Preparing Urban School Board Members for
21st Century Learning
NSBA CUBE Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada
Sunday, September 28th
8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
1
Welcome and Introductions
• Karen Cator
Director, Education Leadership and Advocacy
Apple
• Mark Willis
Assistant Executive Director
Georgia School Boards Association
Chief Operating Officer
eBOARDsolutions
2
Session Objectives
• To gain a better understanding of what skills
will be required for our students in the 21st
Century
• Policy Implications to support 21st Century
Learning
• How to effectively govern public education to
support 21st Century Learning
3
Begin with the End in Mind
What is the Purpose of Public Education?
To help every child we serve reach their full
potential, achieve their dreams and become
productive citizens.
4
21st Century Learning
10
Policy Implications for
21st Century Learning
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Purpose of Policy Development
• Provide direction
• Support student learning and stakeholder
engagement
• Ensure safety
• Define boundaries
• Satisfy legal requirements
GOAL: Maximize potential while minimizing risk
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Policy Implications
Questions to Consider
• What else we do we need to teach?
• What do we no longer need to teach?
• Has education become a 24/7 open campus with numerous
opportunities for creating learning opportunities within and
outside the building?
– Classroom management is no longer just about discipline, it’s
managing classrooms – virtual and physical, collaborative teams,
different avenues of communication and presentation for students.
– If so, how do we need to reconfigure our classrooms and buildings?
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Policy Implications
Questions to Consider
• Do we need to collaborate more with other entities to serve
the whole community?
• How do we create a framework where students are active
partners but the teachers and administrators still maintain
authority?
• If we believe that each person should be a lifelong learner,
what does that mean for the students, for the teachers, for
the policymakers? How are we modeling that belief? How
are we creating an environment in which students set that
goal and live it?
15
Policy Implications
Questions to Consider
• What data is most appropriate for targeting resources,
monitoring performance, and setting goals?
• Whose going to manage all the information and how?
• How do we learn to think critically and evaluate the
quality of usefulness of data?
• How do we provide access to resources 24/7/365?
16
Policy Impact: Issues to Consider
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Laptop Initiatives
Use of Web 2.0 tools (Social Networking, Blogs, Wikis, etc.)
Online Expression for students and staff (on campus and off)
Internet Safety
Cyberbullying
Ease of plagiarism and cheating
Definition of school day and year
Virtual classes & schools
Privacy
Creating different methods of assessment to include these new
skills and integrating that into the accountability system
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Policy Development
Who should be involved?
• Board Members
• Administrators
• Local school board attorney
• Community
• State School Boards Association
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School Board Governance
in the 21st Century
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Georgia Commission for School Board Excellence
• Formed as a reaction to issues/concerns with
some boards behaving in ways deemed
detrimental to improving student
achievement
• Purpose: To study national school board
governance best practices for 90 days and
make recommendations for improvements.
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Recommendation Category 1
Board Governance Accountability
• The SBOE shall establish a state-wide public
school board governance review and
accountability process.
– Oversight process
– Assistance and Intervention
– Review and Investigate
– Receivership Authority
– State-wide code of ethics
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Recommendation Category 2
Education Task Force
• Convene a task force of education leaders and organizations to
address the following three areas of school board focus:
– Board roles and responsibilities
• Board compensation
• Clarification of responsibilities
– State-wide school performance standards
• Standardize performance standards and tracking metrics
• Require strategic plan
• Requirement for regular community communications and stakeholder input
– Comprehensive board member education and proficiency
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Candidates
New board members
Ongoing annual refresh and proficiency
Individual and whole board training
# of hours required
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Recommendation Category 3
Board Candidacy and Elections
• Legislation shall be enacted to strengthen the
election process and school board candidacy
requirements.
