Read about the Elk Mound School District’s efforts to identify and develop best practices for board governance and the success of the district’s focus on student achievement.
About Governance 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: 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 contact: dgurke@wasb.org.
Follow Deb Gurke and Paul Hardt on their blogs where they provide information to support school board members' capacity to lead their districts’ efforts to implement change that will lead to improved student achievement. 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
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