The purpose of this study was to investigate school board relevancy in the 21st century through their behavior and decision making in the fiscal environment of California’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), specifically through the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP), which consciously links student achievement and funding. The perception of school board presidents and community, as represented by the superintendents and DAC/DELAC Chairpersons, were explored through interviews of all three groups and review of school board meeting minutes and LCAP records to determine if perception and implementation coincided. Based on this research, school boards appear to be on the right path to implementing LCAP-related policies and goals, which have the potential to influence student learning and achievement in significant ways. However, data also suggest that the districts and charters studied possess differing levels of understanding of LCAP and LCFF and require additional education in the LCAP, as well as in their knowledge of effective teaching practices, the role of professional development in supporting student achievement, data, understanding goal measurements, and their role in supporting student achievement. The definitive test of school board relevance, as it applies to implementation of LCAP, requires allowing time for districts/charters to increasingly improve their development, implementation, and assessment of LCAP. Only politics and time will decide if LCFF, which supports research based practices for school policy and leadership, will continue on track to provide a mechanism solidifying school boards’ role in running public school systems, thus confirming their relevancy in the 21st century.

What counterintuitive lessons can we learn from the meteoric rise of Mindset Theory in education? Why have computers so overwhelmingly failed to become the academic panacea many expected them to be? How can the simple act of assigning grades drive student narcissism and damage teacher professionalism? In this book, brain and behavioural research is combined with respected philosophy in order to place ten widely accepted yet rarely examined aspects of education under the microscope. - Teacher Expertise - Evidence-Based Practice - Grading - Homework - Mindset - 21st Century Skills - Computers - Rewards - Daily Organization - Function This book aims to inspire teachers, leaders, and parents to question many commonly held beliefs and empower them to re-think the role of modern schooling.

"Educational leaders are empowered by a 7-steps framework to move their schools and districts forward in a quest to create community consensus and build the professional capacity for preparing students for 21st century learning."--Book cover.

Guidance in effective school board function.

The Relevance of the Humanities to the 21st Century Workplace provides a blueprint for higher education faculty, boards, presidents, senior leaders, parents, students, recent graduates, and other stakeholders. Upon examining the state of humanities today, it becomes rather obvious that six disconnects exists. Colleges have done a poor job helping people outside the academy understand the terms liberal arts, humanities, liberal education, and liberal arts colleges (The Explanation Disconnect). Liberal arts and humanities faculty, as well as presidents, boards, and other stakeholders misunderstand the relevance of the humanities to the workplace (The Comprehension Disconnect). Higher education institutions need to improve how humanities majors translate their value to the marketplace (The Translation Disconnect). Administrators, faculty, and staff need to think differently and provide humanities majors with a modern perspective on career opportunities (The Perception Disconnect). In order for humanities majors to maintain relevance in the 21st century workplace, institutions need to teach students the dynamics involved with pursuing a vocation (The Vocation Disconnect). Finally, institutions need to help humanities majors increase their self-awareness in order for them to engage in self-determination and prepare for life after college accordingly (The Cultivation Disconnect).

The Future of School Board Governance combines theoretical debate as well as empirical evidence of the effectiveness and relevancy of local school boards today. Original theorists of competing school board governance theories, current researchers, and researcher/practitioners provided the latest empirical data about the role of school boards as well as applications for practitioners in the field. Such a combination of readings is rarely found in a single volume. This book has a unique and distinguished set of contributors representing a virtual Who's Who among governance researchers. Many of these authors represent the major school governance theorists of the 20th century. While other books generally include only scholars from a single academic field, this list of authors includes some of the top scholars in the fields of political science, educational administration, and sociology. The authors also come from the practitioner field including numerous former school administrators, school board members and state associate directors representing over 200 years of collective experience in K-12 education.

A Brookings Institution Press with the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and the Center for American Progress publication America's fragmented, decentralized, politicized, and bureaucratic system of education governance is a major impediment to school reform. In this important new book, a number of leading education scholars, analysts, and practitioners show that understanding the impact of specific policy changes in areas such as standards, testing, teachers, or school choice requires careful analysis of the broader governing arrangements that influence their content, implementation, and impact. Education Governance for the Twenty-First Century comprehensively assesses the strengths and weaknesses of what remains of the old in education governance, scrutinizes how traditional governance forms are changing, and suggests how governing arrangements might be further altered to produce better educational outcomes for children. Paul Manna, Patrick McGuinn, and their colleagues provide the analysis and alternatives that will inform attempts to adapt nineteenth and twentieth century governance structures to the new demands and opportunities of today. Contents: Education Governance in America: Who Leads When Everyone Is in Charge?, Patrick McGuinn and Paul Manna The Failures of U.S. Education Governance Today, Chester E. Finn Jr. and Michael J. Petrilli How Current Education Governance Distorts Financial Decisionmaking, Marguerite Roza Governance Challenges to Innovators within the System, Michelle R. Davis Governance Challenges to Innovators outside the System, Steven F. Wilson Rethinking District Governance, Frederick M. Hess and Olivia M. Meeks Interstate Governance of Standards and Testing, Kathryn A. McDermott Education Governance in Performance-Based Federalism, Kenneth K. Wong The Rise of Education Executives in the White House, State House, and Mayor’s Office, Jeffrey R. Henig English Perspectives on Education Governance and Delivery, Michael Barber Education Governance in Canada and the United States, Sandra Vergari Education Governance in Comparative Perspective, Michael Mintrom and Richard Walley Governance Lessons from the Health Care and Environment Sectors, Barry G. Rabe Toward a Coherent and Fair Funding System, Cynthia G. Brown Picturing a Different Governance Structure for Public Education, Paul T. Hill From Theory to Results in Governance Reform, Kenneth J. Meier The Tall Task of Education Governance Reform, Paul Manna and Patrick McGuinn