By Kerri Schelling
KSBA Executive Director
As another school year gets underway I find myself thinking about a question I’ve heard debated over the years: “Do school board members play an active role in their district’s student achievement or are they too far away from what happens in the classroom to affect how students learn?”
Ask any school board member and you’re likely to get an unequivocal, “Yes!” School board members believe that what they do in the boardroom impacts what happens in the classroom. After all, many seek board service for the opportunity to positively impact the students and schools in their community.
Ask others and you’re likely to hear that the role of the school board is to govern the district at the highest level without getting into “boots on the ground” administration. Since boards don’t deal directly with teaching and learning, they aren’t able to affect students in a meaningful way.
So, can a group of locally elected citizens make a difference as a school board? Absolutely! But it doesn’t happen automatically or by accident.
It has been almost 20 years since the Iowa School Boards Association conducted the original Lighthouse Study that examined the link between what school boards do and student performance. When comparing districts with high achievement and similar districts with low achievement (with similar socio-economic status, district size and type), the study found school boards in high-achieving districts were significantly different in their knowledge, beliefs and actions than school boards in low-achieving districts. And these results hold true in every state that has participated in the project – including Kentucky. So, what are some key factors that make the difference? In high-achieving districts:
• The board/superintendent team and school personnel consistently express an “elevating” view of students. They believe that every student can achieve at high levels and actively seek out opportunities to help them unlock their potential;
• School board members can clearly describe the purposes and processes of school improvement initiatives and identify the board’s role in supporting them. They can give specific examples of how district goals are being carried out by administrators and staff in clear, specific terms;
• Board members regularly learn together as a board. They study issues together before making decisions;
• Board members express a high confidence in district staff and believe in a supportive workplace that enables all staff to succeed in their roles. They make frequent positive comments about staff and can give specific examples of the way the board shows its appreciation for staff, such as recognition at board meetings;
• Board members receive information on student needs from many sources and use it to make decisions and modify actions at the district level. The information is received by all board members and shared at the board table; and
• Board members seek out ways to connect with and listen to the community. They can name specific ways the district involves parents and community and show a strong desire for more involvement.
It’s not uncommon for a board to be seen as effective if its members care deeply about doing what is right for students or get along with the superintendent and each other. Research shows while these things are important, they are simply not enough.
School boards are ultimately held accountable for how the students in their district perform and are judged harshly when critics believe they have failed to adequately prepare students. While the Lighthouse study can’t definitively say that a school board causes high achievement, there is no doubt that school boards in high achieving districts foster conditions for positive change and improvement. You do make a difference!