Views about corporal punishment in schools are changing. Some seek a return to accountability, authority, and increased order in schools, while others seek to make schools a sanctuary from social violence, especially violence against children. Local school boards often are criticized as being too lenient or too severe, and more state legislatures…

Financial partnerships are developing between local communities and schools based on the desire to improve public education by raising private sector funds to offset shrinking tax dollars. Those who develop education foundations for a school system must know the basics: defining the school system's role, determining what the fund can and cannot…

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a serious health problem in the United States and in the world. To date, there is no vaccine to protect people from HIV infection, nor is there a cure for those who are infected and are facing the consequences of this life-threatening disease. But infection with HIV can be prevented if people know and avoid…

To determine what lies ahead for a school system and to be ready for it, school board members need to plan, this paper maintains. The author makes suggestions for several components of planning, including goal setting and developing priorities for facility use, staffing, programs, and services. The importance of the school district budget and…

To help school boards respond to increasing concerns over citizenship education, the authors discuss the factors behind the current interest in citizenship education, different approaches to and programs for citizenship education, and steps toward mounting a citizenship education program. Among the factors identified as causing concern with…

The five sections in this loose-leaf binder are intended to provide Wisconsin school board members with information necessary for decision-making on the problem of declining enrollment. Section 1 contains information about the extent of the problem and summarizes recent trends in population and school enrollments in the nation and the state.…

Area Education Agency 4 in Sioux Center, Iowa, provides the 18 school districts it serves with information and training in board development. Includes a checklist of 10 hypothetical issues that board members label as either a policymaking issue or a superintendent's responsibility. Each item becomes an occasion for discussion about roles and…

The booklet presents Vermont's policy statements regarding the education of gifted and talented students. Reasons are offered for the lack of appropriate education for this populaton in Vermont, including lack of recognition of the need, and misunderstanding gifted programing as elitist. The current situation in the state is examined and local…

Provides advice to individual board members who may find themselves the sole individual opposing or promoting certain positions. Includes discussion of the development of good board skills to facilitate communication and compromise. Includes a sidebar on the topic. (MD)

Suggests ways that the superintendent and the board president can work cooperatively, including communicating regularly, planning the agenda together, conducting "postgame analysis" with the president, letting the president run meetings and handle arguments or difficult board members, praising the president publicly, and maintaining open…

The Rose Tree Media School District in Pennsylvania developed a curriculum summary that makes academic programs and related school services understandable for everyone interested in the schools. It includes information on what is taught in each area and the amount of instructional time devoted to each course. It also keeps board members in touch…

Effective, productive school board meetings depend on clearly specified roles for participants, the provision of thorough advance information about matters under discussion, adherence to agendas, obtaining adequate facilities, controlling public involvement, maintaining good press relations, and preserving the dignity of the proceedings. (PGD)

Presents time management tips, especially for board of education members, including recommendations to realize that managing time is a skill, develop a more accurate sense of how one's time is spent, examine and reestablish goals, learn to say no, organize files and information, and master the telephone. (Author/JM)

Presents four essential characteristics of good conduct for school board members: patience, tolerance, readiness to consider advice from outsiders, and humor. (Author/JM)

A cost/benefit analysis technique is recommended for school board members who need to evaluate alternatives presented for board action. The model involves four parts: product and evaluation, alternatives, cost analysis, and cost/benefit comparison. (Author/WD)