Research on School Board Goverance
Recent research on school board governance has demonstrated that school boards in districts with higher student achievement are significantly different in knowledge, beliefs, and actions from the boards in lower achieving districts. Current research projects are looking at the key behaviors that are correlated with higher student achievement as well as the implications for board development programs.
Additional Resources
Eight Characteristics of Effective School Boards
Recent research shows that school boards do make a difference in student achievement in their districts. What makes an effective school board – one that positively impacts student achievement? The research makes it clear: boards in high-achieving districts exhibit habits and characteristics that are markedly different from boards in low-achieving districts. So what do these boards do? Read about the eight characteristics of effective school boards.
Seeing the Light
Hilary Lamonte and Mary Delagardelle describe research on school board effectiveness from the Iowa School Boards Foundation's Lighthouse Project in this August 2009 article from the American School Board Journal.
The Role of School Boards in Improving Student Achievement
This policy brief from the Washington State School Directors' Association presents guiding priniciples on the role of school boards in increasing student achievement in their schools.
The Keys to Board Excellence
This research column, written by Dr. Susan Black for the February 2008 issue of American School Board Journal, discusses important practices for effective school boards who want to improve student achievement in their districts.
The Future of School Board Governance: Relevancy and Revelation
Edited by Thomas L. Alsbury, this book presents papers delivered at a recent invitational symposium on school board governance research. The book is organized into seven major themes that take the reader through the history of past theory and research that informs present-day and future studies, and reviews the changing roles of school board members and the related change in school board-superintendent relationships.