PREFACE

Since January 1998, SchoolMatch has collected and analyzed Sarasota County School District data in a similar fashion to that which has assisted several hundred school systems throughout the country. The SchoolMatch site team conducted its on-site visitation of the Sarasota County School District from May 16 through May 19, 1998. District officials were particularly cooperative in responding to specific requests for data while the auditors were on-site.

Superintendent Dr. Thomas H. Gaul, Executive Director of Pupil Support Services Dr. William P. Delp, Executive Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Wilma Hamilton, Director of Information Services F. Ronald McCord and others participated in this process by making data available SchoolMatch to support this audit effort.

The SchoolMatch evaluators commend Sarasota school personnel for the assistance provided during the audit and the many courtesies extended to us. It was a pleasure to work with such courteous and congenial school personnel.

The six members of the audit team who visited the Sarasota County Schools were especially pleased to have a chance to visit students and teachers in the classroom. The students were vivid reminders of how this study might assist the school district and the community to create enhanced educational opportunities for Sarasota County's children.

In the mid-1980s, SchoolMatch Advisory Board Chairman Dr. M. Donald Thomas initiated the "Audit of Educational Effectiveness" process using carefully designed levels of effectiveness and the SchoolMatch databases. Dr. Thomas, Superintendent Emeritus of the Salt Lake City Public Schools, has achieved national recognition as a widely respected school administrator, state education reformer, education advisor to governors, researcher, author and speaker.

A few years ago, SchoolMatch assumed the responsibility of working directly with school systems to continue this important process. In initiating the Audit for the Sarasota County School District, SchoolMatch involved six consultants, its databases and support staff.

Following is a roster of the SchoolMatch consultants who participated in the visit to the Sarasota School District and the preparation of the final written report for the SchoolMatch Audit of Educational Effectiveness. Team members are selected with regard to experience in similar districts, knowledge of functions which need to be performed in the Audit and specialized expertise.

* Dr. William L. Bainbridge, President and CEO of SchoolMatch, former superintendent of three school districts in Ohio and Virginia, and former Assistant to the Ohio Superintendent of Public Instruction. He has served as educational consultant to over 300 corporations and hundreds of school systems. The Fellow of the American College of Forensic Examiners and Diplomate of the National Academy for School Executives earned his Ph.D. at The Ohio State University, and completed post-doctoral studies at Columbia University.

* Dr. Shirli M. Billings-Vioni, Interim Dean at Ohio's Central State University College of Education, former superintendent of three school systems in Ohio, Minnesota and New Jersey, former Director of Secondary Schools for the Cleveland (OH) Public School District and former Vice President for Human Resource Development with Honeywell, Inc. She earned her Ph.D. in educational leadership and business administration at The Ohio State University.

* Dr. Alonzo A. Crim, past president of the Council of Great City Schools, Professor of Education and Special Assistant to the President, Spellman College, Atlanta (GA), and former Benjamin E. Mays Professor, Georgia State University and Superintendent of Schools in the City of Atlanta, GA and Compton, CA. He is a member of the board of directors of the Charles Mott Foundation and First Union Bank. He has also served as a district superintendent in the Chicago Public Schools and holds a doctorate from Harvard University.

* Dr. Richard P. Koeppe, past president of the Colorado Association of School Executives, has 22 years experience in superintendency positions including the chief executive roles in both the Denver (CO) and Cherry Creek (CO) Public Schools. He also has served on the board of the Kent-Denver School, a private college preparatory school. He served as Professor in Educational Administration at the University of Colorado at Denver. The past-president of the Denver (CO) Rotary Club holds his Ph.D. in testing and guidance from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

* Ms. Martine L. Stephens, M.A., Editor and Research Associate at SchoolMatch, Instructor in English and the Writing Resource Center at Ohio Wesleyan University and former Instructor in English for the Osaka (Japan) International University for Women/Summer Institute at Ohio Dominican College. The Washington, PA native is completing work on a Ph.D. in English at The Ohio State University.

* Dr. Steven M. Sundre, Executive Vice President of SchoolMatch and former Executive Director of the Accrediting Commission on Education for Health Services Administration, Washington, D.C., Kellogg Fellow and former graduate faculty member, The Ohio State University College of Medicine. He earned his Ph.D. in educational leadership and organizational behavior at The Ohio State University, where he received the Thomas Holy Award in educational research.

* Dr. Sharon Yates, Director of the South Regional (OH) Professional Development Center, which facilitates professional development for 4500 educators in 150 school buildings enrolling over 51,000 students, and professor in education at the Ohio University Southern Campus. She holds a doctorate from West Virginia University in administration and reading education.

This educational effectiveness audit compares the Sarasota County School District to similar student and staff demographics nationwide.

Using a variety of data sources, including SchoolMatch records, data available from the U.S. and Florida departments of education, professional judgment and research techniques (data analysis, interviewing, polling, etc.), our auditors examined a wide range of performance indicators in the Sarasota County School District. These indicators range from test scores to student and staff attendance to public support for the school system (without which no school system can succeed). In each case, the results have been compared against those of the best of similar student and staff demographic populations nationwide.

Next Section: Introduction

Return to Table of Contents