League of Women Voters of California
Santa Clara County, CA November 7, 2000 Election
	Carol L. Fisher Answers Questions Candidate for Governing Board Member; Mountain View School District

The questions were prepared by the Los Altos - Mountain View League of Women Voters and asked of all candidates for this office.

Read the answers from all candidates.

Questions & Answers

1. How would you implement your top 3 priorities for the District? Please include specifics and how you plan to involve the school community.

My first priority - to have all MVSD students read, write and use math at or above their grade level - is actually supported by the implementation of my second and third priorities.

I believe that clearly defined processes and relevant data are the foundation for systematic improvement in any organization. A well defined process can be readily repeated. If it needs improvement, the steps needing work can be identified and changed. A process also defines the roles and responsibilities of the different people or groups participating in its implementation and can continue even when there are staffing changes. A well defined and documented process is also a powerful communication tool that allows the community to easily understand the steps taken and the players involved.

For example, at a MVSD community input meeting in August, a process for content standards development and review was presented for the first time. The process shows the steps taken by different groups to arrive at the content standards that are presented to the school board for adoption. At the end of the meeting, participants were asked to give feedback. Their feedback will be used to adjust the process so that it is even more effective the next time it is used.

Meaningful data gives us information we need to make informed decisions. Data also tells us how we are progressing toward our goals. Teachers in our district routinely use information on their students' performance to make adjustments in the classroom that will increase student learning. While we receive the results of student assessments, the school board has not yet taken the step to systematically use that data to assess the efficacy of district programs and direct changes as needed. With my involvement we will take this step.

While MVSD does communicate and work with the community, there is more we can do in this area. In the community input meeting on math content standards held in August, we received a tremendous amount of feedback from the participants. We look forward to future meetings with the community on specific topics. Another idea is for MVSD to hold neighborhood meetings like the City of Mountain View does. These would be open meetings where people can raise concerns, send praise, ask questions, and share what is on their minds. By defining processes, as I discussed earlier, we can identify ways to capture the community's voice in importance district decisions.