The School Board Member's Guidebook Becoming a Difference Maker for Your District

Every student deserves a high-impact, well-qualified, and governance-driven school board. In this helpful book, best-selling authors Ryan Donlan and Todd Whitaker show you as a school board member how to make smart, worthwhile decisions that will lead to positive change in your district. The School Board Member?s Guidebook addresses the challenges of making realistic choices that will truly benefit the school and have a lasting impact. Topics include:

• How to work and communicate effectively with the superintendent during the year;
• How to find common ground with colleagues;
• How to represent the interests and needs of the community at large;
• How to keep your constituencies focused and informed through strategic planning and structured committee participation;
• How to host constructive and cordial school board meetings;
• How to capitalize on individual talents and strengths;
• And more!

Each chapter offers strategies, tips, and sample scenarios. With these resources and the practical advice throughout the book, you?ll be able to make a lasting difference in the lives of every student in your district. You?ll be a Difference Maker.

Chapter 1: The Difference Maker

Chapter 2: How to Find Common Ground

Chapter 3: How to Maximize Constituencies

Chapter 4: How to Communicate with and Manage Constituencies

Chapter 5: What Boards of Education Are Really About

Chapter 6: How Boards Can Govern More Effectively

Chapter 7: The Superintendent as Your Shield

Chapter 8: The Care and Feeding of Community Members

Chapter 9: Holding Board Meetings

Chapter 10: Between Board Meetings

Chapter 11: Community Caricatures

Chapter 12: Board Professional Development

Chapter 13: Starting Undefeated

Epilogue

Ryan Donlan is an associate professor of educational leadership at Indiana State University, USA, and specializes in helping schools with leadership and governance. He has authored or coauthored five books, including Minds Unleashed: How Principals Can Lead the Right-BrainedWay.

Todd Whitaker is a professor of educational leadership at the University of Missouri, USA. He is a leading presenter in the field of education and has written more than 40 books, including the national best seller, What Great Teachers Do Differently.