While U.S. voters delivered a significant change in the 2024 federal elections, they opted for steady leadership at the state level. No state board of education shifted in partisan control, and only five seats saw a shift in political party out of 27 races that were contested in the general election. This policy update looks at the results of…

One of the most important endeavors a school board will complete is the hiring of a district superintendent. This study focused on Northwest Arkansas school board members' perceptions of criteria used for hiring practices and review how or if they align with the professional leadership standards. The research concentrated on the 16 Northwest…

Fifty years ago, nine black students walked through the doors of Little Rock Central High School, guarded by U.S. Army and National Guard troops dispatched to protect them from angry white residents protesting integration. Now, Arkansas is inviting the world to turn its eyes to Little Rock--this time, to see how far the city has come since those…

In elementary and secondary education governance, the need to build an effective system of public education is the driving force behind the selection of a state's key education leaders. This paper provides a snapshot of what state K-12 governance looks like in SREB states. (Contains 7 tables.)

THE AUTHOR STATES THAT THREE DEFINITIONS OF THE SUPERINTENDENT'S ROLE ARE DISTINGUISHED BY THE FORM OF THE PARTICULAR NEGOTIATION PROCESS--(1) SUPERINTENDENT UNINVOLVED, WITH NEGOTIATION CARRIED ON DIRECTLY BY TEACHER-ORGANIZATION REPRESENTATIVES AND THE BOARD OF EDUCATION, (2) SUPERINTENDENT ACTING AS BOARD OF EDUCATION REPRESENTATIVE IN…

THE AUTHOR STATES THAT GROWING DEMANDS BY ORGANIZED TEACHERS FOR NEGOTIATION CONCERNING EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS AND POLICY FORMULATION HAVE BEEN ACCOMPANIED BY A WILLINGNESS TO ACCEPT SUCH BARGAINING THROUGH PROCEDURES WHICH DO NOT INTERRUPT ORDERLY SCHOOL OPERATION. TRADITIONAL LEGAL AUTHORITY OF LOCAL BOARDS OF EDUCATION TO MAKE UNILATERAL POLICY…

SEVENTY PERCENT RESPONSE TO A SURVEY OF THE NATION'S 6,000 LARGEST SCHOOL SYSTEMS (1963-64 ENROLLMENT OF 1,200 OR MORE) INDICATED THAT 45 PERCENT OF THE DISTRICTS ACKNOWLEDGED A FORMAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TEACHER ORGANIZATION AND SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION, WITH GUIDELINES ESTABLISHED FOR NEGOTIATIONS REGARDING SALARIES AND WORKING CONDITIONS. BOTH…

The objective of the three phases of this institute was to change the attitudes of the participating school administrators, school board members, community leaders, counselors, and teachers so that they would be willing to accept responsibility for dealing with the problems of school desegregation in their respective school districts. Phase I…

Two surveys were conducted during July-September 2000 at the request of the Arkansas School Boards Association (ASBA). Their purpose included identifying specific legislative issues that the organization would include in its legislative agenda for the 2001 session. Responses detailed board members' involvement in state and federal policymaking and…

A March 1982 Jonesboro, Arkansas, school bus accident in which nine people were killed has rekindled the debate over school bus safety, says the author. The article discusses briefly the opposition historically between school bus manufacturers and safety advocates and presents cost-benefit arguments concerning mandatory seat-belt installation.…

This study examined evaluation processes used by Arkansas school boards to evaluate their superintendents, and compared the data with results from a recent national survey reporting techniques used in the evaluation of superintendents, data about who had input in conducting the evaluation, criteria used in the evaluation process, and traits of an…