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Phoenix Union board workshop centers on student-outcomes governance, goals and guardrails
Summary
A governance workshop led by Dr. Jacinto Ramos Jr. introduced the board to the ABCs of governance (inputs, outputs, outcomes), progress monitoring, and the concept of limited, community‑informed guardrails. Board members worked with staff on draft five‑year student outcome goals and discussed community engagement and monitoring cadence.
Dr. Jacinto Ramos Jr. opened a student‑outcomes governance workshop at the Phoenix Union High School District governing‑board retreat, telling board members that “student outcomes don’t change until adult behaviors change.” Ramos framed the session around the ABCs of governance — inputs, outputs and outcomes — and urged the board to focus on measurable, multi‑year student outcomes and a short list of “guardrails” that the superintendent should address.
Ramos said the board’s role is to “set the goals” and monitor progress, not to direct day‑to‑day instruction: “If you as a board member are giving her instructional directions, you have stepped outside of your role.” He used a sports analogy to explain inputs (resources like teachers and curriculum), outputs (formative measures and interim results) and outcomes (end‑of‑cycle impacts such as proficiency rates). Ramos emphasized progress monitoring throughout the year rather than waiting for end‑of‑year results.
The workshop moved from concept to practice. Superintendent Andrade and district staff presented disaggregated data on ACT benchmarks, the College and Career Readiness Index (CCRI) and AzELa (English‑learner) results. Board members worked in small groups in a “gallery walk” to identify priorities and draft five‑year goals. Example draft goals presented by board teams included increasing the share of students scoring 22 or above on the ACT and raising CCRI attainment; another group proposed increasing reclassification rates for multilingual learners measured by AzELa. Ramos said student outcome goals should be SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time‑bound) and monitored at least quarterly.
Board members repeatedly raised equity and attendance as cross‑cutting concerns. Several members urged that guardrails reflect issues the community frequently raises — for example, chronic absenteeism, safety, teacher retention and college‑and‑career preparation — and recommended testing drafted guardrails with community listening sessions. Ramos recommended 1–3 years for guardrail targets and five years for major student outcome goals, and advised limiting guardrails to no more than five so the district can focus implementation.
Superintendent Andrade and staff outlined an implementation sequence: draft five‑year goals and guardrails, hold community engagement (board members in pairs were encouraged to lead outreach), then adopt goals so staff can align the district’s monitoring calendar, budget priorities and interim measures. Staff said progress‑monitoring packets would be shortened and calibrated so board members can “zoom in” at meetings with focused questions.
Board members left the session with drafted goal language and a plan to refine goals and guardrails for adoption at upcoming board meetings. Ramos and staff will produce a refined, SMART version of the drafts and support the board’s community engagement work ahead of formal adoption.
Ending: The workshop closed with a commitment to continued coaching and to embed community input. Ramos and the superintendent said they will return drafted, word‑smith SMART goals for board review and recommended quarterly progress monitoring once goals are adopted.
