Schools leader reflects on her work

Columbia Public Schools students might be happy to know that Superintendent Phyllis Chase gets a report card, too. Actually, she gets two report cards each year — one in February and another in June.

On June 12, Chase’s most recent performance evaluation prompted the majority of the Columbia School Board to approve a 6 percent raise and renew her administration of the city’s 29 public schools for a fourth year.

Before voting, board members assessed Chase’s performance relative to the district’s three goals: maximizing achievement of all students; minimizing the achievement gap between minority students and others; and maximizing resource efficiency.

Last week, Chase discussed the ways she has responded to those priorities. During the interview, she talked about changes in the district, rather than taking any credit herself.

“This is a very, very, very good school district by all indices,” Chase said, “whether you look at student achievement and student recognition, staff recognition and the fact that the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for the second year in a row has indicated that Columbia Public Schools is a district with distinction in performance based upon our students’ MAP (Missouri Assessment Program) scores.”

One success story, from Chase’s perspective, is the “model school” project launched at West Boulevard Elementary School. It sprang from the district’s Achievement Gap Task Force, which Chase created.

A chief aim of the project was to improve student achievement on standardized tests, especially among minority students. West Boulevard was chosen largely because it had lower test scores and a higher percentage of minority students; in 2005, minority students made up 66 percent of the student body and, of that, more than 59 percent were black.

The results, so far, are positive.

“We’re very, very proud of that school, its administration, its teachers and its students and parents,” Chase said. “And students are exhibiting the type of success that happens when a community comes together.”

In August, the district will look at test scores and other data from West Boulevard and give the public specific information about how the school is doing.

“We wanted to have at least two years worth of data so that we knew it was a replicable, sustaining type of achievement that was going on at West Boulevard,” Chase said. “Change takes time. Improving takes time. Especially in a school where learning lies at some of the lowest levels.”

Next year, the district will take another step toward increasing achievement. Full-time instructional coaches will be placed in all schools to improve literacy. Currently, there are 19.7 instructional coach positions in the district; 9.3 new positions will be filled next year.

“We think we can maximize the resource by keeping the resource in the building, and we’re going to see student achievement increase because we’re doing this,” Chase said. “We’re spending more money, but we still feel like it’s maximizing a resource.”

Chase said she is also assessed on whether she “meets, does not meet or exceeds” 31 performance standards on the Columbia Public Schools Superintendent Formative/Summative Evaluation.

“The board expects me to be out there and to be a cheerleader, to be telling the board of education’s and Columbia Public Schools’ story,” Chase said, pointing to her list of more than 100 speaking engagements since 2003.

The 31 performance standards are divided among six categories: policy and governance; planning and assessment; instructional leadership; organizational management; communications and community relations; and professionalism.

Process of evaluation

The evaluation process for Columbia superintendents hasn’t always been this way, Chase said. The old performance evaluation process used to begin at the end of the school year. This meant the superintendent and the school board did not have a chance to provide input until May or June.

Two years ago, Chase met with board members Karla DeSpain, who is now board president, and Elton Fay, who lost re-election in April. Together, they decided to make the superintendent’s performance evaluation process more frequent.

“I like it because it’s more formative,” Chase said. “It’s very thoughtful and thorough, and I believe it’s a very fair evaluation based on performance and that this process is designed to encourage improvement in myself as well as in the school district.”

The new process begins each October when Chase submits goals and action plans to the school board for its input. In January, Chase submits a self-evaluation and documents to the board that show how she’s met previously submitted goals. A month later, the board conducts a mid-year evaluation of Chase. Another evaluation is conducted by the board in June — and the process starts all over again at the annual school board retreat in July.

“This allows me to be graded like the students,” Chase said.

Pay for performance

According to a Missouri National Education Association 2005-06 salary rankings document, Chase’s current salary, $180,000, is the 11th highest in the state. The Columbia district is the 10th largest in the state, according to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

“So it seems like I am right, more or less, where I should be in terms of the rankings of all of the school districts, the number of students they have and their superintendents’ salaries,” Chase said.

Chase’s 6 percent raise increases her salary to $190,800 for the 2006-07 school year. DeSpain said it’s meant to be competitive statewide as well as reward the superintendent’s performance.

Unlike faculty and other administrators, Chase’s compensation is tied solely to performance.

“Given that, you know, it’s riskier than other positions,” Chase said, adding that she’s glad to have the board’s support.

“When I came, I saw a school district with a great deal of potential and tremendous community support,” she said. “Today, I see a school district with an even greater degree of potential and even greater community support. Our quest and our challenge is to not let good get in the way of being great.”