Evaluating the Leader Without Managing the School: Effective Practices for Charter Boards

Governing for Greatness Series

Evaluating the Leader Without Managing the School: Effective Practices for Charter Boards

A charter school’s success rises and falls with the strength of its school leader, and the board of trustees plays a critical role in setting expectations, evaluating performance, and supporting growth without drifting into day-to-day management. Too often, leader evaluations are either overly informal, misaligned to the school’s charter priorities, or treated as a compliance exercise rather than a strategic governance tool.

This 60-minute virtual session is designed specifically for charter school board members and board leaders. Participants will explore effective, charter-aligned practices for evaluating school leaders in ways that strengthen accountability, reinforce role clarity, and support sustained school performance.

The session will cover:

• The board’s role in leader evaluation versus management, and common pitfalls boards encounter
• Key components of a strong, mission-aligned school leader evaluation framework
• How to align leader goals and evaluation criteria to the charter contract, accountability plan, and strategic priorities
• Practical approaches to evidence collection, goal-setting, and feedback conversations
• Using evaluations to support leader development, retention, and succession planning

Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of what effective leader evaluation looks like in a charter context, practical tools and examples that can be adapted for their own boards, and concrete next steps to strengthen their governance practice – whether they are refining an existing evaluation system or building one for the first time.