Weaving Principles with Practice
By Theresa Kelly Gegen with IASB’s Directors of Outreach & TrainingThe Foundational Principles of Effective Governance are the cornerstone of the efforts of the Illinois Association of School Boards in support of its vision of “excellence in local school board governance supporting quality public education” and its mission to “Light the Way for its members by developing their competence and confidence through a robust toolkit designed to build excellence in local school board governance.
In 1997, based on extensive research, conventional wisdom, and lots of conversation, IASB formalized a set of governance concepts for board work that were already in practice, according to John Allen, at that time an IASB Field Services Director. The research for the development of the Foundational Principles included Boards that Make A Difference and other theories by John Carver. The Foundational Principles were first published in 1998, slightly updated for clarity in 2017, and have “stood the test of time” to guide the Association’s work in support of Illinois boards of education and their members.
Let’s weave each Foundational Principle of Effective Governance with additional thoughts on each, as shared by the current Directors of Outreach & Training, formerly known as Field Services Directors and providing the same level of commitment to your board team.
The Foundational Principles of Effective Governance
As the corporate entity charged by law with governing a school district, each school board sits in trust for its entire community. The obligation to govern effectively imposes some fundamental duties on the board:
1. The board clarifies the district purpose.
As its primary task, the board continually defines, articulates, and re-defines district ends to answer the recurring question — who gets what benefits for how much? Effective ends development requires attention to at least two key concerns: student learning and organizational effectiveness.
Ends express the benefits the school district should deliver, thereby providing the entire system with clarity of purpose and a clear direction. A school board rarely creates district ends; rather, it most often detects them through listening and observing.
Ends reflect the district’s purpose, direction, priorities, and desired outcomes and are recorded in statements of core values/beliefs, mission, vision, and goals.
In effective school districts, every part of the organization is aligned with the ends articulated by the school board in written board policy.
Well-crafted ends enable the school board to effectively and efficiently monitor district performance and assess organizational success (Principle 5).
My favorite is Foundational Principle is 1: The board clarifies the district purpose. The board will continually define, articulate, and re-define the district ends. District ends consist of core values and beliefs, mission, vision, and board goals. Foundational Principal 1 is important because the board is able to use those ends to let the community, staff, and administration know what the district purpose is (mission) and the steps it will take, or is taking, to accomplish that mission (board goals). Among other things, this leads to alignment throughout the entire district and energizes the staff. It also allows for monitoring and correction, as necessary, instead of finding out too late that something isn’t working as planned. Without the mission and goals, it is difficult for the governance team to know where the district is headed and how it is going to get there. — Patrick Allen
2. The board connects with the community.
The school board engages in an ongoing two-way conversation with the entire community. This conversation enables the board to hear and understand the community’s educational aspirations and desires, to serve effectively as an advocate for district improvement, and to inform the community of the district’s performance.
Community engagement, also called public engagement or civic engagement, is the process by which school boards actively involve diverse citizens in dialogue, deliberation, and collaborative thinking around common interests for their public schools.
Effective community engagement is essential to create trust and support among the community, board, superintendent, and staff.
A board in touch with community-wide concerns and values will serve the broad public good rather than being overly influenced by special interests.
The school board must be aggressive in reaching out to the community — the district’s owners — to engage people in conversations about education and the public good. In contrast, people who bring customer concerns to board members should be appropriately directed to the superintendent and staff.
My favorite foundational principle is Principle 2: “The board connects with the community.” This is often the most challenging aspect of a board member’s life. It involves creating a level of trust and communication. Communicating with the community is multifaceted, ongoing, and requires participation on two fronts. First, the board must seek to define its message clearly to ensure it conveys the district’s story in a way that makes sense for the community. The board and its members must work to invite the public in, sharing positive outcomes and exciting activities to showcase the best of the district. Second, the board must work to positively convey the “chain of command” when confronted with suggestions or complaints. One of the most important things a board can do is to educate the community on its role and the best way to express concerns to the right people. — Katie Bulava
3. The board employs a superintendent.
The board employs and evaluates one person — the superintendent — and holds that person accountable for district performance and compliance with written board policy.
An effective school board develops and maintains a productive relationship with the superintendent.
The employment relationship consists of mutual respect and a clear understanding of respective roles, responsibilities, and expectations. This relationship should be grounded in a thoughtfully crafted employment contract and job description; procedures for communications and ongoing assessment; and reliance on written policy.
Although the board is legally required to approve all employment contracts, the board delegates authority to the superintendent to select and evaluate all district staff within the standards established in written board policy.
