What School Boards Can Do
Reform Governance for Urban
Schools
Donald R. McAdams
Foreword by Rod Paige
“Based on rich
experience and deep thought, this book offers a governance theory that is more
than best practices on how effective boards work; it is also a guide to what
boards should be doing.”
—From
the Foreword by Rod Paige, former
U.S. Secretary of Education
“Excellent…this book is
a must read not only for urban school board members and superintendents, but
for every governor, legislator, and staff member who wants to make a difference
for the children of America.”
—Anne L.
Bryant, Executive Director, National School Boards Association
To provide essential
guidance to urban school board members committed to high achievement for all
children, Don McAdams presents a comprehensive approach to board leadership he
calls reform governance. This accessible framework brings together all the work
of an urban school board, including everything from big ideas about core
beliefs and theories of action for change, to the fundamental relationships and
processes through which boards and superintendents work together, and the
leadership role boards have in building community support for sustained change.
Taking into account the hot political arena of urban education, reform
governance:
· Helps school board members understand why it is
necessary to redesign urban districts and what their role in the process should
be.
· Sets forth principles that boards can use as guides
to action, and gives real-life examples of how they work.
· Shows how a strong board and superintendent team
can work together to be agents for change.
Chapters:
1. Why Boards Must Lead
2. Reform
Governance: An Overview
3. Core
Beliefs and Commitments
4. Theories of Action for Change
5. Roles, Responsibilities, and Relationships
6. Building Blocks of Reform Governance
7. Policy
Development and Oversight
8. Policies
to Transform
9. Building Civic Capacity and Transition
Planning
10. Board
Leadership
Donald R. McAdams is president of the Center for Reform of School
Systems. He is the author of Fighting to
Save Our
January
2006/192pp./Paperback, $31.95, ISBN: 0-8077-4648-7