Besides these barriers to progress, female superintendents also tend to experience inordinate amounts of tension from school boards where the board membership composition and interviewers for the superintendent position are primarily male (Czubaj, 2002). In fact, in some American school districts, the perception that women were gaining access to school boards and superintendencies was sufficient cause for citizens to question whether the power of the local school boards should be reduced (Allen & Dillman, 1994)
33). Notwithstanding the myriad educational directives from the states and federal governments, it is the school board members themselves that serve as the local element of education policy making (Asen et al
66). There is also a general consensus among the nation's school board members that one of the most important tasks they have to fulfill is ensuring that the students in their districts are actually learning (Berry & Howell, 2009)
Indeed, some North American school districts have eliminated school boards altogether. In this regard, Bradshaw and Osborne (2009/2010) reported that a growing number of provinces in Canada have either consolidated their school boards or replaced them with a parent advisory group (Bradshaw & Osborne, 2009/2010)
615). Besides these barriers to progress, female superintendents also tend to experience inordinate amounts of tension from school boards where the board membership composition and interviewers for the superintendent position are primarily male (Czubaj, 2002)
(1988) study, with school districts ranging in size from just 31 students to more than 2,100 students; more than 50% of the school districts in the study had fewer than 300 students. The rural school districts included in the study were considered to be representative of an agrarian lifestyle (Ferre et al
Taken together, it is clear that school board members in the United States are faced with some serious challenges in helping their schools improve the quality of the educational services they deliver, and it is little wonder that tension characterizes many of the relationships with other educational stakeholders, and these issues are discussed further below. Tensions between School Board Members and Other Stakeholders The public school system in the United States has been the focus of a growing amount of attention since a Nation at Risk was published in 1983 (Herbert & Beardsley, 2001)
386). Other sources of tension in school boards come from the increasing diversity of student bodies across the country and the lack of a cohesive vision for the nation's schools (Houston & Bryant, 1997)
92). This alternative, though, will be unlikely to succeed to its fullest if the board members do not accept both co-chairs equally (Johnson & Plambeck, 2014)
There were other constraints to the studies concerning school boards and their constituent members during the 1980s. For example, the research methodologies that were used in the few studies of school board members in general and rural school board members in particular that were conducted during this period in American education were largely limited to self-assessments and various types of surveys with just the rare full-scale assessment being used (Kirst, 1994)
Finally, a summary of the research and important findings concerning the evolution of perceptions of school board member roles and sources of tension for school board members concludes the chapter. Evolving Perceptions of School Board Member Roles During the 1980s and early 1990s, the literature concerning perceptions of school board members and their roles generally included an overview of the historical origins and development of the role of school board members, with some researchers beginning their analyses as early as the 1600s, but most report that the origins of what can be generally regarded as the modern school board emerged during the late 19th century (McCloud & McKenzie, 1993)
Based on her analysis, Mountford (2004) concluded that although all school boards are required to perform a number of primary functions, the manner in which each school board operates will differ according to various external factors. Irrespective of how the school board is structured and operated, though, the research to date confirms that all school boards should: (1) reflect on their governance model, (2) make conscious choices concerning how they will achieve their core functions and (3) determine how they will work with leaders and other stakeholders to this end (Mountford, 2004)
Department of Education has initiated regular student testing and started holding schools accountable for their performance (Rodriguez, 2007). These trends have not been limited to urban school districts, but have rather extended into the nation's rural school districts as well, and rural schools are being subjected to increased scrutiny as a result (Nachtigal, 1992)
381). Moreover, in a number of studies, the research during the 1980s and early 1990s was limited to reviews of the secondary data (which was frequently repeated from study to study), empirical observations and anecdotal accounts from the field, thereby limiting the validity and restricting the generalizability of the findings (Neuman, 2003)
434). In other words, school board members not only have a wider range of resources available to them for decision making purposes, they are taking advantage of these resources to facilitate their roles with other educational stakeholders (Newton & Sackney, 2005)
Tensions between School Board Members and Other Stakeholders The public school system in the United States has been the focus of a growing amount of attention since a Nation at Risk was published in 1983 (Herbert & Beardsley, 2001). Since that time, a number of researchers have identified a wide range of educational issues that detract from the quality of the nation's schools (Peterson & West, 2003)
S. Department of Education has initiated regular student testing and started holding schools accountable for their performance (Rodriguez, 2007)
Whether teachers have gone on strike, and, 7. The experience of the superintendent (Sharp, 2002, p
37). By the fin de siecle, progressive reforms in urban regions of the country had improved the quality and quantity of educational services being offered young learners, but the situation in most rural areas of the country remained tied to these community-oriented ideals of the purpose of education, thereby restricting opportunities to the rural school districts of the country (Theobald, 1995)
1). This natural tension also extends to school boards and parents as well as the search for academic best practices continues (Vermette & Foote, 2001)