Office
Mailing
Phone
549 Court Street
PO Box 14855
775/657-8411
and leaders to ask questions about our Nevada students.
NASB is working on another data aide for school board
members and other policymakers, designed to answer
basic questions about our students and their families.
We anticipate getting this information to each board
member in early February. The Nevada Students and
Families publication will address many of the questions
that Dr. Barr advised us to answer.
Reno, NV 89501
Reno, NV 89507
Fax 775/453-1017
Supporting Success for All Students through
Local School Board Leadership
Dr. Barr’s message clearly aligns with my own goal to
emphasize literacy during my term as NASB President.
As I wrote in the January President Message, it is my goal
to lead by example in encouraging reading and literacy,
by reviewing a book in each President’s Message this
year.
A
Message
from
NASB’s
President
February’s book is Catching Up or Leading the Way:
American Education in the Age of Globalization, by
Yong Zhao. I first read this book as an involved parent in
2009. I will mention two other books in this review of Dr.
Zhao’s book. They are The Coming Jobs War, by Jim
Clifton, and The Silicon Boys, by David A. Kaplan.
Six years after its publication, some of the ideas put forth
in Catching Up or Leading the Way remain largely
unexplored in our country’s efforts to change our schools
for the better.
As I mentioned in the January President Message, I plan
to focus on literacy during my term as your NASB
President. By that I mean literacy across the spectrum,
literacy for our children, their families, and for us as
board members.
This month’s review begins with a long quote from the
preface, written by Dr. Zhao in January 2009:
This book is about education in America but it began
as a book about education in China…. I was going to
write about China’s efforts to decentralize curriculum
and textbooks, diversify assessment and testing, and
encourage local autonomy and innovations in order to
cultivate creativity and well-rounded talents. But … I
realized that what China wants is what America is
eager to throw away – an education that respects
individual talents, supports divergent thinking,
tolerates deviation, and encourages creativity; a
system in which the government does not dictate what
students learn or how teachers teach; and a culture
that does not rank or judge the success of a school, a
teacher, or a child based on only test scores in a few
subjects determined by the government.
Special thanks to the 62 board members, charter school
advocates, superintendents, and others who attended the
NASB 24-Hour School Board Member Orientation, Part I,
on January 23 and 24. On Friday evening, the group was
addressed by Dr. Robert Barr [former Dean of Education
at Boise State University and Oregon State University], a
nationally recognized expert about teaching, particularly
educating children who live in poverty.
Dr. Barr shared some data that may have startled some
of those attending the Orientation. Seventy percent of
the fastest growing jobs require education behind high
school. Forty percent of all new jobs will require at least
an associate’s degree. “A high school diploma is no
longer enough to guarantee a good job.” Dr. Barr argues
that education is the only door of opportunity for children
who live in poverty. He stressed over and over that the
new pathway for success requires that every student
must learn to read, read well, and read early. Learning
to read and literacy have life-long implications. Dr. Barr
shared this quote from Cesar Chavez: “You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read.”
Having grown up in China, [and] experienced the
Chinese education system as both a student and
teacher…I understand the reasons behind its reforms.
China is determined to transform from a laborintensive, low-level manufacturing economy into an
innovation-driven knowledge society. An innovationdriven society is driven by innovative people.
We know that low levels of literacy are powerful
predictors of welfare dependency, incarceration, and
substance abuse, and interventions come at a high cost
for taxpayers. Dr. Barr encouraged us as board members
Zhao begins the book with a direct look at America’s
reform efforts. He writes that early 21st century reform
in America is defined by two assumptions:
1
scale of that documented by Clifton, the technology
revolution sparked by the young men whom David A.
Kaplan named, The Silicon Boys. Zhao does write,
America needs a citizenry of creative individuals with a
wide range of talents to sustain its tradition of
innovation. Americans need talents and abilities that
are not available at a lower price elsewhere on earth.
1. Excellence equals good test scores in math and
reading, and
2. Standards- and test-based accountability is the
tool to achieve such excellence,
and that its aim is to narrow or eliminate two gaps:
1. Gaps in achievement between groups within our
own population, and
2. Gaps in achievement between our American
students and students nationwide.
