Overview

What is the Balanced Scorecard?

The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) ensures that we are focused on a few common goals designed to improve student achievement, and that we are all clear about what those goals mean for each of us. Educators, parents and others often say we need multiple ways to assess the performance of students and schools. The BSC offers schools and the community at large the opportunity to design just those measures.

For more information, please read Beyond the Talk, SFUSD's strategic plan that articulates some of the challenges we face and the approach we will take to address them. (For a quicker read, here's a one-page summary.)

Outcomes

What we hope to accomplish with the BSC framework.

The BSC will help us understand how well we are achieving the three goals of the strategic plan—and how each school site and department is contributing.

• For principals: You are working toward the same objectives as every other school, but doing so in a way that is uniquely right for your school community.
• For teachers: Your work and the work of the teacher next door are focused on common objectives, so that you’re not spinning your wheels or working against each other.
• For all staff: Regardless of your position, you understand your role in supporting the goals and student achievement.

Responsibilities

What we expect from school sites.

We expect each school site to:

• Engage their community (including staff, students, families, and School Site Councils) in meaningfully interpreting each goal for their site.
• Think critically and creatively about their needs and priorities based on evidence gathered during the community engagement process.
• Continuously evaluate their progress according to the metrics in their scorecards.
• Working along the milestone dates listed on the Timeline, submit a complete and thoughtful BSC that builds on the district's three Non-Negotiable Objectives.

Usage

What we plan to do with each site's BSC in SY2008-09, and what we promise not to do with it.

The Central Office will use the BSC (and the BSC creation process) to:

• Redefine and reorganize itself as a school site support organization based on the priorities presented in site scorecards.
• Foster clear, mutual communication as to how schools will assess their own progress in achieving their BSC objectives, including the districtwide Non-Negotiable Objectives.
• Provide improved support in future years for creating a balanced scorecard.

This year, scorecards will not be used to:

• Evaluate performance.
• Hold sites accountable to specific objectives or measures, including those listed in their BSCs.

There is no catch. This year is an opportunity to familiarize ourselves with the strategic plan and the BSC creation process. We will work together to understand (a) how we can best leverage the BSC to realize the district's strategic goals and (b) what support structures must be in place to foster a useful and effective implementation. Next year, we will build on what we have learned this year.

Next Steps

What sites have to do to create a balanced scorecard.

The next step is to begin engaging your community around the strategic plan, truly "the work" of the scorecard creation process. Please continue on to the next section, Engagement Resources.