Locally elected school boards govern public schools. By constitutional authority and state statute, boards are to ensure students achieve in these four broad educational categories:
Academic skills and knowledge
Vocational skills
Citizenship
Personal development
Governing for Student Success
Elected to represent the community's values, board members come together as a body to provide leadership for student success.In high achieving districts boards operate from a belief that all kids can learn.Based on the latest research on effective school leadership board/superintendent teams implement the following best practices:
Engage the parents and the community in educating its children
Set school improvement goals
Create a shared sense of responsibility and accountability across the school system
Promote a culture of continuous improvement
Commit to a supportive workplace and staff development aligned with improvement goals
There are basic strategies that boards use to complete their work.An effective school board:
Defines and adopts in policy, a governance philosophy
Provides oversight through district monitoring and goal setting
Conducts superintendent evaluations aligned with district goals and a set of leadership criteria that reflect the board's values
Improves board governance through self-evaluation
Creates and maintains up-to-date policies to provide clear direction to the superintendent
Conducts effective and efficient board meetings
Provides fiscally responsible budgeting and facility management
Each spring after new board members are elected, implements a process for new board member orientation
Improving Board Performance
WASB provides Consulting services for boards who want to improve governance. Many programs and services based on the latest research in school board leadership are available to meet our member's needs.For more information see Board Governance Services or contact:
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Multi-State Lighthouse Research Project
WASB is participating in a Multi-State Lighthouse Research project to help Wisconsin's school boards develop leadership for improving student learning.
For more information about the Multi-State Project contact call 608.257.2622