From his description of “the value of individuals” and his
call to nurture “a diversity of talent” in chapter 3, to his
offering of a more robust set of five potential reform
assumptions in Chapter 7 and analysis of what schools
should change to look like in Chapter 9, to his reminder
in the very last sentence of his afterword that “our sons
and daughters … will live in a time that is different from
ours,” Zhao subtly invites us to ponder what might have
happened to America at the crisis point that Clifton
explores, had those “silicon boys” been educated under
today’s narrow reform assertions.
Zhao warns that the assumptions could be inadvertently
widening gaps inside our country, by paying too little
attention to child poverty and its effects on learning, and
by paying too little attention to various difficult-tomeasure forms of talent and potential of young
Americans who are currently on the wrong side of the
poverty gap. In this regard, Zhao and Dr. Robert Barr
are in 100% agreement.
Zhao also warns that America does a poor job of
recognizing and addressing various types of “resource
gaps” in schools that serve impoverished and minority
students, another point emphasized by Dr. Barr.
As we give thought to both our poverty gap at home and
the “job robbers” label that is sometimes assigned to
foreigners by Americans pushing for reform on the global
competitiveness platform (a characterization Zhao
condemns as competition for the wrong jobs), perhaps
these are among the questions we as school board
members ought to be asking:
What will happen to America if our students see
the world as filled not so much with potential “job
robbers” as a world with potential friends, partners,
customers and fellow collaborators?
What will happen if each of America’s kids
becomes equipped to use his or her own talents to
help create a niche in which those individuals across
the world obtain what they are looking for?
Zhao then asserts that the global gaps that really matter
are (or were at the turn of the century, before the reform
assumptions dominated American decision making) gaps
in the areas of creativity and of actual literacy in science
and other subjects (as opposed to ability to test well).
He develops the idea that perhaps the United States
owes its long-held position at the forefront of global
society to the fact that it has for many decades been on
the upper side of the creativity and depth-of-knowledge
gaps, and that international testing gaps are not valuable
decision points.
In March, I plan to review Dr. Marguerite Roza’s book
Educational Economics: Where Do School Funds
Go? and some of her subsequent work on school-based
budgeting.
He cites analysis that shows either a negative (inverse)
correlation or a non-correlation between countries’
historical performance on international standardized tests
and their respective innovation and global economic
position. He warns that America may be racing into
education practices China has proven dysfunctional, and
that we may thus only qualify our young people for nonopportunities like the engineering jobs that thousands of
young people in India will already do for under $8,000
per year.
Let me close with another word of special appreciation to
those who attended the NASB 24-Hour School Board
Member Orientation, Part I, on January 23-24. As a
reminder, Part II of the Orientation will be offered on
April 10 and 11 in Reno at the Hyatt Place Hotel. Watch
for information about the program and the registration
form to be distributed in early February.
Somewhat like Jim Clifton’s look back in his book, The
Coming Jobs War, at America’s then-dire need for what
became the technology revolution, Zhao looks back
further on a global economic revolution near the turn of
the last century, and the need for change in education
then. In chapters 5 and 6, he explores globalization and
technology challenges that our young people must turn
into victories. He then shares analysis and potential
answers to this question: In a globalized, digital society,
what knowledge is of most worth?
The content in Part II will be just as targeted and helpful
as the content in Part I, with an emphasis on financial
matters including revenues, budgeting, the Nevada Plan,
and the Distributive School Account. In addition, we will
spend more time on the Nevada Academic Content
Standards, assessment, and student data. One section
that I am looking forward to will help us as board
members understand more about how literacy is being
addressed by our classroom teachers across the State.
Zhao does not directly assert that in order to survive,
America must author another global breakthrough on the
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This will be another great opportunity for professional
development for all school board members. Here’s what
one school board member wrote about the January 23-24
Orientation, Part I, “Great, varied content that covered
some very essential topics for new board members (and
a good refresher for the more experienced ones)! This
was a very worthwhile use of my time.” Another
attendee commented that “this Orientation was amazing!
So glad I came.”
Please feel free to call me with your questions or
concerns about the important work we are doing across
Nevada as School Board Trustees.
Erin Cranor
NASB President [Clark]
702/266-6890
PLAN AHEAD!
