Lists 13 skills to make success for board members more likely, including skills in obtaining information; building coalitions; establishing school district goals; evaluating the superintendent, school operations, and the board itself; differentiating between the roles of the board and the superintendent; and judging personnel issues. (Author/JM)

If a school board member with teacher union sympathies is leaking critical information to the union during bargaining, changes in negotiations procedures must be made to prevent the spy from being privy to confidential information. (Author/JM)

Describes the successful efforts of the school board in a small Tennessee community to reverse teachers' initial enthusiasm for forming a union. (Author/WD)

Focuses on school boards as sociocultural systems. Asserts that boards' decision-making processes operate within a cultural context and have, over the centuries of their existence, developed a culture of their own. Proposes that culture dictates a decision-making output that is not as responsive or immediate as would be expected. (Author/MK)

Summarizes the new North Carolina state law concerning open meetings of public bodies. (IRT)

Guiding principles to help new school board members perform effective board service include being team players and remembering that their prime function is policy making, not administration. (MLF)

Based on in-depth interviews with 26 school board members and 18 superintendents, the working styles of board members can be classified into three distinct types: (1) passive acquiescent; (2) restive vigilant; and (3) proactive supportive. (MLF)

The No Child Left Behind Act requires state boards of education to identify schools that are unsafe. Schools that are identified by measures such as suspension and expulsion rates are subsequently labeled "persistently dangerous." To our knowledge there is no published research that attempts to characterize fighting behavior among youths…

In response to a legislative request, this seminar convened to make a comprehensive study of ways to improve the governance effectiveness of the state's county boards of education and county school board members. Participants were county school board members, superintendents, principals, teachers, service personnel, parents, community leaders, and…

This report describes a study of a rural school district that received national press coverage for an administrative crisis that began with the termination of a longtime district teacher, involved resignations and recalls from the board and the superintendency, and led to intensive conflicts among teachers, school board members, district…

Small town school boards are made up of conscientious, hardworking, and caring citizens who face arduous economic challenges and difficult educational dilemmas. The changing economy of small towns has led to fewer professionals and business owners participating in boards of education, a rift between educators who are bureaucrats and board members…

The American school board is on trial. The most common accusations are that school boards are irrelevant, unresponsive, provincial, and therefore obsolete. School boards will not meet this challenge if they continue to tolerate certain common obstacles to effective policy-making. New horizons can be reached if boards and their administrators can…

The most important responsibility of every school board is to set goals for the school system. A study of goals should be conducted every few years; the process is continual. It is important that the committee chosen by the board to assist in setting goals be truly representative of the total community. All areas of the curriculum should be…