Educational Leadership Commons^™

Insights On Building Mutual Trust From Superintendent/Board Members, James L. Robinson

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

There are times when school board members and the superintendent disagree on certain matters. It would be highly unusual if there never were disagreements, as school administration is not an exact science. The debate over whether administration is an art or a science continues to stir the interest of many. Considered as a science, it is suggested that when certain variables are controlled, certain activities will lead to predictable outcomes. As Griffiths (1959) pointed out:

The term art is used to designate practice guided by intuition and experience rather than by scientific findings. It is true, at the present time, …

Develop And Maintain A Positive Board/Superintendent Relationship, Mary Kay Rhodes

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

The relationship that exists between the superintendent and the members of a board of education is so dramatically important that it affects the philosophy, direction, and inner workings of the district. Obviously, the tone of that relationship varies somewhat from issue to issue and from circumstance to circumstance. Too, the relationship that exists between individual board members and the superintendent varies from one person to another. Whenever personalities are involved, that is the case. But for the most part, the relationship between a superintendent and his or her board as a whole is fairly static from one year to the …

School Boards' Roles And Expectations: One Person's Perceptions, Anton Netusil

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

Assisting over 600 boards of education in the past 15 years with a board orientation/evaluation process I developed has given me a wealth of information about boards of education. I'd like to share some perceptions I have developed over time. Their accuracy will be left up to the reader.

Perception One More than half the superintendents in this country make no attempt to help their boards learn what their responsibilities are. As I become older, perhaps I become more cynical, but often I think this happens because the superintendent doesn't want a truly functioning board of education. From a management …

Issue Area Four: Ensuring Long-Term Communication And Information Flow Within And Between The Board Of Education And Superintendent Of Schools, Richard S. Boardwell

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

Good communication has always been needed between the superintendent of schools and his/her board of directors. Although there are many ways to address this issue to ensure the long term flow of information and continued communication within and between these two parties, certain attributes are helpful and necessary for all involved to increase the effectiveness of this communication process. One of these attributes is trust. People must trust one another to some degree before they openly communicate with one another. An ethical approach and attitude in their work with others also enhances the communication process. Without trust and an ethical …

Strengthening Board Of Education/Superintendent Relationships In America's Schools: A Collection Of Papers [Complete Monograph]

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

No abstract provided.

Board/Superintendent Relations: Roles, Expectations, And Communications, Peter F. Flynn

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

To build mutual understanding and trust within and between the board of education and the superintendent of schools, parties must address at least three facets of the relationship. These facets are a continual pursuit of role responsibilities, a basic understanding of expectations, and effective communication.

When two parties come together to work on a task, the best time to begin the process of mutual understanding is at the outset. Each party in a trusting relationship must have a comfortable feeling for role responsibilities. In these days of collaborative decision-making, there may not be the hard and fast definitions that existed …

Ideas For Creating Cohesiveness And Cooperation Between Administration And Board, Janeice Geitzenauer

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

A good relationship between the board of education and superintendent of schools is essential if there is to be cohesiveness and cooperation in making effective decisions.

One way of building understanding and trust within and between the board of education and superintendent of schools is for the superintendent to give the same documentation to all board members, thus not playing favorites. This could be handled effectively by writing a Board Brief before each meeting and distributing it to all members. This would contain information on agenda items, as well as any information the superintendent felt pertinent for members to have, …

Trust: The Dimension That Makes Everything Work, Mary F. Pettit

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

Mutual understanding, trust: such commonplace terms, yet often they depict a relationship so fragile it can be destroyed by a word or, worse yet, never exist among a small group of people who not only handle millions of taxpayers' dollars, but, more importantly, are responsible for the education of the district's children. It is a frightening prospect!

One highly respected Iowa superintendent, Dr. Stephen H. Williams, identified trust between the superintendent and the board as the key, the one dimension that makes everything else work, and-I might add-without which nothing works.

Educational Needs For Students Approaching The 21st Century, David G. Freese

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

As a school board member for 25 consecutive years, many changes have occurred, but one thing has remained the same. Budgets have steadily grown and increased to a point where we are today facing cuts and accompanying concerns of how we are going to operate through another year.

During the last 25 years, great strides have been made in methods of teaching, servicing, and applying education. During that same time, special interest groups have established themselves and brought into being a variety of responsibilities which have been added to the jobs of teachers and administrators, e.g., human growth and development …

Ready For School, Kim L. Landhuis

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

An African proverb states, "It takes an entire village to educate a child."

More than ever, our United States education system has been criticized unfavorably when compared with other industrial countries. More than ever, we envision an educational system that enables all students to be successful participants in families, in communities, and especially in global economies. To fulfill that vision, America 2000 was formulated with six remarkable National Education Goals.

