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Legislative auditors present 'Best Practice' handbook to guide school boards, central offices and principals
Summary
Legislative auditor staff presented a practical handbook after visits to 50–60 schools outlining nine best practices for boards, central offices and principals aimed at improving student achievement; auditors stressed training and examples rather than prescriptive mandates.
Legislative auditor general staff on Thursday presented a Best Practice Handbook for Student Achievement to the Utah Education Interim Committee, saying the tool is intended to guide school boards, district offices and school principals toward practices that support student learning.
Darren Underwood and colleagues said auditors visited roughly 50–60 schools during the project and organized the handbook into three chapters that reflect the typical leadership levels in an LEA: school boards, central office administrators and school principals. The report pairs principles with concrete practices and real examples from Utah and nationally, the auditors said.
The auditors told the committee the board chapter focuses on vision and alignment, emphasizing the board’s role in setting mission and goals and ensuring that superintendents are aligned with those priorities. The central‑office chapter emphasizes staffing aligned to school support and building a pipeline for high‑quality principals. The principals chapter cites research—summarized from the Wallace Foundation—that replacing below‑average principals with above‑average principals increases student learning by roughly three months in reading and math.
Committee members praised the collaborative tone of the handbook and asked how the Houston Independent School District’s principal‑pipeline model—which auditors cited—would translate to Utah. Auditors said Houston uses a year‑long, rigorous practical training program; Utah districts vary, and any pipeline would need to be tailored district by district.
Senators and representatives who spoke welcomed the resources and diagnostic checklists included in the handbook, and several urged that the state focus on training and on giving districts latitude to implement the practices given statutory constraints. The auditors said the handbook is meant to be a resource rather than a prescriptive set of rules.
The auditors also said the handbook’s back matter includes resources and a short checklist LEAs can use to self‑assess alignment with the recommended practices. The report materials are posted with the committee packet, the auditors noted.
The committee took no formal action on the handbook; members were invited to follow up with analysts and auditors for more detail.
