AASB Workshops: Becoming the best board member you can be through AASB!
Boardsmanship Academy
The Academy sessions held in winter, spring and fall provide comprehensive training on the boards role in School districts. AASB-sponsored training earns school board members and administrators professional development credits and public recognition.
Annual Conference
Held each November, this is the largest gathering of school board members in the state. Conference programs feature renowned speakers, education clinics, and a resolution session that gives the association its direction. Packed with critical information and hands-on training.
Winter Academy
Held in December of each year, these workshops provide information about negotiations, budget and finance, and employee relations.
Leadership Conference
Designed to enhance the skills of present and future board presidents and officers, this top quality program is an opportunity for you to hone skills and become a more effective and productive leader.
AASB's self-assessment is based on Board Standards and performance indicators that have been developed by a broad cross section of Alaskans. AASB staff, during a customized workshop, can facilitate the assessment and help a board develop their own plan for improvement.
Customized Workshops
AASB provides in-district workshops upon request and can tailor the workshop to meet the needs of your board. Suggested workshop topics include: Teamwork, Board/Superintendent Relations, School Board Self-Assessment and Goal Setting
Clear board and superintendent roles
By Joseph Reeves, AASB Associate Executive Director
An article discussing the goals, priorities, and cooperative working relationships of boards and superintendents within a school district.
Advisory School Boards
Do you want your local School Advisory Councils/Boards working more effectively with you on Student Achievement?
(DOWNLOAD AS PDF)
Everyone wants what is best for kids and therefore for the schools. The problem is we don't always agree about what is best for kids and for the schools. Many different people and groups are involved in trying to determine what schools should do. Often times our differences of opinion or just the way we try to communicate our wishes can cause problems for ourselves and for the school district. The relationship between individual advisory school boards and district school boards or even just how they communicate with each other has often caused problems in many school districts.
The active advisory-board, in seeking its own identity and function, too often charts a collision course with the district school board through competition for final decision-making authority relating to school policy. Rare is the advisory board that is content when merely advising. Clearly the school board advisory group relationship deteriorates when the parties struggle to see who will make educational decisions.
The purpose of this idea paper is designed to maintain the integrity of the school board in its right to make final decisions, yet provides insight for advisory groups on how to effectively influence the school board's decision-making process to insure favorable outcomes. The major premise is that the school board, properly approached, will invariably support a well thought out proposal advanced by advisory groups.
Suggested Strategies
Advisory groups should:
1. Plan their goals and activities as well as they expect school boards to plan theirs.
2. Involve school officials and the board members in their planning sessions, just as they want to be involved in the board's sessions--this communication early on solves many potential problems.
3. Follow all of the Board's activities and not just the ones they are interested in. Support of issues not of immediate interest to advisory group concerns could well earn board support in an important area later on. It could also explain why the board voted the way it did on advisory group related items
4. Never be adversarial in attitude toward the district board. Being positive and supportive will be much more productive.
How about a little praise for board members?
Be positive even when the board disagrees--remember next time.
Be honest — be accurate — don't exaggerate!
5. Forget the power plays.
No petitions
Don't pack the meeting with advocates for your cause.
(A substitute to these moves is to suggest a public hearing
be conducted by the board to gain insight into public sentiment.)
6. Learn correct timing.
It is senseless to suggest a major budget expenditure or program revision after the budget has been approved.
It is poor timing to initiate opposition to something after the work sessions and deliberations are over the agenda item is scheduled for approval. Opposition should be voiced, if need be, prior to culmination of work up, public hearings, etc.
Learn when and how to incorporate your ideas into board action.
7. Offer positive, realistic alternatives to board proposals.
Demonstrate support of unpopular decisions when it is clear that there is no other logical course of action.
8. Get to know the board members as people and let them get to know you.Much more exchange of ideas will occur under these circumstances.
Invite board and school officials to discussion groups, coffees, etc.
Honor them at dinners, meetings, etc.
9. Never lose sight of the fact that school board members are elected by the general public to represent the public.
Too often interest groups feel that they, and not the school board, represent the public.
Too often interest groups feel that they, and not the school board, must champion the cause of children.
In summary, advisory boards will be most productive in influencing school board decisions when advisory groups become proficient in creating a no-threat, nonadversarial yet supportive working relationship with that school board.
In everyday language we call this “the powers of persuasion.”
Academic Policy Committee (APC) Charter School Board
AASB is offering two on-site workshops for Academic Policy Committees. The workshops are designed to enhance the APCs boardsmanship skills and guide the APC through a recognized planning process to help the Charter School reach its goals.
School Board Self-Assessment
The school board self assessment, based on board standards and performance indicators developed by a broad cross section of Alaskans in 1998, is now available online. The assessment should be viewed as an opportunity to improve how the board works—not just a critique of its operations. The purpose is to identify expectations and strategies that will help the board and superintendent enhance the performance of the district and improve student outcomes.
This is not meant to be an assessment of individual board members, but of your school board as a whole. Full board participation is important. Begin the process by talking with the other members of your board to agree to participate in the assessment. Skillful handing of the review can result in a discussion that focuses on the identification of potential solutions to a problem, rather than a rehashing of the events or issues that led to a concern.
As always, AASB staff are available for district workshops to help with the review of the assessment and the development of an improvement plan. Contact Joseph Reeves (jreeves [at] aasb [dot] org) or call 907-586-1083 for more information.
Click on link to download these files
Directions — Learn how to score your board for each performance indicator.
Assessment Instrument — Identify expectations and strategies to help the board and superintendent enhance the performance of the district and student outcomes.
Answer Sheet — Score your board for each performance indicator.
Improvement Plan Form — Line out a plan to improve your performance.