By the year 2000 all children in America will start school ready to learn. This first National Education Goal is truly considered the most crucial step leading to sure success …

Using Strategic Planning To Develop A Vision, Karen Thomsen

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

I believe the best thing a school board can do for their district is show leadership by developing and supporting a vision. This vision should focus on student needs to enable them to perform adult roles in the future. To gain commitment from everyone, this vision should be shared through the school system and the community. Peter M. Senge (1990), in his book The Fifth Discipline, said:

A shared vision is not an idea. It is rather a force in people's hearts, a force of impressive power. It may be inspired by an idea, but once it goes further-if it …

The Motor Of Education, Sharon Bennett

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

To develop an understanding of roles and expectations of the board of education and superintendent of schools, honest open communication in an atmosphere of complete trust is essential.

The board of education can stand in the way of a superintendent getting his/her job done if it is too involved in administrative decisions. To help alleviate this situation, a clear concise list of duties and expectations on each side can be drawn up cooperatively so both the board and superintendent will know what is expected.

It is important to take time to become acquainted with each other on a personal basis …

Every District A Stage, David L. Benson

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

In As You Like It, William Shakespeare wrote: "All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts" (Act II, Scene VII).

Shakespeare acknowledged what we all understand, that the practical lines of role expectations and performance are blurred in a healthy relationship. This is particularly true in a healthy board/superintendent relationship. The roles and expectations for board members and superintendents vary widely depending upon the philosophies of each individual and each board. Notwithstanding the difficulty in quantifying and codifying this …

The Key To Board Of Education And Superintendent Communication, Stephen W. Daeschner

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

Superintendents of schools in today's society are faced with ever increasing pressures. The expectations of a changing society and the explosion of recent and excellent educational research in contrast with the resistance to change from many teachers, administrators, and special interest groups have increased the anxiety level of superintendents. Yet, the greatest stress for a superintendent can be a poor relationship between the board of education and the superintendent.

The relationship between the superintendent and the board requires constant attention. The superintendent needs to understand each board member's wants and motivations, in addition to understanding group dynamics when the board …

Ensuring Communications Between Superintendent And Board, Dale L. Jensen

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

Good communication between the superintendent of schools and his/her board of education has always been needed. Now, however, with the continuing push for "transformation," the need to have ongoing and honest communications is even greater. To ensure long-term effective communications between a board of education and the superintendent of schools, a trusting relationship and a clear and unified focus must be developed.

"Trust is unquestionable dependability" (Frase & Hetzel, 1990, p. 3). No lasting or real communication will occur without trust. The superintendent is responsible for developing this trust between the superintendent and the board. Below are some means for …

Communication Strategies Inside And Outside Of Board Meetings, Jacqueliine E. Matthys

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

Communication between and within the board of education and the superintendent appears to be a relatively easy task on the surface. Unfortunately, when dealing with the variety of personalities involved, it becomes a very complex issue. First of all, because of all the regulations and stipulations, the world of education has become a business. But unlike any other business, the "supreme power" of the district is a board of elected officials with little or no knowledge of how to be effective board members. As stated in Effective Schools Through Effective Management, by Fredric H. Genck and Allen J. Klingenberg:

The …

Making Effective Decisions, Dixie Bequeaith

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

School board/superintendent relations are the key to an effective educational management team. Reciprocal understanding and recognition of the respective roles the board and superintendent each play in the educational process is essential for effective school operations. No definitive line can be drawn to precisely delineate these roles. Board members must respect the fact that the superintendent is the educational leader of the instructional and the support staff, entrusted with the responsibility to operate the schools within the policies established by the board. A superintendent needs to recognize the board's role and involvement as policy maker and must be able to …

Community Building As A Context For Problem-Solving, Mary Kopacek

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

What is the process of making an effective decision? Through my personal experiences facilitating the developmental stages of community building, this position paper will address the elements I believe are necessary in making effective decisions and moving beyond the traditional means of decision making.

Broadening the base of those included in the decision-making process and providing training in collaborate techniques will create a process for making effective decisions.

When making collaborative decisions, diversity within the group is needed for quality decisions. Through the talents and values of people from all conditions of life, regardless of age, gender, race, religion, sexual …

Involving The Community To Generate School Support, Understanding, Martha A. Nash

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

It is clear that in the environment of the 1990s schools we'll increasingly need the community's support if they are to carry out the mission that we have traditionally given to education: the creation of a national ethos from people with diverse backgrounds and experiences. And, as you will recognize, the community expects schools not only to educate this very diverse population, but to meet their complex social and emotional needs. Moreover, the concept of lifelong education is placing new demands on our schools.

Creating A Working Team, Gerald Schwartzhoff

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

One of today's major concerns in education is board of education and superintendent relationships. As a member of the Institute for Educational Leadership working conference, I have put together a group of ideas which I feel are necessary for the relationships to be positive.

The first major concern of all board members should be an interest in providing the best education possible for their students. While this doesn't always happen because some individuals are more concerned with personal or individual concerns, it is necessary in order to have a working board.

Preface

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

The Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL) is a Division of the College of Education at the University of Northern Iowa. The Institute's mission is to promote the improvement of elementary, secondary, and post-secondary education throughout the state of Iowa. To fulfill this mission the Institute serves as a catalyst for: informal dialogue on educational issues impacting the schools of Iowa, region and nation; developing collaborative relationships with individuals and/or organizations external to schools; and education policy development.

