School Board Roles, Responsibilities, Work and Tools: A Candidates Primer - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

1 / 41
About This Presentation
Title:

School Board Roles, Responsibilities, Work and Tools: A Candidates Primer

Description:

School Boards succeed when they govern districts in which every student is ... sixteen clock hours -within one year of election or appointment ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

Number of Views:452
Avg rating:3.0/5.0
Slides: 42
Provided by: lineb3
Category:

less

Transcript and Presenter's Notes

Title: School Board Roles, Responsibilities, Work and Tools: A Candidates Primer


1
School Board Roles, Responsibilities, Work and
Tools A Candidates Primer
  • Missouri School Boards Association
  • 2009

2
  • Section 1 Roles Responsibilities

3
Single, Unified Purpose
  • Student Achievement is the central function of
    public schools.

4
Single, Unified Purpose
  • School Boards succeed when they govern districts
    in which every student is learning, in every
    subject, every year, no matter what.

5
Board Work The Big Picture
  • Boards Govern
  • The Boards main tools are its Governing
    Documents
  • The Superintendent works for the Board
  • Administrations Manage
  • The Administrators main tool is Procedure
  • District Staff work for the Superintendent

6
Board Work The Big Picture
  • On a seven-member board, no matter how good the
    idea is, if it doesnt have three more friends on
    the board,
  • it dies.
  • Board governance is group work

7
Board Work Whats Our Role?
  • School Boards
  • Clarify district purpose
  • Connect with the community
  • Employ a superintendent
  • Delegate authority
  • Monitor district performance
  • Take responsibility for themselves

8
Board Work The Big Picture
  • How does the Board fulfill these roles?
  • Through its Governing Documents.

9
Board Work The Big Picture
10
Board Tools Governing Documents
  • Governing Documents Direct or Control
  • Legal compliance/liability risk
  • Long-term district goals
  • Expenditure of public funds
  • Employment/evaluation standards
  • Staff training/improvement standards
  • Open meeting focus and work

11
Board Work Specific Tools
  • Governing Documents include
  • School Board Policy
  • The Districts Comprehensive School Improvement
    Plan (CSIP)
  • The Budget
  • The Superintendent Evaluation
  • The District Professional Development Plan
  • The Open-meeting Agenda

12
Why are these Governing Documents?
  • Each specifically identified in law as board
    responsibility
  • Each requires board approval
  • Each results in procedure or action
  • All district work directly or indirectly linked
    to one or more Governing Document

13
Governing Documents Impact
14
Administrative Operations Channels
15
Board Work The Big Picture
  • So the governance challenge, for any issue, is in
    learning to
  • dial back

16
Board Work The Big Picture
  • to the right Governing Document
  • Policy Superintendent Evaluation
  • Budget Strategic Plan CSIP
  • Agendas District Prof Development Plan

17
Board Work The Big Picture
  • Which of the governing documents is the best
    tool for the board to use in addressing the
    current issue/idea/challenge?

18
  • Section II
  • Channels of Authority

19
Board Work Channels
  • Issues become the Boards when appropriate
    administrative channels have been exhausted
    without resolution
  • The Board responds according to the guidance of
    its own governing documents

20
Board Work Channels
  • Board member(s) who act on issues before
    administrative channels are engaged and
    exhausted, or in violation of their own governing
    documents increase liability, violating their
    responsibility and threatening district stability
    and solvency.

21
Maintaining Roles/Responsibilities
  • Confusion between governance and management and
    the failure of boards and superintendents to
    observe their appropriate roles are primary
    causes of school district inefficiency and
    failure.

