The Board Takes Responsibility for Strategic Voice and Operational Guidance
“Whenever the board gets a new member, a new board is formed.”
Part 1 of this post introduced the above (a traditional saying about boards) as rationale for making the new members’ first day on the job one of intentional induction, not only for the new member but for the “new board” that is being formed.
What if the board, seriously accepting responsibility for its own performance, took the opportunity to induct its newest members, while at the same time guiding its own development by reviewing as a team its collective board responsibilities and renewing its determination to meet those responsibilities? The swearing-in ceremony is an ideal time for all board members to reflect on and renew their commitment to their boardsmanship responsibilities, while the board as a whole reflects on and renews its collective commitment to the responsibilities of governance. The following promises are offered as a comprehensive oath of governance for the board to reaffirm whenever its newest members take their individual oath of office.
Part 1
Three promises were offered for assuring Board Readiness. This post continues the renewal theme with five promises relating to the board’s responsibilities of Strategic Voice and Operational Guidance.
Strategic Voice – To be the voice of community values about education on a strategic level, we solemnly swear (or affirm):
- To frequently connect (and reconnect) with our community in order to listen and learn the values it will use to carry out the district’s business.
- Why? Since the board is not an independent actor, it has a duty to represent constituents and to reflect the community’s values in its work.
- Board members with personal or factional agendas often have a disproportionate influence on board work. It would be helpful for the board to review its views on responsibility, first considering the community it is “responsible to…” and then thinking about the organization it is “responsible for…”.) Another problem that should be considered is the graduate loss of a connection between board members and their constituents, one that is only strengthened during the election season if there is a contested election.
- In support of the board’s collective commitment, each member individually promises to maintain a connection with the community, to learn from and be guided by community values;
- To set and maintain an unwavering vision for the community’s desired outcomes for student learning.
- Why? Adopting and adhering to a long-term vision, such as “broad, 5-year goals” as recommended by Marzano and Waters in their extensive review of research into district leadership effectiveness (District Leadership That Works, 2009) leads to higher student achievement. In effect, district leadership (including board leadership) matters when it sets and maintains a steadfast vision.
- Goals that depend on the superintendent – many of whom, especially in large urban districts, come and go after just a few years, represents a faulty view of the long-term leadership role. The superintendent’s tenure as leader is limited, while the board remains as the permanent member of the board-superintendent team. Without a collective commitment, individual board member agendas can dominate or distract board work. Again, individual members come and go, but the board is permanent. Marzano and Waters (2009) found that individual board members sometimes work “in opposition to [district success] when their interests and expectations distract attention from board-adopted achievement and instructional goals.” Other undesirable consequences include disunity of vision; scattered efforts throughout the district; changing goals as new initiatives come and go; or board “annual goals” that waver back and forth from year to year. Such “goals” tend to become operational and trivial in nature rather than unifying and long-lasting.
- In support of the board’s collective commitment, each member individually promises to remain faithful to and repeatedly refer to long-range goals when making decisions, rather than to short-term goals that are more appropriately the province of the superintendent and staff.
Operational Guidance – To maintain a supportive structure for ongoing operations, we solemnly swear (or affirm):
- To define the individual board member’s role, and maintain a culture that promotes and supports excellence in boardsmanship responsibilities.
- Why? Leaders set the example. If their efforts are to be taken seriously, boards must demonstrate self-discipline through their willingness to set standards for their individual members, and their firmness in expressing those expectations. Advice contained in NSBA’s Becoming a Better Board Member (Becoming a Better Board Member, 1982) and further explained in state school board association documents, illustrates the boardsmanship responsibilities of individual board members.
- Indiscipline, including confused understanding of roles at the top, including each individual board member, tends to filter downwards. At its worst this tendency illustrates the saying that a snake [and an organization] “rots from the head,”
- In support of the board’s collective commitment, each member individually promises to respect and support the boardsmanship role of fellow board members;
- To define the board’s collective role, and promote excellence in collective board behavior, or governance responsibilities;
- Why? The leader (in this case the board) must set an example of self-discipline, not only for the superintendent and staff, but also for its members’ individual behavior. Collective leadership tasks such as setting the vision, communicating principled guidance through policy, and ensuring accountability are weakened when the top authority fails to exercise self-discipline. Guidance on governance responsibilities is amply provided in NSBA’s Key Work of School Boards (Key Work of School Boards, 2000.).
- Without such role clarity, the board sets conditions that facilitate and even encourage indiscipline of individual board members and all others in the district.
- In support of the board’s collective commitment, each member individually promises to respect and support the board’s governance role, including the responsibilities and authority of the board chair;
- To define the superintendent’s role, assign full responsibility and delegate sufficient authority to get the job done, and provide policy that guides and promotes excellence in management responsibilities while empowering and supporting superintendent decision-making within parameters contained in such guidance
- Why? Because we are responsible for district success, and we cannot do it alone, we must hire, assign responsibility, delegate authority, and see to it that the conditions are ideal for success.
- Without such role clarity, over-control by the board (micromanagement) limits the capability and undermines the authority of leaders at a lower level. Under-control (abdication) can lead to exactly the same result – a failed district.
- In support of the board’s collective commitment, each member individually promises to respect and support the management role, responsibility, and authority of the superintendent, and avoid whenever possible giving “guidance” to the staff except through policy that guides the superintendent.
References
The
above promises are derived from:
Maloney, R. (2017) A
Framework for School Governance, governance101.com.
Other references cited above are listed in sequence:
- Marzano, R., and Waters, J.T. (2009). District Leadership That Works: Striking the Right Balance. Bloomington, IN: Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning.
- National School Board Association (2006). Becoming a Better Board Member: A Guide to Effective School Service, Alexandria, VA: National School Boards Association.
- Gemberling, K., Smith, C., and Villani, J. (2009). The Key Work of School Boards, Alexandria, VA: National School Boards Association.