Each year, the Juneau School District invites staff members, students, parents and community members to participate in focus groups as a part of an Organizational Assessment that is conducted by an independent third party consultant. The purpose of this assessment is to help improve the way the central functions of the school district support and serve the needs of schools. The 2011-12 school year marked the the third year time that the district has invited this group to Juneau to help offer an objective analysis of our operations. Hundreds of stakeholders - from students and teachers to support staff, administrators and community members - have participated in the process so far.

It is the hope of the district that participants openly share their candid comments with our guests during each visit, with the intention of improving the way the district works. Participation is voluntary and all responses are anonymous. Input provided to the visiting team during the staff interviews and focus group meetings is confidential and will not at any time be shared with any member of the school district in a way that is personally identifiable.

An Organizational Assessment (OA) is a weeklong process of gathering and analyzing information collected from various internal and external stakeholders for the purpose of strengthening the organization and improving service to schools and students.

The purpose of the organizational assessment is to:

• Assess the performance of the Juneau School District from a systems perspective;
• Provide a rigorous, objective, external view of the organization;
• Assess progress toward the seven core components of leadership, strategic planning, curriculum & teaching, stakeholder engagement, stellar people, efficient & effective processes and accountability and provide a diagnosis of areas needing additional attention; and
• Provide the district with feedback highlighting strengths and opportunities for improvement (OFIs).

The following Organizational Assessment Report outlines the general themes that the team heard during its first three visits. Red indicates the first visit during the 2009-10 school year, blue comments are from the second visit during 2010-11 and green comments were added after the February 2012 visit.