22
  • Section III Effective Practices

23
Board Work The Research
  • Boards do make a difference in Student
    Achievement
  • Effective and ineffective Boards share some
    characteristics
  • Effective and ineffective Boards differ regarding
    basic approach
  • Research identifies seven principles for
    effective board governance

24
Board Work the Research
  • Effective boards almost always say
  • Its about the kids
  • At the end of the day, we all get along

25
Board Work The Research
  • But ineffective boards say the same things!
  • (There must be something more!)

26
Board Operations The Research
  • Effective and ineffective Boards differ with
    regard to basic attitude/belief
  • Elevating
  • Accepting

27
Board Work The Research
  • Effective Boards adopt elevating attitudes
    toward each of the following 7 principles
  • Focus on building/maintaining a system based on
    clearly defined responsibilities, the measurement
    of performance, and decisions informed by those
    measurements.
  • Ability to create and sustain initiatives
  • Supportive workplace for all employees
  • Targeted, regular Professional Development

28
Board Work The Research
  • Effective Board members adopt elevating
    attitudes toward the following principles
  • Site-specific decision making informed by data
  • Community Engagement
  • Shared Leadership

29
Board Work Tough Questions
  • For the individual member
  • Am I elevating, or am I accepting?
  • For the board as a whole
  • Is my board elevating, or accepting?

30
Board Work Getting the Job Done
  • Effective Boards work
  • As a collaborative group (consensus)
  • With an elevating attitude
  • In response to data
  • Mindful of research-based principles of
    effectiveness
  • Within appropriate channels
  • Through their governing documents
  • With a long-term strategic vision

31
Board Work Doing the Job Right
  • Ineffective Boards work
  • From an individual perspective
  • With a accepting attitude
  • On the basis of personal agenda or opinion
  • For the moment
  • Without attention to role and responsibility
  • Using the path or tool that is most obvious to
    them

32
Board Work Adding it Up
  • One single, unified purpose
  • Six fundamental responsibilities
  • Six governing documents
  • Seven Board members
  • Three year term

33
Effective Governance
  • Remember Jim Collins (Good to Great)
  • What we plan is important, but
  • What we do is more important, and
  • What we stop doing may be most important

34
Candidates should know
  • Every five years, DESE (Missouris regulatory
    agency for k-12 education) determines District
    accreditation

35
Candidates should know
  • Accreditation depends on fifteen factors
  • Standardized test scores (seven standards)
  • Mathematics at Elementary, Middle, and High
    Schools
  • Communication Arts at Elementary, Middle, and
    High Schools
  • Sub-group achievement
  • Attendance Rates
  • Graduation Rates
  • Availability of Advanced Courses (H.S.)
  • Availability of Career Education Courses (H.S.)
  • ACT test results (H.S.)
  • Post-graduation placement in College
  • Post-graduation placement in job market
  • Fiscal solvency

36
  • Section V Broader Conclusions/
  • Next Steps

37
Questions to Remember
  • Which governing document applies?
  • Upon what data/information can this idea find
    three friends?
  • Are we operating efficiently (through channels)?
  • Are we following our own rules/documents?
  • How can this change be made lasting?
  • Is our Board work successful?
  • How do we know?

38
Further Opportunities
  • Additional district-based trainings
  • MSBA Board Candidate Workshop
  • State-required Certification training
  • -sixteen clock hours
  • -within one year of election or
    appointment
  • -criminal/accreditation penalties
  • -currently grant-funded (FY 2010)

39
For more information, explore
  • DESEs website www.dese.mo.gov
  • On main menu, go to School Data and Statistics
  • Select your district
  • Review your districts Annual Performance Report
  • Review your districts District Level
    Accountability Report
  • The Missouri School Boards Association website
    www.msbanet.org
  • The National School Boards Association website,
    especially their Key Work of School Boards,
    www.nsba.org
  • The Iowa Association of School Boards website,
    Iowa Lighthouse Inquiry, www.ia-sb.org

40
For still further information, contact
  • Academy of Public School Governance
  • Missouri School Boards Association
  • (800) 221-6722, ext. 304
  • (573) 445-9920, ext. 304

41
Board Work Exercise
  • Dialing it Back to the governing documents
  • Policy
  • Superintendent Evaluation
  • Agendas
  • Budget
  • Comprehensive School Improvement Plan
  • District Professional Development Plan
Write a Comment
User Comments (0)
About PowerShow.com