The School Board Member's Guidebook
The School Board Member's Guidebook

Author: Todd Whitaker

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-07-11

Total Pages: 130

ISBN-13: 1351689231

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Every student deserves a high-impact, well-qualified, and governance-driven school board. In this helpful book, best-selling authors Ryan Donlan and Todd Whitaker show you as a school board member how to make smart, worthwhile decisions that will lead to positive change in your district. The School Board Member’s Guidebook addresses the challenges of making realistic choices that will truly benefit the school and have a lasting impact. Topics include: How to work and communicate effectively with the superintendent during the year; How to find common ground with colleagues; How to represent the interests and needs of the community at large; How to keep your constituencies focused and informed through strategic planning and structured committee participation; How to host constructive and cordial school board meetings; How to capitalize on individual talents and strengths; And more! Each chapter offers strategies, tips, and sample scenarios. With these resources and the practical advice throughout the book, you’ll be able to make a lasting difference in the lives of every student in your district. You’ll be a Difference Maker.

School Boards
School Boards

Author: Institute for Educational Leadership (Washington, D.C.)

Publisher:

Published: 1986

Total Pages: 108

ISBN-13:

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This report presents findings of a 1985 national study of the local school board. Information was gathered from case studies in nine major metropolitan areas, questionnaires administered to over 200 school board chairpersons, and literature on board governance. Chapter 1 offers an overview and questionnaire results. Chapter 2 summarizes major findings. The historical role of school boards is discussed in chapter 3. Chapter 4, on the working board, interprets challenges faced in developing operating structures. The board-superintendent relationship is explored in chapter 5. The report probes, in chapter 6, issues confronting boards. Board members' and citizens' satisfactions and dissatisfactions with board service and practices are analyzed in chapter 7. The need for increased attention to board development for individuals and for boards is stressed in chapter 8, along with recommendations. The final chapter presentes 15 indicators of an effective board. Major findings are that citizens support the ideal of local governance of education through school boards, but not necessarily the board of their own community. Despite this approval, the public knows little about boards' functioning. States' increased visibility in education creates further confusion about responsibilities. Difficulties are forecast as student populations diversify and management becomes more complex. Local governance needs informed support from communities. Thirty-nine references are included. (CJH)

The Hero Maker
The Hero Maker

Author: Ryan Donlan

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-02-03

Total Pages: 146

ISBN-13: 1317335562

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Learn how to turn your school board members into heroes by helping them make smart, worthwhile decisions that they will deserve to brag about. In this much-needed book, Ryan Donlan and Todd Whitaker offer practical strategies to help superintendents develop better working relationships with their boards. You’ll discover how to: reconnect board members to the real purpose of education, despite their agendas work with your board more effectively during meetings and at times in between guide board members into more productive roles when they overreach beyond policymaking connect and communicate with board members regardless of personality encourage board members to play to their strengths start each school year undefeated and know when it is time to move on. Each chapter contains hero-making tips to help you get started. The book also includes a special feature on board personalities and the Process Communication Model® (PCM), a method that will make it easier to avoid miscommunication with board members. With this practical book, you'll be able to overcome the challenges of the superintendent–board relationship so that your board can make better decisions for those who matter most—the students.

Working Toward Success
Working Toward Success

Author: Amy E. Van Deuren

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2016-02-10

Total Pages: 159

ISBN-13: 1475815549

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The importance of positive board/superintendent relationships cannot be understated. The need to balance competing political pressures to create the best possible learning opportunities for students is ever present. Most importantly, board/superintendent relationships should be cultivated with openness and transparency among each other and the public. This book is a resource for both board members and superintendents, and explores issues related to the board/superintendent relationship and superintendent hiring practices. The book includes contributions from experienced and new superintendents and board members on a wide range of topics that boards and superintendents must navigate together successfully in order to move districts in a positive direction for students, staff, parents, and communities. This book is unique in that the intended audience is both boards and superintendents. It is not a resource wherein “experts” tell board members how they should conduct board business, nor a resource that informs superintendents how to “manage” school boards. Instead, the book promotes and encourages a productive working relationship and partnership that moves school districts forward in a positive manner.

Improving School Board Effectiveness
Improving School Board Effectiveness

Author: Thomas L. Alsbury

Publisher: Harvard Education Press

Published: 2017-11-14

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 1612508782

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Improving School Board Effectiveness offers a clarifying and essential look at the evolving role of school boards and how they contribute to efforts to improve student learning. It examines how board members can establish effective district priorities, and it explores those board policies and actions that result in shared, districtwide commitments to heightened student achievement. This book arises out of a critical need for a better understanding of school boards and the development of helpful tools and guidelines for school board members. At its heart is the notion of Balanced Governance, a principle that most generally “balances the authority of a superintendent to lead a school district with the necessary oversight of a locally engaged and knowledgeable board.” Improving School Board Effectiveness is a helpful and practical book that will prove indispensable for school board members, school and district administrators, and everyone with a stake in school improvement and reform.