This compilation of position papers and issue group consensus reports represent the individual and collective wisdom of Iowa educational leaders relative to challenges …

Performance-Based Authentic Assessment Issues: Exploratory Considerations, John K. Andersen

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

This is an exploratory paper. The questions are still developing, the responses tentative, the directions unclear. Perhaps more certainty will emerge as thoughtful discussions occur.

Terms need to be defined. What do we mean by performance based, authentic assessment? Is it "after-the-fact" testing? Is it "on-going" based on the ideas of "assessment as learning"? Does the term normative assessment mean standardized, paper-and-pencil, multiple-choice tests that provide information about how individual students perform compared to others? Have we identified potential biases in our use of the terms? Do we recognize, for example, that some normative tests may be able to assess …

Why Use Technology To Assess, Monitor, And Report Student Progress?, Sue Z. Beers

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

Not very many years ago, I first encountered an electronic scanning machine at the supermarket. It made me uncomfortable because I didn't trust that a machine would always come up with the right price. It doesn't, but I do have a greater awareness of what the prices should be, checkout time is faster, fewer mistakes are made than when a clerk entered the prices, and I am usually able to catch any mistakes because I get an itemized printout of my purchases. A worthwhile analogy can be made between the increase in technology in the marketplace and our homes and …

How Does Technology Really Affect Schools?, Jan Harvey

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

In the past decade much has been communicated about the need for school reform, school transformation, site-based decision making, participatory management, outcome-based education, total quality management, etc. As a principal, during the past few years I have heard the following metaphors used to describe the state of education and so, I wonder, which metaphor best fits the current state of educational reform:

Are we trying to change a flat tire on a car careening down a highway traveling 65 miles per hour; trying to put on a new suit of clothes on over our old blue jeans; trying to set …

Technology Used In Classroom Assessment For Teachers And Students, Karen Stahlhut

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

Educators cannot make the changes that must take place in the coming years to reform American schools without considering technology. New curriculums integrated with the use of technology to teach, assess, and monitor student achievement must be coupled with new visions about the role of teachers and students. Technology has to play an important and integral role in changing the educational process.

In this paper I will cite examples of how technology is and can be used by practitioners to access, monitor, and report student progress; thus, illustrating and supporting my perspective for the inclusion of technology in educational reform.

Mixed Messages: Impact Of Various Assessment Models On Students, Schools And College Entrance Or Resistance To Change, Dewitt Jones

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

Colleges and universities accept many different forms of assessment in limited areas. Music, art, drama, and athletics are areas where both the high school and university agree that the assessment is a culmination of the person's skills and everyone wants to see how these skills are applied. Skills in these disciplines in isolation are very insignificant. Scholarships are awarded to these disciplines based on demonstration of specific performance standards.

Improvement in these disciplines requires the teacher to dissect the performance, identify weaknesses, outline a plan to strengthen these weaknesses by using specific strategies, have the student perform or demonstrate the …

The Culture Of Schooling: Emerging Questions For Assessment Reformers, David Stickrod

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

When Mark Twain wrote, "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics," he must have been referring to American education. By citing the appropriate research, one could make a case for the merits of just about any type of assessment to indicate school learning, evaluate schools, and gain admission to college.

While Monty Neill (1989) kept watch over the overuse and misuse of standardized tests, Gerald Bracey (1992) and Harold Hodgkinson (1993) wrote that, on the basis of our standardized test scores and international comparisons, and the underlying reasons for those scores, schools are not nearly so bad as the popular …

Using A More Holistic Approach To Assessment And Education, Bruce E. Hopkins

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

A cultural historical perspective on this American Leviathan issue reveals many of the constructs which support the idea of "readiness." Nineteenth Century Spencerian Socialism (an outgrowth of the academic contributions of Charles Darwin) buttressed the class, economic, and social differences emanating from the industrialization of America by asserting the idea that some folks were simply more fit to succeed than others. And, the Calvinist tradition of American intellectual thought as it relates to the worth of an individual supported the idea that some folks are elect in the eyes of God so we ought to assume their divine right to …

Issue Area Five: Improving Accountability To The Public: Can It Be Done? What Are The Implications? Potential Abuses?, Bob King

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

This committee addressed the issue of how schools can, and should improve accountability to the public while avoiding potential abuses in this effort. It began the process by defining the mission of education within the society. Though the participants represented divergent backgrounds and perspectives, their views concerning the mission of society quickly coalesced around the following: "Society is responsible for creating an educated populace. It must be actively involved in and accountable for educating learners."

The mission statement communicates the concept that sustaining a successful human culture requires that the accountability process be one of mutual dependence and responsibility-and that …

Educating The 'Public' On Assessment, Content, Gilbert E. Hewett

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

The quality of education, particularly math and science, in the United States has been seriously questioned since 1957 when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik. This historical event caused a public outcry which impacted education in several ways. Suddenly money was available to improve teachers' knowledge of science and mathematics content as well as money to develop better science and math curricula. Many teachers received stipends for these two purposes.

Along with the funding came the demand to show that the increased teacher staff development and curriculum development did indeed improve student achievement. Unfortunately, many objectives of the new curriculums were …