In 2014, the close-knit education community in California's rural Humboldt county came together to address the potential to improve students' college readiness and completion. A diverse group of education leaders spanning K-12 through college formed the collaborative, with leadership from the Humboldt County Office of Education. The John W.…

This case study of an urban school board's experiences under high-stakes accountability demonstrates how the district leaders eschewed democratic governance processes in favor of autocratic behaviors. They possessed narrowly defined goals for teaching and learning that emphasized competitive, individualized means of achievement. Their decision…

The California School Board Association's (CSBA) Professional Governance Standards, Lee Bolman and Terrence Deal's framework for leadership and management, and the Lighthouse Inquiry of the Iowa Association of School Boards provided the framework to understand the impact of the Masters in Governance (MIG) training provided by the CSBA on school…

In 2009-2010, California made substantial education budget cuts at the same time that it removed its spending requirements from $4.5 billion of state money. This gave districts the flexibility to use the funds in any manner approved by the local school board. Researchers found that most of the formerly earmarked money was moved into general funds…

Using a Decision Analysis Chart, the board and the superintendent determine which decisions are the superintendent's, which are the board's, and which are shared and to what degree. A similar determination of responsibilities is made between the central administration and the principals and within the schools. (IRT)

The desegregation decision by a local school system sometimes is perceived as the result of pressure, and at other times as unrelated to overt pressure for desegregation. Contrary to both of these views, this exploratory study suggests that a positive desegregation decision may stem from the personal values of school board members. These values…

This study concentrates on the significant changes in policies and decisions as the New York City school system shifted from its previous efforts to desegregate the schools to the current attempts at decentralization. The major controversy in the city is now focused on who shall govern the schools. Findings are based on a three-part systems…

Fifteen pilot districts in California are using a planning, programing, budgeting system (PPBS) to bring the logic of systems analysis to their educational procedures. (Author)

Seventeen Southern California school districts participated in a pilot study intended to develop a framework for classifying district policies on retaining students. It was assumed that differences in district policy created varying levels of objectification of standards for decision making and varying degrees of work effort needed to implement…

Forty-three percent of California school districts with one or more high schools have some sort of student representation on the board of education. Some observers have said that students act like adult board members, but that their interests at the beginning of each year make everyone keenly aware that they are students. In California, student…

To meet the diverse needs of children in the public schools in California, the State Superintendent stresses the importance of cooperation between local, state, and federal authorities in intelligent allotment of funds, and also, with cooperation between parents and teachers, identifying problems and providing necessary services to children. (JD)

Individual members of state legislatures wield the greatest influence in state level policy formation. This was one of the findings of a study that identified the power and influence context of state-level policymaking. Data were gathered from six states (Arizona, California, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Illinois) using an instrument…

The articles in this double issue of the "IRCD Bulletin" deal with the proposed decentralization of the New York City school system. Edmund Gordon argues that decentralization can provide the best organizational structure--(1) to make the schools accountable to the parents and communities they serve, (2) to place the responsibility for…

This study analyzes the ways in which school boards assess and utilize evaluation data and their attitudes toward testing. Interviews with 27 school board members from 10 districts indicate that board members tend to rely on informal working knowledge over formal information, and on district administrators' judgments. Findings suggest that simple…

Experiences in systems-development for state information systems are summarized for eight pilot-test state agencies, as part of the State Level Information Base project. Attention is directed to the evaluation of information needs; hardware and software choices; survey administration; data organization, storage, and linkages; and staffing…