Tag: @VirginiaSchoolBoardsAssociation

Coming Soon: Questions 12-22 (Strategic Voice)

Rick Maloney

(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) Over the course of the next several months, questions 12 thru 22 will explore the board’s responsibility to provide a strategic voice on behalf of the community it serves. That voice is expressed through vision and values that guide the organization as it seeks to assure the community’s desires for student learning. Vision is a component of the board’s responsibility to provide guidance about outcomes desired for students well into an extended future. Questions Read More …

Another look at Questions #7-11 of “49 Questions to Ask Your School Board”

Rick Maloney

Strategic approach as a prerequisite for board readiness To be ready to exercise governance responsibilities on behalf of its community a board must take a strategic approach. Governance readiness depends on more than having the right governance mindset. Not only must a board assure that its thinking is strategic, it must also assure that its acting is strategic – developing routines that set the stage for effective work. To be fully ready the board must have the right governance approach Read More …

Another look at Questions #2-6 of “49 Questions to Ask Your School Board”

Rick Maloney

Governance mindset as a prerequisite for board readiness A governance mindset is one necessary component of board readiness, the other being a governance approach. An effective governance mindset has several features, including two elements that make up a servant-leader mindset, and two elements that make up a growth mindset. Davis and Fullan1 describe a governance mindset as something that enables the individual board members to transcend their boardsmanship role to contribute to the governance role of the whole board: The Read More …

Questions 1-11 of “49 Questions to Ask Your School Board”

Rick Maloney

At this point, having reviewed the first 11 questions (the total number will be 49) and having considered at least a partial answer to each, let’s observe their connections, each with one another, and how they combine to illustrate the broader category of board readiness. Questions 1-11 deal with the board’s need to be ready with a foundation of knowledge, skills, and dispositions that enable it to carry out broad governance functions: One perspective from which to view board readiness Read More …

Seven (Not So) Simple Rules for Board Success – Part II

Rick Maloney
RuleBook

Boards must assign responsibility for doing the work. They must delegate sufficient authority over the work to get the job done. And they must assure accountability for the work.

Seven (Not So) Simple Rules for Board Success – Part I

Rick Maloney
RuleBook

Board success depends on many elements, including the organization’s leadership and culture, the board’s actions, knowledge, and character, and the situation, but the purpose of board leadership can be simply defined as assuring, on behalf of the community, that the organization succeeds. One way to portray leadership is a three-legged stool – each leg must be present for the three to stand together – consisting of responsibility, authority, and accountability. Leaders at every level, including the board in its leadership role, must accept full responsibility for their level in the organization. They must know those whom they serve. They must assign responsibility for doing the work. They must delegate sufficient authority over the work to get the job done. And they must assure accountability for the work. Before all else, they must take responsibility and be accountable for the board’s own performance.

6 Focus Areas for the School Board

Rick Maloney

School boards should review 6 areas to help focus their efforts: the state, the community, the students, the district, the superintendent, and (most important) the board itself.

4 Types of Boards

Rick Maloney

What types of boards are there? And how does board governance compare with teaching as a profession? Understanding the Danielson Framework for Teaching may offer a starting point for answering these questions. Boards might be categorized into one of four different types, the first three of which are readily distinguished by their current levels of performance in the practice of governance. These board types are: 1. Dysfunctional – those that do actual harm to the board and the organization governed Read More …

Gaining New Members? Renew Your Whole Board (Part 3 of 3)

Rick Maloney

The Board Takes Responsibility for Accountability  “Whenever the board gets a new member, a new board is formed.” Part 1 of this post introduced the idea of 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 Read More …

Gaining New Members? Renew Your Whole Board (Part 2 of 3)

Rick Maloney

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 Read More …