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Illinois School Board Journal
November-December, 1998

The "new work" of school boards
by Barbara M. Wheeler

        Now that the National School Boards Association’s Board of Directors has made student achievement the association’s key objective, NSBA is developing a plan to help local school boards put student achievement at the center of their work. With help from the Millennium Group, a strategic planning firm, NSBA leaders have embarked on a strategy to focus school board leadership on the many critical elements of raising student achievement.
        This calls for a communication and action strategy centered around the "new work" of school boards. The public, the education community, and school boards themselves must see boards as the leaders in their communities for setting objectives and policies aimed at improving student achievement and for convening the community to support these efforts.
        The plan is based on months of research, including interviews with NSBA board members and top staff, leaders of the state school boards associations, leaders of NSBA’s Council of Urban Boards of Education, other education groups, business leaders, and individual school board members.
        As a result of these discussions, it was decided that school boards and NSBA can take specific actions to strengthen their roles in promoting student achievement and communicating their role to the public.
        Getting to that point requires two broad changes in mindset and action: student achievement must be placed at the center of what school boards do, and community engagement must be at the center of how boards do what they do. School boards that accept the challenge will want to tailor their efforts to the specific characteristics and needs of their own communities.
        What would school boards do if they focused on achievement and engagement?

• Conduct school board meetings that make student achievement a central focus;
• Lead community conversations around achievement;
• Ask critical questions that hold the superintendent accountable for achievement; and
• View everything the board does in terms of whether it will have an impact on student achievement.

        Of course, many school boards already are concentrating on student achievement and community engagement. These boards realize that if public education is to survive the politically motivated attacks against it, the public must have a clear understanding of the importance of public schools as the foundation of healthy communities, a vibrant economy, and a vital democracy. The public must recognize the importance of academic achievement to the nation’s success.
        And, in addition, the public must understand the crucial role played by local school boards in providing the leadership to raise student achievement in our public schools.