RGA for Urban School Boards provides comprehensive training to board-superintendent teams from America’s largest districts.
Modeled after the Harvard Kennedy School’s training for new mayors and new members of Congress, this two-year Reform Governance® in Action program specifically trains school board-superintendent teams to establish a wide range of efficient and effective policies and processes that improves board operations, strengthens management oversight, and directly improves learning opportunities for students.
With participation by invitation only, RGA is based on strong demonstrated leadership and a willingness to work collectively and rigorously to improve learning opportunities for students. District teams attend as guests of The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, a national venture philanthropy established by entrepreneur and philanthropist Eli Broad to advance entrepreneurship for the public good in education, science, and the arts. The Broad Foundation’s education work is focused on dramatically improving urban K-12 public education through better governance, management, labor relations, and competition.
RGA focuses on learning through case studies, large and small group discussions, and presentations. It includes four off-site training institutes and 10 on-site consulting visits. The training is divided into four phases. The first phase, Building Blocks, lays the foundation and features the complexities inherent in the working relationship between schools boards and superintendents. The second phase, Theory of Action, probes the complex issue of redesign. The Reform Leadership phase highlights how proactive boards can be in writing reform-oriented policies. And the fourth phase, Sustainability, gives boards the tools and strategies they need to sustain good practices and reform momentum in their districts.
Participants dig deeply into the real challenges facing urban governance teams struggling to improve student achievement, district operations, and civic capacity. Teams evaluate the effectiveness of their current district policies and practices, develop new approaches, connect their districts to best practices nationwide, and determine how to measure their progress. Nine out of ten participants rate the case studies and consultation provided during the program as valuable or highly valuable.
Attendees also learn directly from leading school board members and other education experts nationwide and from one another, intensely debating various education reform approaches and working through challenging scenarios. District teams provide one another with critically useful feedback on their own board policy drafts prior to final board approval, sharing best practices across school districts.
To date, the training has been provided to 149 school board members, superintendents, and senior administrators, representing 39 of the 100 districts eligible for Broad funding. These districts serve about 3.3 million children.
The Broad Foundation underwrites 80 percent of all program costs through a grant to CRSS. The district is responsible for costs associated with the consultant’s fee, travel, and materials for the ten on-site visits.
At CRSS, we believe that urban boards of education can and must accept responsibility for preparing each and every child under their jurisdiction for success in life. We also believe that improving urban school districts through Reform Governance® is the most effective way to create good schools for all children.
We recognize that effective governance does not guarantee these outcomes. Closing the achievement gap requires a national commitment and the alignment of all those working to educate children. But without good governance, the achievement gap will never be closed.
Our vision is:
Contact us to learn more about RGA for Urban School Boards and how it could dramatically improve your district.