Improving School Board Effectiveness: A Balanced Governance Approach

Improving School Board Effectiveness offers a clarifying and essential look at the evolving role of school boards and how they contribute to efforts to improve student learning. It examines how board members can establish effective district priorities, and it explores those board policies and actions that result in shared, districtwide commitments to heightened student achievement.

This book arises out of a critical need for a better understanding of school boards and the development of helpful tools and guidelines for school board members. At its heart is the notion of Balanced Governance, a principle that most generally “balances the authority of a superintendent to lead a school district with the necessary oversight of a locally engaged and knowledgeable board.”

Improving School Board Effectiveness is a helpful and practical book that will prove indispensable for school board members, school and district administrators, and everyone with a stake in school improvement and reform.

Thomas L. Alsbury is professor of educational leadership at Seattle Pacific University, and former school teacher, principal, and administrator. He also served as professor at Iowa State University and North Carolina State University. He currently co-directs the national University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) Center for Research on the Superintendency and District Governance. Alsbury completed an M.Ed. in educational curriculum and instruction from the University of Washington and an Ed.D. in educational leadership and counseling psychology from Washington State University. Alsbury is listed as the foremost expert on school governance by the Associated Press; he has consulted on school governance issues in twelve countries and across the United States and is a frequent keynote speaker and presenter at school board state and national conferences and state association events. He has worked with local urban and rural school boards to evaluate and assist in improving performance. He has over fifty publications on school board and superintendent research. His 2008 book, The Future of School Board Governance: Relevance and Revelation, earned Dr. Alsbury the UCEA Culbertson Award for significant contributions to educational leadership research. Alsbury is also founder and president of Balanced Governance Solutions (www.balancedgovernancesolutions.org), an organization committed to the research, development, and training in effective school board governance.

Phil Gore, a former Seattle-area school board member, is the division director for leadership team services with the Texas Association of School Boards. He has worked with the National School Boards Association and was the Director of Leadership Development Services for the Washington School Directors’ Association. During his time in Washington, Phil led a statewide initiative to develop multiple validated approaches and tools for superintendent evaluation in the state. Prior to working in school governance, Phil was a pastor and youth minister for twenty years. Phil is completing a PhD this year at the University of Washington in educational leadership and policy studies. His doctoral research focuses on the factors and sources of information that school boards consider when evaluating a superintendent. Phil has an M.Ed. in educational leadership and policy studies and a BA in management. When he is not assisting school boards and superintendents, Phil enjoys mountain climbing, kayaking, and long-distance running with his wife and children. Phil can be reached at goreph@gmail.com.