Understanding Foundational Principle 3 is an essential practice for successful school boards. Within this process of governance, school boards are responsible for hiring a superintendent and also are responsible for having knowledge of the role of the school board vs. the role of the superintendent. A key aspect of Foundational Principle 4 is that the board is also responsible for evaluating the superintendent. This allows the team to be the “Great 8.” It is essential for the board to speak with one voice and understand that Foundational Principle 3, will help guide them as they lead a successful district. — Natalie Williams McMahon, Ed.D.
4. The board delegates authority.
The board delegates authority to the superintendent to manage the district and provide leadership for the staff. Such authority is communicated through written board policies that designate district ends and define operating parameters.
Ultimately, the school board is responsible for everything, yet must recognize that everything depends upon a capable and competent staff.
“Delegates authority to” means empowering the superintendent and staff to pursue board ends single-mindedly and without hesitation. A board that does (or re-does) staff work disempowers the staff. High levels of superintendent and staff accountability require high levels of delegation.
Delegation is difficult for anyone accustomed to direct action. However, to appropriately stay focused on the big picture and avoid confusing the staff, members of the school board must discipline themselves to trust their superintendent and staff and not involve themselves in day-to-day operations.
Foundational Principle 4 is more complex than it appears. The delegation of authority is important because it upholds what I call a ‘AAA (Triple A) rating,’ which highlights three pivotal areas. The first area, that first ‘A,’ is Acknowledgment that one’s experience and knowledge is not all-inclusive. The second ‘A’ is Acceptance, and this has to do with board members accepting and upholding their board governance role. The third ‘A’ is that board members must enact Accountability involving employment terms, outcomes, and objective data. When I talk about this level of accountability, yes, we’re talking about accountability of the superintendent — the board’s employee — but we are also talking about how a board’s commitment to accountability serves as a non-negotiable standard/model for the staff-as-a-whole, under the leadership of the board’s employee.” — Perry Hill IV, Ph.D.
5. The board monitors performance.
The board constantly monitors progress toward district ends and compliance with written board policies using data as the basis for assessment.
A school board that pursues its ends through the delegation of authority has a moral obligation to itself and the community to determine whether that authority is being used as intended.
Unless the board is clear about what it wants, there is no valid way to measure progress and compliance.
A distinction should be made between monitoring data (used by the board for accountability) and management data (used by the staff for operations).
The constructive use of data is a skill that must be learned. The board should have some understanding of data, but will typically require guidance from the staff.
Monitoring is a topic that we spend a lot of time with, working with boards. Monitoring is vital in the conversation when there isn’t clarity around what success is like, or there isn’t clarity about the kinds of questions that would be most helpful or most important for the board to explore and understand. So there are valuable opportunities to spend time on monitoring in board governance, and that connects really well to community engagement because it is not board members’ responsibility to know every little detail, every school-level question. It’s their responsibility to be able to articulate to the community the district goals, to make sense of them, and communicate what you are doing in meeting them, through monitoring. If we clearly identify priorities, whether they’re newer or older, we should be able to answer the question, “How’s it going?” — Arlana Bedard, Ed.D.
6. The board takes responsibility for itself.
The board, collectively and individually, takes full responsibility for board activity and behavior — the work it chooses to do and how it chooses to do the work. Individual board members are obligated to express their opinions and respect others’ opinions; however, board members understand the importance of abiding by the majority decisions of the board.
The school board’s role as trustee for the community is unique and essential to both the district and the community.
While the board must operate within legal parameters, good governance requires the board be responsible for itself, its processes, and contributions. Board deliberations and actions are limited to board work, not staff work.
The board seeks continuity of leadership, even as it experiences turnover in membership. The board accomplishes this by using written board policies to guide board operations, by providing thorough orientation and training for all members, and by nurturing a positive and inviting board culture.
My favorite is Foundational Principle 6 – The board takes responsibility for itself. For me, this is where it all begins. I read an article by Bill Nemir that said the first responsibility of the board is to act like a board, and that has always stuck with me. The board needs to do what it’s supposed to do (governance). Individually, board members need to be respectful, listen, prepare for board meetings, communicate effectively, understand they are one of seven, support the board, abide by the will of the majority, and commit to the work. Trust and communication are so important here. Foundational Principle 6 is about behavior, and human interaction, and working as a team, and group dynamics, and personalities. — Laura Martinez
Theresa Kelly Gegen is the Editor of the Illinois School Board Journal and a Director of Communications for IASB. Resources associated with this piece can be accessed via IASB.com/Journal.