What the Auditors Expected to Find in the Plano Independent School District

A school district meeting Curriculum Management Audit Standard 1 is able to demonstrate its control of resources, programs and personnel. Common indicators are:

• a curriculum policy framework that:
  • is centrally defined and adopted by the board of education
  • establishes an operational framework for management that permits accountability
  • reflects state requirements and local program goals
  • reflects the necessity to use achievement data to improve school system operations
  • defines and directs change and innovation within the school system to permit focus on priority goals, objectives and mission
• a functional administrative structure that facilitates the design and delivery of the district's curriculum and achievement goals
• a direct, uninterrupted line of authority from school board/superintendent and other central office officials to principals and classroom teachers
• documentation of school board and central office planning for the attainment of goals, objectives and mission over time
• organizational development efforts which are focused to improve system effectiveness

What the Auditors Found in the Plano Independent School District

The auditors found a system with a relatively new superintendent, and a broad set of activities and initiatives designed to keep the system on track and in focus for the future. The curriculum management audit was invited in to give the system a diagnostic look at its capabilities and needs for improvement. In the area of organizational control, governance, and leadership, the auditors found sound leadership at the top, a feeling of confidence among memebers of the school staff and community, policy inadequacies in scope and quality, planning in very early stages but short on long range focus, and a generally high comfort level and healthy levels of morale.