Advancement · School Operations

What we decided,
why, and when we look again.

Leadership teams remake the same decisions because nobody wrote down the reason, or forget to check whether a decision worked. Log each decision in a sentence with its reason, owner, measure and review date. The log flags reviews coming due, families nobody told and decisions with no way to tell whether they worked.

Log a decisionWhat you get
$19one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $19

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the School operations toolkit, $49 for 52 items.

Decisions

The worked example is made up: a lunch schedule change families have not heard about, a phone-free pilot whose review date has passed and a new reading position decided by vote. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

Advancement · School Operations$19 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A record per decision: date, the decision in a sentence, area, how it was made, owner, who was consulted, reason, measure of success, review date, status and five follow-through checks. Works out days to review; counts decisions, overdue reviews, reviews due within 30 days and decisions by area; flags overdue and upcoming reviews, families not told, no measure of success and one-person decisions with nobody consulted.
Who it is for
Principals, heads of school and school leadership teams.
Format
Browser log with a saved record per decision. Prints one decision, the log in a table or a blank decision record; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$19 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the School operations toolkit ($49) and the Advancement Suite pass ($99), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The School Operations space in Caveat Advancement.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Log the decision before the meeting ends.
  2. Write the measure while everyone still agrees on it.
  3. Set a review date four to twelve weeks out.
  4. Tell the people most affected first.
  5. Open the log at the start of each meeting.

Log a decision

Ways a team decides

Who decides, and what to sayHow it was madeFitsAnnounceLeader decidedUrgent or confidential callsWho decided; why it was urgentTeam consensusChanges everyone must carry outWhat the team weighedTeam voteReal disagreement, a deadlineThat it was a vote, and the reasonDelegatedWork one person knows bestWho owns it and the limits givenWho decides, and what to sayLeader decidedFits: Urgent or confidential callsAnnounce: Who decided; why it was urgentTeam consensusFits: Changes everyone must carry outAnnounce: What the team weighedTeam voteFits: Real disagreement, a deadlineAnnounce: That it was a vote, and the reasonDelegatedFits: Work one person knows bestAnnounce: Who owns it and the limits given
Recording how a decision was made is as useful later as recording what was decided.

A sentence and a measure

If the decision cannot be said in one sentence, it is not finished. If nobody can say what would show it worked, the review will be an argument. The two fields cost a minute in the meeting and save one later.

Reversing is allowed

Mark a decision reversed when the review shows it did not work, and keep the record. Next year’s team will want to know it was tried and why it stopped.

Sources

  1. Vroom, V. H. and Yetton, P. W. (1973). Leadership and Decision-Making. University of Pittsburgh Press.
  2. Wallace Foundation (2013). The School Principal as Leader: Guiding Schools to Better Teaching and Learning.
  3. Bryk, A. S. and others (2015). Learning to Improve, measures for improvement. Harvard Education Press.
  4. National Association of Elementary School Principals. Shared leadership and decision making (naesp.org).

The worked example is made up. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.