District proposes standardized evaluation framework for partner contracts to measure student impact

The audit committee heard a proposal to operationalize audit recommendations for evaluating district partners and service contracts.

Chief Financial Officer Michelle Morrison introduced Dr. Renard Adams, who has led development of an evaluation framework aimed at addressing contracts-audit recommendations. Adams said the framework includes a cover memo and a template for contract managers to document review and evaluation, supervisor sign-off, submission to the purchasing and contracting department, quarterly partner reporting and an impact assessment aligned to partner strategies.

Adams said his team intends to align measures across partners that provide similar strategies so the district can compare impact consistently. He described candidate measures such as students' increased sense of belonging, family empowerment to advocate for their children, and evidence that a culturally specific mentor or adult is available in a student's school community. Adams said evaluation leads (research and assessment staff) and data leadership will collaborate to create tools and provide measures to partners at the start of the next school year so partners can collect baseline and end-of-year data.

Janice Hanson, the internal auditor, cautioned that audit standards prevent pre-approving an implementation framework; the auditor said she can say the approach appears to be on the right track but must review completed documentation and evidence of use before determining whether the audit recommendations are implemented. Committee members discussed collecting building-leader feedback through unannounced visits and an administrator-rating tool restricted to evaluation leads to encourage candid responses.

Adams emphasized partner enthusiasm for measurable impact assessment and said the district will try to keep the instrument light for smaller partners while aligning measures across similar strategies. The committee did not take a formal vote on the framework; Janice said the auditor will evaluate whether the completed tools and documented evaluations meet the audit recommendations when those outputs are provided.