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.

Every school board adopts a unique governing style which affects the way the district is managed. This book identifies some of those styles and examines their potential impact on district administration, and ultimately on student achievement. The book also clarifies the role of school boards in unequivocal terms, discusses board-superintendent relations, and offers several recommendations and critical takeaways for education stakeholders. The author's doctoral research which gave rise to this book shows that a school board's governing style has the potential to affect educational outcomes in consequential ways, particularly in urban districts where the greatest impact was observed. A content outline for a set of professional development modules on school board governance is provided in the book, including an in depth review of the roles and responsibilities of school boards, and some case studies on board-superintendent interaction.

Urban school superintendents face unprecedented challenges. They must ensure that all students achieve a high level of performance despite a lack of resources, the intractable problems of race and poverty, a chaotic governance structure, and the often conflicting demands of teachers, parents, unions, and the community. This important book, edited by the co-directors of the prestigious Harvard Urban Superintendents Program (USP), explores the ways in which superintendents can make a difference in the lives of each child, every day, by being knowledgeable about and driven by what happens in the classroom. The editors and distinguished contributors cover a wide range of vital topics that superintendents face from the day they are hired to the day they retire, such as how superintendents can most effectively communicate their vision, plan strategically, institute instructional reform, engage the community, and allocate resources. The book is filled with illustrative examples of well-known superintendents who are trailblazing new means to achieve educational fairness for all children and are changing the landscape of urban school systems today. In addition, Every Child, Every Classroom, Every Day highlights the Urban Superintendents Program's Leadership Framework, which is designed to aid administrators and educators in decision making and achieving equity. An ancillary CD containing teaching notes and exhibits is also included (in the print edition only) as an aid to teachers who wish to scaffold material discussed in the text. Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file. These materials will be made available for download upon purchase of the digital edition Co-published with Education Week and the American Association of School Administrators.