Documents

The study is a follow-on study to the Dissatisfaction Theory research. The research question is whether there is a relationship between board member and superintendent turnover and student achievement. A secondary research question is whether the size of the district is a factor in the effects of turnover on student achievement. Additional research questions address the effect of turnover on policy and on the system. The reasons for board members and superintendents leaving were categorized as either “political” or “apolitical”.

The longitudinal analysis of board and superintendent turnover over a period of 8 years in Washington State used the state’s criterion-referenced test to gauge changes in student achievement. [Conference presentation - Summary]

In this chapter we explore the relationship of the board of education and district superintendent in an era of reform and eroding public confidence. [Abstract]

While previous research provides insight into the link between factors like public opinion and local spending, it does not tell us much about the electoral mechanism itself or how it may influence the makeup and behavior of school boards. [Abstract]

The question of whether elected dysfunctional large urban school district boards should be replaced or substantially restructured is a serious policy question impacting the lives of million of students. [Abstract]

This chapter offers a review of the few studies offering empirical evidence showing a link between school boards and student performance. Findings include a connection between student test scores and politically motivated school board turnover particularly in smaller districts. [Abstract]

The public cry for improved achievement and accountability in public schools and the traditional lack of board involvement in issues related to student achievement create an urgent need to clearly understand the leadership role of the board as it relates to improving student. [Abstract]

The author provides a retrospective of school board research themes from the time of the 1975 school board symposium. The author includes major theoretical advances in school board research and concludes that there are few empirical works that extend governance models past those originally prior to the 1970s. [Abstract]

This descriptive case study highlights the problems created when a three-two majority alliance was formed on the five-member board of trustees of the Northville School District, a medium-sized (10,250 students), suburban/urban, elementary (PreK-8) school district in Southern California. The crisis began when the newly-formed three member Board Majority were presented with and then spurned a legal mandate to revise the District’s Uniform Complaint Procedure Policy (UCPP). This mandated revision would have assured compliance to new state and federal laws that granted “protected class status” to transgender and transsexual students. [Abstract]

The Lighthouse I Study was conducted from 1998-2000 in the state of Georgia. This technical report, presented at AERA in 2001, describes in detail the research methodology, the data collected, the analysis and the findings.

The first Lighthouse Study was conducted between 1998 and 2000 in the state of Georgia. This one-page summary describes the results.