School boards in Minnesota largely function as volunteer or lowly-compensated elected bodies whose members are not professionally trained for their jobs, yet the public demands accountability and results from their local public school districts. This descriptive study examined how a random sample of 322 Minnesota school board members learned to do…

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) was created by the Texas Legislature in 1965 to provide leadership and coordination for the Texas higher education system to achieve excellence for the college education of Texas students. Most of the statutes that are applicable to THECB are found in the Texas Education Code, Title 3, Section…

In this article, the author discusses the response by the Board on Testing and Assessment (BOTA), which is under the auspices of the National Research Council, regarding the Race to the Top (RTT) fund regulations that have been proposed by the U.S. Department of Education (ED). BOTA's commentary was offered in the "Letter Report to the U.S.…

There is broad agreement that teacher quality is related to student achievement, but there is far less agreement about the degree to which school districts and administrators are constrained in making policies to improve teacher quality that might also affect teacher employment and working conditions. Conventional wisdom holds that state law and…

In 2005, the Washington State Legislature significantly changed the role of the State Board of Education (SBE). While the Board retains some administrative duties, SBE is now mandated to play a broad leadership role in strategic oversight and policy for K-12 education in the state. This paper presents the strategic plan of Washington State Board…

Why are America's public schools falling so short of the mark in educating the nation's children? Why are they organized in ineffective ways that fly in the face of common sense, to the point that it is virtually impossible to get even the worst teachers out of the classroom? And why, after more than a quarter century of costly education reform,…

This study examines Illinois school superintendents' perceived importance of the Illinois school superintendent content area standards and performance indicators. This study is significant because it provides an opportunity for rigorous reflection in identifying Illinois school superintendents' perceived importance of superintendent behaviors that…

On December 18, 1996, a controversial resolution was passed by the Board of Education of Oakland, California that recognized the legitimacy and significance of Ebonics in the cultural lives and in the education of African American children. The resolution, which was eventually amended, particularly around the implications that Ebonics was a…

Purpose: This study aims to gain better understanding of the perceptions comprehensive school principals and chief education officers have about the implementation of school reform and the means they use to facilitate the development of such. Design/methodology/approach: This research project was carried out using a systemic design research…

School consolidation in rural districts has been ongoing since the 1800s. Although many district personnel tout economic inefficiency as a reason for consolidation to occur, micropolitics among school board members, parents, and the business community often drive the consolidation process. This article presents a qualitative case study of Webster…

Widespread dissatisfaction with traditional public schools has lead to the development of charter schools. Under the terms of a charter, schools are granted increased autonomy in areas such as financial management, organizational structure, and curriculum. This study investigated the factors that lead to the success of one individual charter…

This study explored the perceptions of training needs of school board members in Georgia. The study examined perceptions of school board chairs, board members with 1 to 5 years experience, members with 6 to 10 years experience, members with 11 to 15 years experience and board members with 16 plus years experience in the areas of school board…

For more than a century, school boards have endeavored to govern America's schools and school systems. Collectively, the nation's nearly 14,000 school boards are responsible for the well-being of 52 million children, the expenditure of $600 billion per year, and the supervision of six million employees. Despite the magnitude of this…

The California State Assembly is presently considering AB 2034 which would prohibit school districts, county offices of education (COEs), or charter schools that elect to fingerprint volunteers from allowing individuals who have been convicted of specific sex, drug or violent offenses to volunteer in schools. This policy brief aims to inform…

On 10 December 2007 the Akron City School Board--following the precedent set by many school systems across the United States and the world--instituted a policy of mandatory school uniforms for all students in grades K-8. The measure was met with mixed reviews. While many parents supported the measure, a small group of parents from a selective,…