For Your Bookshelf …

• Author: John P. Bohley
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/bl.30057
• Published date: 01 September 2016
• Date: 01 September 2016

6 BOARD LEADERSHIP

For Your Bookshelf …

Reviewed by Dr. John P. Bohley

John P. Bohley, LISW-S, DPA, principal consultant for Boards On Course, a Monroe,

Ohio-based board development consulting rm specializing in Policy Governance®,

reviews a guidebook for school boards developed by the National School Boards

Association.

The Key Work of School Boards

Guidebook

by The National School Boards

Association, Alexandria, VA: National

School Boards Association, 2015

The Key Work of School Boards

Guidebook has been developed

by the National School Boards Asso-

ciation to assist school boards in

achieving governance excellence.

This 2015 edition is preceded by

the original version in 2000 and an

update in 2010. The Guidebook pro-

vides helpful insights and practical

suggestions and recommendations

in five key governance areas: Vision,

Accountability, Policy, Community

Leadership, and Board/Superinten-

dent Relationships.

Vision. Each school board is

encouraged to develop a vision

grounded in its key values, with its

top priority being student achieve-

ment and a mission statement that

includes a focus on desired results for

students. Student education should

meet the future needs of students

and not be trapped by educational

concepts of the past. This section of

the Guidebook includes sample vision

and mission statements, a board self-

assessment tool, sample goals and

strategies, and a summary of the roles

and responsibilities of the school

board and the superintendent related

to the vision and strategic planning

process.

Accountability. School boards

are seen as accountable for student

achievement, which is to be measured

in relation to established performance

standards. Such standards include

those mandated by the state as well

as district-level standards adopted by

each school board. Such local stan-

dards need to continually change with

our evolving world. Student perfor-

mance data should be used to guide

continuous performance improvement

of the student body as a whole as well

as identified student demographic

subgroups. Though not much atten-

tion in the Guidebook is given to the

accountability relationship between

school board and community, the

Guidebook recognizes that ultimately

the school board is accountable to

the “vote of the community.” This

section of the Guidebook ends with

a board self-assessment tool related

to accountability and a summary of

related school board and superinten-

dent roles and responsibilities.

Policy. School boards are to

develop policies that enable them

to focus on the bigger issues while

refraining from micromanaging. Such

policies are to be differentiated from

the “administrative procedures”

developed by the superintendent.

Compliance with policies can be moni-

tored by “internal reports” from the

superintendent, “external review” by

unbiased third parties, or by “board

inspection.” (Persons familiar with

Policy Governance will recognize

these three types of monitoring.) This

section of the Guidebook concludes

with questions to guide policy devel-

opment, a listing of core policies, and

a board self-assessment tool related

to policy development.

Community Leadership. The focus

of community leadership is advocacy

with legislators and building com-

munity support through engagement

of the general public, parents, and

community leaders. Excellent school

boards are seen as being proactive

in developing public opinion rather

than just responding to it. I would

add that, consistent with the Policy

Governance model, community rela-

tions are not just about garnering

public support, but also fundamen-

tally about genuinely listening to and

learning from the people the school

board represents and on whose

behalf it governs. The Guidebook

states that school boards should

have a policy about the participation

of the public at school board meet-

ings and recognize that how well its

school board meetings are conducted

is a reflection on the competency

Student education

should meet the future

needs of students and

not be trapped by

educational concepts of

the past.

WRITING FOR

BOARD LEADERSHIP

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