resources; recently, though, the emphasis has shifted to vision, and the ideal of the current model superintendent is one who communicates strongly, build relationships, and demonstrate political acumen. Some argue this dichotomous classification—leader or manager—is overly simplistic, failing to account for the “network of relationships, interactions, and protocols” that, while intangible, are critical to the success of the district leader. Indeed, any conception of the superintendency must be relationship-centered, focusing on how leaders demonstrate vision and initiative through the involvement of stakeholders, the fostering of teamwork, and the building of strong relationships. The American Association of School Administrators agrees and adds that the superintendent must also demonstrate a keen understanding of teaching, learning and what works for students.
In light of these shifting definitions of district leadership, a true definition of the superintendency must reflect a comprehensive and challenging vision of district leadership, a synthesis of managerial and leadership components, interpersonal skills, and strategic action assessment. Though more reflective of the actual responsibilities and performance of the district leader, these increasingly varied and complex definitions of district-level leadership present a significant challenge to the process of superintendent evaluation. Effective superintendent evaluation must be formative in nature—it must guide the superintendent’s professional growth, enhance communications among the superintendent and stakeholders, and contribute to improving the educational performance or overall effectiveness of the district.
360º Assessment
One possible tool to assess the growth and leadership of the district leader, as well as his/her achievement of strategic goals, is a 360º assessment, a multi-source feedback system that collects feedback from multiple viewpoints to provide a detailed and accurate picture of individual performance. When 360º assessment is applied to school leaders, teams of evaluators are utilized to gain the input of all members of the school’s professional community, offering an overall assessment of the individual that addresses both results-focused and interpersonal-centered leadership skills.
