Describes four principles to guide superintendents' presentation of data to their schools boards: Insist the board establish districtwide goals for student achievement; assist the board in receiving customized training on analyzing data related to student-outcome goals; insist the board adopt a code-of-conduct policy on data use; and provide data…

Stylistic friction between superintendent and school board underlies much of disharmony that often characterizes these relationships. The most successful matches occur between high corporate-type boards and high task-oriented superintendents or between high familial-type boards and high relationship-type superintendents. Friction reduction or…

Two former superintendents reveal what questions to expect when facing a school board in the course of a job search. Questions on board interference, instructional role, and budget development are a good bet. Candidates should shake hands firmly, dress conservatively, be forthright, and watch their demeanor. (MLH)

Describes the Missouri Sunshine Law; discusses a Missouri appellate court decision indicating that the sunshine law may prohibit the electronic exchange (voice or email) of information concerning public matters among a quorum of school board members. (PKP)

In Tennessee, a school board member walks into her son's school and starts asking detailed questions about school operations. Is she a concerned parent or an overly intrusive board member? In Missouri, a board member openly criticizes a policy his board colleagues have passed but that he voted against. Is he dutifully representing a constituency…

Chief executive officers in the proprietary and nonprofit sectors have found that well-designed board standing committees can serve as very effective governing engines, producing several important outcomes. This is true among boards of education as well. Above all else, standing committees can divide the labor of governing into chewable chunks,…

Could a North Dakota farm boy with a smallish frame, bookish appearance, understated speaking voice and aw-shucks humility possibly be a good fit to lead a powerhouse, cosmopolitan private school for American students living abroad, whose governing board consists mainly of high-flying corporate executives and well-heeled attorneys? The answer…

No graduate program can adequately prepare a novice superintendent for the myriad situations she or he likely will face during the first few years. In addition to learning the job, today's superintendent faces challenges unlike those of prior generations. Perhaps the most difficult one is gaining an understanding of how to work effectively with…

Explains legal principles of defamation suits and how, in cases involving school personnel, determination of injury depends on whether an employee is a "public official" or a "private person." Defenses available to a school employee are discussed. (MLF)

Features researchers reviewed by the AASA Advisory Committee on Higher Education Relationships and selected to present research findings at the 1989 AASA convention. Iris McGinnis won the Research Award in the graduate student research category for work on school board participation in contract bargaining. Two other commendation awards are…

Compliments the National School Boards Association for its four philosophical emphases: setting a vision for education, ensuring a solid organizational infrastructure, demanding results-oriented evaluation, and advocating for a community's children and public schools. Board responsibilities are awesome and time consuming. To survive, public…

Superintendent describes the factors that define the fit between a candidate and a particular superintendency. Concludes that the most important factor is chemistry. Advises candidates to rely on intelligence, information, and instinct when deciding whether a new superintendency is a good fit. (PKP)

Offers superintendents advice on how to conduct themselves in job interviews with boards of education. Suggests that candidates clearly articulate to the board who they are and what they believe in educationally. (PKP)

This article describes the details about a local school board meeting in a suburban high school auditorium outside Philadelphia. The district superintendent had committed suicide a few days earlier in the midst of hearings about his alleged misdeeds on the job. In this article, the author assesses what measures could have been taken to avoid such…

In April 2005, the board of education in the Muhlenberg School District was forced to break one of their school policies after several parents complained about a book that has been included in the school's curriculum. The book, "The Buffalo Tree," by Adam Rapp has a passage detailing how an adolescent boy becomes sexually aroused in a communal…