Educational policy leaders, philanthropic leaders, business leaders, and more often suggest that school boards can't make a difference regarding student outcomes. Increasingly, however, the academic and professional literature disagrees with this notion. There are behaviors that school boards engage in that can create the conditions for improvements in student outcomes. Of course, the behaviors suggested only work if school boards implement them with fidelity, so many boards will need support and coaching. But my experience suggests that most boards are willing to change if they see an opportunity to improve student outcomes. Here's a sampling of the growing evidence base:
- Roles
and Responsibilities of Local School Board Members in Relation to Student
Achievement, Mary
Delagardelle (2006): https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2504&context=rtd
- The
Impact of School Board Governance on Academic Achievement in Diverse
States, Michael
Ford (2013): http://dc.uwm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1334&context=etd
- The
Relationship Between School Board Governance Behaviors and Student
Achievement, Ivan
J. Lorentzen (2013): http://scholarworks.umt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2406&context=etd
- The
Governance Factor: A Predictive Study of School Board Influence on Student
Achievement in Texas Public Schools, Marc Puig (2014): http://umhblibrary.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16668coll9/id/1197
- School
Board Governance and Student Achievement: School Board Members'
Perceptions of Their Behaviors and Beliefs, Bobbie Plough (2014): https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1028871.pdf
- School
Board Governance: The Times They are A-Changin', Paul Johnson (2011): https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1555458911413887
- Factors
That Influence School Board Actions to Support Student Achievement: A
Multi-Case Study of High-Achieving Rural School Districts, Colleen Timm (2012): https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED549096
- School
Boards and Student Achievement: The Relationship between Previously
Identified School Board Characteristics and Improved Student Learning, Jonathon Holmen (2016): https://digitalcommons.spu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?&article=1013&context=soe_etd
- Pennsylvania
Public School Board Effectiveness: Does It Influence Student Performance?, Aiko Maurer: https://knowledge.library.iup.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2365&context=etd
- School
District Leadership That Works,
J. Timothy Waters & Robert Marzano (2006): https://www.mcrel.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/McREL-research-paper_-Sept2006_District-Leadership-That-Works-Effect-of-Superintendent-Leadership-on-Student-Achievement-.pdf
- Exploring
the Association between Board and Organizational Performance in Nonprofit
Organizations,
William Brown (2005): https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/nml.71
- Eight
Characteristics of Effective School Boards, National School Board Association
(2011): http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/Main-Menu/Public-education/Eight-characteristics-of-effective-school-boards
- The
Lighthouse Inquiry: School Board/Superintendent Team Behaviors in School
Districts with Extreme Differences in Student Achievement, Iowa Association of School Boards
(2000): https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234770383_The_Lighthouse_Inquiry_School_BoardSuperintendent_Team_Behaviors_in_School_Districts_with_Extreme_Differences_in_Student_Achievement
- The
Role of School Boards in Improving Student Achievement, Washington State School
Directors' Association: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED521566.pdf
- The
School Board Role in Creating the Conditions for Student Achievement, California School Boards
Association: https://www.csba.org/GovernanceAndPolicyResources/~/media/CSBA/Files/GovernanceResources/Reports/201705BoardResearchReport.ashx
- Policy Governance Consistency Framework, International Policy Governance Association: https://www.policygovernanceassociation.org/assets/documents/principles-and-model-consistency-framework-2014.pdf
- Does School Board Leadership Matter?, Arnold F. Shober & Michael T. Hartney: https://edex.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/publication/pdfs/Does-School-Board-Leadership-Matter-FINAL.pdf
- Student Outcomes Focused Governance, CGCS & AJ Crabill: http://tinyurl.com/SOFGmanual