Consultants cite survey results, rubric and bias training to guide North Marion SD 15 superintendent screenings

Consultants leading North Marion SD 15’s superintendent search used the board work session to walk members through community survey results, the scoring rubric for application review and a short unconscious-bias video meant to reduce evaluator bias.

Robert said 192 people completed the district survey, and that the largest respondent groups were parents, community members and teachers. "There was, a 192 people complete the survey, which is a lot for a community of sizes," he said, and urged committee members to use the results when reviewing cover letters and resumes.

Survey findings the consultants highlighted included: listening and communicating effectively as the top cultural priority; identifying problems to solve as the top decision-making skill; strong vision, mission and values for leadership; organization and follow-through as top management priorities; and emphasis on teamwork and supporting students with behavioral needs. The consultant recommended designing interview questions and scoring rubrics to surface evidence for these priorities.

On scoring, the consultant explained the rubric includes five areas (cover letter, resume, reference letters, question responses, and community-set items) that committee members will score in a shared spreadsheet that auto-sums reviewer scores. "This is a rubric that we'd like you to use to score the applicant files," he said, and demonstrated that reviewers should read all cover letters first to get a sense of candidates before diving into resumes and reference letters.

The session included a short (about four-minute) video on unconscious bias. "We all have biases that affect how we filter in terms of information," Robert said after presenting the clip, and he asked committee members to reflect on common bias types when they score candidates. Board members discussed whether committee deliberations should be in-person or via Zoom; one member urged limiting Zoom for privacy during closed deliberations, saying, "I would almost say no Zoom option because you don't really know, like, who else is in the room." The group agreed that candidate-name discussions and scoring must occur in executive session for confidentiality.

The consultants said they will send training materials, the bias video and the scoring spreadsheet to committee members and that the screening committee will aim to narrow the field to 5–7 candidates following its review. Committee members and board members asked the consultants to monitor screener participation and remind members to submit their scores on schedule.

The work session closed with the board confirming training and screening dates and the consultant committing to weekly updates.