Friday, February 4, 2011

School Board Practices (Part 4 of 17): Shaping Governance for Success

Engage in Best Practices

When school boards successfully engage in strategic planning toward the outcome of increased student achievement, they positively impact the entire system. The school board must make appropriate decisions that benefit all students. There are suggested “best practices” that guide the school board to develop and foster strong governance. A school board should visit successful schools that have programs that are deemed successful. This must result in acts of data-driven decision making and strategic planning toward the goals of increased student achievement. Without engagement in such activities, school board governance would prove to have little impact on the success of the school.

To create a culture of increased student achievement, school boards must engage in training and in-service programs for increased student achievement. Their professional growth must include a comprehensive and deep understanding of their own and each other’s degree of involvement in the governing process. They must educate themselves about issues or about the best practices of teaching and learning. They should be driven by the continuous improvement that comes with the strategic planning and the measurement of results. They must evaluate their own ability at strategic planning, decision making, and time/attention to student achievement while creating a culture of doing the same through the entire system; this evaluation should measure the working relations of the school board and between the school board and superintendent.

Student achievement is evident in schools where successful school board governance is practiced. Found in these districts is a culture that cares about children. School board members in high-achieving districts believe that all students have the capacity to achieve, whereas their counterparts in low-achieving districts tend to accept student limitations as unchangeable. School boards in these districts are knowledgeable about key reform elements and believe they can incorporate success with shared leadership, continuous improvement, staff development, and data-based decision making.

The school board should, through an evaluation process, allow superintendents to do their job by clearly defining their role and the role of the school board; this creates a professional working relationship that is empowering and safe. Plus, the school board will be more focused on the goals and their relationship with the community. Having these principles in place allows a school board to operate professionally without the managerial and micromanagement duties that are often the case.

The challenge for the school board is to spend less time creating unnecessary policy and programs that do not impact student achievement. They must not be engulfed in rules and regulations that are unnecessary for improvement. School boards need to lead by being change agents of a school district; they must participate in practices that encourage all others in the organization to focus on student achievement, and gather the data that supports best practices.

7 SKILLS STUDENTS NEED FOR THEIR FUTURE - TONY WAGNER