Tag: @WYSchoolBoards; #boardgovernance

Question #32 – Does Your Board Give the Superintendent Management Guidance?

Rick Maloney

(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) …when district leaders are carrying out their leadership responsibilities effectively, student achievement across the district is positively affected. – Tim Waters and Robert Marzano1 In a landmark study of district leadership, Marzano and Waters reported a significant relationship between student achievement and certain district leadership factors, such as the goal-setting for achievement and instruction, the length of superintendent tenure, and delegation of authority in a manner that they call defined autonomy. Their lessons for Read More …

Question #31 – Does Your Board Facilitate Governance?

Rick Maloney

(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) “Where previously such admonition from the chair had to come from that person’s own belly of conscience, this policy gives them fodder for the canon of board leadership, to call to task any trustee who has trodden from the path of policy proviso and gotten off into areas which the board has agreed are off limits.” ― Gene Royer1 The above is a description of board policy that grants authority to the board chair Read More …

Question #30 – Does Your Board Set Expectations for Governance?

Rick Maloney

(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) The board is responsible for its own performance and commits itself to continuous improvement. The board will assure that its members are provided with training and professional support necessary to govern effectively. As a means to assure continuous improvement, the board regularly and systematically will monitor all policies in this section and will assess the quality of each meeting by debriefing the meeting following its conclusion. ― San Diego SD1 The above policy is Read More …

Question #29 – Does Your Board Define its Own Role?

Rick Maloney

(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) The Board’s job is to represent, lead and serve the community and to govern the district by establishing expectations for district results, expectations for quality operational performance, and monitoring actual performance against those expectations. – Lake Washington School District1 In the brief statement above, the board succinctly defines its own role. Role clarity is one of two key conditions (the other being goal clarity) organizational consultants often assess to assure that “roles and goals” Read More …

Question #28 – Does Your Board Give Itself Governance Guidance?

Rick Maloney

(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) Historically, studies of school boards have tended to examine the behavior of members as individuals but not the behavior of the school board as a collective. ― Peter Cistone1 Boards don’t often think of whole board performance. Focusing on individual board members’ boardsmanship behavior, whether in designing training or in developing policy, is certainly necessary but it is not sufficient. The board must also remain aware of its governance performance, defining its expectations of Read More …

Question #27 – Does Your Board Facilitate Boardsmanship?

Rick Maloney

(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) If, as is usual, there are several trustees, their chairman has a special obligation to see that the trustees as a group sustain a common purpose and are influential in helping the institution maintain consistent high-level performance toward its goals. The chairman is not simply the presider over meetings, but also must serve and lead the trustees as a group and act as their major contact with the active inside leadership. ― Robert Greenleaf1 Read More …

Question #26 – Does Your Board Set Expectations for Boardsmanship?

Rick Maloney

(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) When asked, “How can a new school board member get off on the wrong foot with colleagues?” experienced board members replied: – Be belligerent– Talk too much or too loudly– Have all the solutions for all the problems of the district– Fail to be a good listener– Neglect to read your board policy manual– Show apathy– Discuss with press and constituents board matters discussed in executive session– Backstab another board member – Monopolize the Read More …

Question #25 – Does Your Board Define the Board Member Role?

Rick Maloney

(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) To be brutally honest, many board members simply do not know what their jobs are. They busy themselves doing things, many times the wrong things, which results in frustration shared by everyone associated with the organization. – Randy Quinn and Linda Dawson1 The above assessment was offered by Aspen Group, International based on many years of experience consulting with school boards. Perhaps as a first step toward defining what the board member role should Read More …

Question #24 – Does Your Board Give Its Members Boardsmanship Guidance?

Rick Maloney

(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) [Board meetings]…were less orderly; had less time spent on student achievement; lacked respectful and attentive engagement across speakers; had board members who seemed to advance their own agenda; had less effective working relationships among the governance team; had fewer board members who relied on the superintendent for advice and input; had one member, other than the board president, stand out for taking excessive time during meetings; and did not focus on policy items. – Read More …

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 …