Building Great School Board-Superintendent Teams: A Systematic Approach to Balancing Roles and Responsibilities

Building Great School Board-Superintendent Teams: A Systematic Approach to Balancing Roles and Responsibilities, by Bradley V. Balch and Michael T. Adamson is a practical and worthwhile read. The authors have captured the essence of teamwork in positioning relationships among school board members as one of unity, mutual trust and respect, open dialogue, and polite debate in focusing on the centrality of student learning across a school district. As a former school superintendent and member of a number of institutional and corporate boards, it was easy to recognize that the text focused on effective strategies for establishing strong relations between school boards and their superintendents from an ethics perspective. The emphasis upon inducting new superintendents or board members into the process of collaborative decision-making and providing tools for ongoing professional development for building, bonding, and binding the school board-superintendent team into a successful collaborative relationship is both practical and welcome. The word choice of great in the title supports the belief that effective service to those across the school district leads to greatness in the school community. The authors appropriately informed future readers of the legal, political, social, cultural, economic, and relational aspects for building highly functional teams focused on high-achieving schools across the district. The focus on the appropriate roles and responsibilities for each team member, open communication, creating a shared vision, systems thinking, and continuous improvement aligned very nicely with current research, knowledge, and best practices from a practical perspective. Building a unified team, harmonious relationships, and a strategic plan for the leadership and governance of the school district with a focus on student learning is thread running throughout the book. The professional development activities throughout the book provide worthwhile action learning for any superintendent and board member desiring to be a collaborative and committed member of the team. It is notable that the authors have addressed the issue of rogue and toxic board members that tend to plague a high percentage of school board-superintendent teams across the country. Teams need to have the ability to engage in problem framing, solution finding, critical thinking, and reflective practice tailored to real school or district needs. My hope would be that superintendents and school board members would commit the time to engage in the team learning activities created for the professional development of school-board-superintendent teams using this book. I recommend, without reservation, superintendents, assistant superintendents, and board members to study this book.

This book is well written and very informative. The authors not only educate us about the governing of schools, they emphasize the role of the superintendent and school board within that process. They then delve deeper and present methods that will assist superintendents and school boards in effective collaboration for the ultimate benefit of students. The section on working with new board members is very helpful as well. The authors address ways of remedying or improving situations with rogue board members. Lesson-plan type activities are provided to assist board members and superintendent in building solid working relationships. By reading this book, I have been able to obtain answers to many questions that have arisen during my tenure as a public school superintendent. It is an easy, comfortable read that addresses the needs of school boards and superintendents.

As a professional school board governance trainer with the Illinois Association of School Boards, I highly recommend this book for governance teams. Balch and Adamson do a tremendous job in describing how the key to good board governance is rooted in team member relationships and the governance team's commitment to continuous professional development. This book offers timely practical advice on areas of board training as well as various team-building exercises. This book should be required reading for all governance teams. ~ Dr. Patrick Rice, Director Field Services, IASB

I bought the boat for class. Informative

Authors Bradley Balch and Michael Adamson bring excellent strategies to school boards and superintendents about ways to promote strong working relationships and collegiality. I especially liked the information presented in Chapter 4 about communication styles and effective ways to communicate with the public. School Board teams can use the professional development activities shared in the text for leadership workshops and administrative retreats. Excellent book for superintendents and school board members! Dr. K. Goeller, Deputy Superintendent