– Require board size to be 5 – 7 members
– Require non-partisan, staggered elections with fouryear terms
– Strengthen minimum qualification requirements for
School Board Members
– Board member disclosure during election cycle of
adherence to ethics, conflict of interest guidelines and
training requirements
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GSBA’s Model for 21st
Century Board Governance
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21st Century School Board
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Visionary
Collaborative
Data-driven
Aligned
Accountable
Transparent
Creative
Innovative
Empowering
Advocates
Role Models
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21st Century Board Governance Tools
• Strategic Improvement Planning
• GSBA Standards for Local Boards of Education
• Board/Leadership Team Self-Assessment
• Superintendent Evaluation
• eBOARD – board governance system
29
GSBA Strategic Improvement Planning
Who are we?
Beliefs
Mission
Vision
How do we plan to get
there?
Initiatives
Action Steps
Continuous
Improvement
Process
How will we know
when we have
arrived?
Performance Objectives,
Measures & Targets
Where are we now?
Performance Data
Financial Data
Stakeholder Input
SWOT Analysis
Where do we
want to go?
Strategic Goals
(or Goal Areas)
Strategic Priorities
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Strategic Improvement Plan Model
Monitoring/
Reporting
Continuous
Improvement
Process
Who are
we?
Phase 1
Vision
SWOT Analysis
Planning Team
Where do
we want
to go?
Action
Teams
Strategic Goal Area 2
Strategic Goal Area 3
w/Strategic Priorities
w/Strategic Priorities
w/Strategic Priorities
Performance Objective 1
w/Measures & Targets
Performance Objective 2
w/Measures & Targets
Performance Objective 3
w/Measures & Targets
Phase 2
Initiatives
How do
we plan
to get
there?
Action Steps
Board/Staff
Board of
Education
District
Individual
Schools
Board Self Assessment
Superintendent Evaluation
Staff Evaluations
Action Plans
Balanced
Scorecard
How will
we know
when we
have
arrived?
Strategic Goal Area 1
Strategic Dashboard
Where are
we now?
Beliefs
Mission
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GSBA Standards for Local Boards of Education
• Areas of Responsibility
– Vision/Philosophy/Goals
– Systematic Improvement
– Organizational Structure
– Board Operations: Policy Development
– Board Operations: Board Meetings
– Board Operations: Personnel
– Board Operations: Financial Management
– Board/Staff/Community Relations
34
GSBA Standards for Local Boards of Education
1. Board appoints a committee
– Board members
– School administrators
– Community leaders
2.
3.
4.
5.
Report made to board of education
Action Plans adopted by BOE if necessary
Certified with GSBA
Re-certification required every
two years
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GSBA Standards for Local Boards of Education
Board/Leadership Team Self-Assessment
Board/Leadership Team Self-Assessment
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Superintendent
Evaluation Instrument
• Goals
• Indicators
• Evidence
• Agreed upon by
both the board
and
superintendent
Web based board governance system designed to centralize key data:
Meetings – multiple meeting types.
Policies – for online policy, procedures, and exhibits.
Calendar – posting of organizational events and meetings.
Documents – an online documents repository.
News –post both public and private news stories.
Strategic Plan –report, monitor and track progress.
Performance - link to student achievement or benchmarking data.
Legislation – tracking of public education related legislation
School Law - legal reference database.
Board Member Handbook – online guide for effective boardsmanship
Advanced Strategic Plan Module (coming December 2008)
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Track and Monitor Plan
Strategic Dashboard
Balanced Scorecard
Goal Alignment
41
Preparing for the Future
• If we say that integrating 21st Century skills
into subject mastery is important for students,
then how are we using that same skill set in
governing and policymaking?
It’s more than just technology.
42
What’s on your reading list?
CREATING & CONNECTING//Research
and Guidelines on Online Social – And
Educational – Networking
National School Boards Association
www.nsba.org
www.21stcenturyskills.org
www.skillscommission.org/executive.htm
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Presentation Materials
• https://eboard.eboardsolutions.com/sample/
– Click on Documents Section
– Click on NSBA CUBE Conference
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Preparing Urban School Board Members for
21st Century Learning
NSBA CUBE Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada
Sunday, September 28th
8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
45