Batavia city school district
From Months of Work to Under 30 Days
Executive Summary
Christopher Dailey, superintendent of Batavia City School District, needed a more consistent, efficient evaluation process — one that didn’t change year to year, didn’t require months to complete, and gave his board a clearer picture of district leadership.
After discovering SuperEval at a conference and piloting it with his board, Dailey found a process that could be completed in under 30 days, freed up time for students, and transformed evaluation into a genuine dialogue between the superintendent and board.
The Challenge
Dailey was dealing with an evaluation process that was inconsistent by design. The format changed from year to year, which meant there was no shared framework, no institutional continuity, and no way to compare progress over time. Every evaluation cycle started largely from scratch — a new structure, new expectations, and a recurring burden on the superintendent to compile evidence that demonstrated performance across whatever criteria the current year's process required.
The time cost was significant. The process regularly took months from beginning to end — an extended drain on administrative time that competed directly with the actual work of district leadership. Despite that investment, a process that changed annually couldn't build on itself or grow more efficient over time.
There was also a visibility problem. Board members are not present in the district day to day — they experience the superintendent's work primarily through monthly board meetings and whatever is formally presented to them. Without a structured mechanism for sharing the full scope of superintendent work throughout the year, board members had an inherently limited view of district leadership. They were being asked to evaluate performance they could only partially observe.
SuperEval allows board members to see the different aspects of the superintendent's job — developing the whole picture of what's going on, how well the superintendent did that year, and identifying areas that may need improvement.
- Christopher dailey
How SuperEval Changed Things
Dailey came across SuperEval at a conference and brought it to his board for review. After a successful pilot year, the district committed to the platform. SuperEval provided a consistent, structured evaluation framework that didn't reinvent itself every year — the same standards, the same process, and the ability to build on prior cycles rather than starting over.
The rhythm of evidence collection changed entirely. Rather than compiling documentation at year-end, Dailey began setting aside time approximately every three weeks throughout the school year to upload documents, notes, letters, and presentations directly to the platform — attached to the specific evaluation items they supported. By the time the formal evaluation cycle began, the work was already done.
For the board, SuperEval opened a clear and consistent window into the full scope of superintendent leadership. Members could review evidence on their own time, understand the context behind each evaluation item, and generate comprehensive reports at the click of a button — work that had previously required the board president hours to compile manually. The platform's ease of use proved to be a genuine asset: board members who ranged widely in technical comfort level universally found it logical, straightforward, and simple to navigate.
Results and Future Plans
What had previously taken months now completes in under 30 days. The evaluation follows a clear, repeatable structure that both Dailey and his board can rely on year after year — no longer reinventing the process with each new cycle.
The time savings extend beyond the evaluation itself. With evidence collected proactively throughout the year, Dailey no longer faces a year-end scramble. That discipline has changed the rhythm of the process entirely, shifting it from a stressful seasonal event to a manageable, ongoing practice.
Most importantly, the evaluation became a conversation rather than a compliance exercise. The board now has a complete picture of superintendent performance — and the superintendent has a structured platform for demonstrating the full scope of his work. The result is a process that serves both accountability and growth, and that gives back time to be reinvested where it matters most: the students and the district.
SuperEval is a tool that leads to a great dialogue between the school board and superintendent.
- Christopher dailey | superintendent | batavia city school district