2015
NASB CONFERENCE
November 20-21
24-Hour School Board Member
Orientation, Part II
April 10-11, 2015
NASB GOVERNANCE MEETINGS
November 19
Reno—Hyatt Place Hotel
Registration Deadline
March 27, 2015
Reno—Atlantis Hotel Casino Spa
Resort
Award Nomination Forms Available
May 1, 2015
Deadline for Submission
August 14, 2015
Commentary—New
Perspectives on Board
Service
Executive Committee Meeting,
April 10 from Noon to 200pm
Joint Meeting,
April 10 from 200pm to 400pm
By Steve Horton
As the son of a school district superintendent, I grew up
acutely aware of boards of education. In my father’s 20plus years as a school administrator, he had the privilege
of working with many wonderful and highly effective
board members.
For room reservations at the reduced
NASB-negotiated rate, call
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before March 27, 2015
However, I also learned that there were certainly enough
problematic board members to go around, and I
remember asking Dad why he had to work for a board?
3
After all, couldn’t he do his job better if he did not have
to deal with all of these board members?
perspective. I now get to look at boards and
superintendents “close up,” yet still from the outside.
His answer has served me well. He explained that it is
important for the community to be involved in public
education and that he, as superintendent, needed to
know what people in his district wanted from their
schools and how he could help meet those expectations.
He pointed out how important the board was in that
process and how vital it was that he worked with board
members, even if he did not always agree with them.
There are no general statements to be made about
observations of various school boards, but one consistent
point rises to the surface in many instances. That is, the
effect of an overly ambitious, overly passionate, overly
vocal board member can be very disruptive and even
damaging. Typically, that person is not really aware of
the discontent he or she is causing. In fact, most often
that board member feels he or she is doing most of the
heavy lifting.
Now, fast-forward a few years to when I found myself
wondering if I should take the plunge into the vast ocean
of board service. In my board candidate mind, I was
going to single-handedly solve a very clear disconnect
among the community, the board, and the schools. I was
going to lead an effort to restore the community’s trust in
the district’s leadership and bring student pride back to
where it was when I was a student there. I could almost
see myself with a giant “S” on my chest! Yeah…right.
Board service absolutely requires passion and
commitment. I am in no way advocating for the status
quo, or that boards should go with the tide of majority
opinion simply because it is the easiest path. Consider
the case of the horrible boss. Seemingly all of us have
worked for this person at one time or another. When do
harsh words, coarse actions, or rash behavior ever
inspire trust or confidence in leadership?
What I discovered is that I had a lot to learn. Despite my
zeal to effect change and move my district forward, I was
to become one of five board members. This is not news
to veteran board members, but it is often not a clear
reality to those who are newly elected. I learned that as
smart as I thought I was, I was not all that smart, and
when you are actually a board member, as well
intentioned as you may be, simple principles of
boardsmanship are easily fouled up.
Here is my take-away. Having learned from my roles as a
student, teacher, parent, community member, board
member, and now a board services consultant, it is clear
the most effective board leadership teams are those that
can and do disagree. Through all that, however, the
good ones learn to communicate with each other, the
community, and superintendent in a clear, concise,
respectful, and honest way.
Perhaps most importantly, I learned that every story,
situation, and relationship has at least two sides. The
truth is never squarely on one side or the other and
rarely is it in the middle. In reality, it is always
somewhere in between, or is a combination of different
pieces of each perspective. Perhaps the most jarring
realization is how often that which seemed so clear and
apparent was so often so far from the truth. This is
politics and, sadly, politics plays far too great a role in
the work of school boards, the work we say we are doing
on behalf of our students.
As I often say, “If it was
easy, everyone would do
it.” In this case, if everyone
did do it (that is, go about
board work in the right
ways), we would have far
more effective boards of
education, show our
communities far greater
leadership, and perhaps
see far better public school
systems.
Fast-forward yet again. I recently joined the Oregon
School Board Association as a school board services
consultant. Here, I am gaining an entirely new
[Steve Horton is a school board services consultant with the
Oregon School Boards Association. This article originally
appeared in the OSBA Journal, December 2013.]
4
Boards of education cannot lead a district forward
if that district is characterized by internal strife,
whether among board members or among
administration and staff, or a combination of the
two.
Abraham
Lincoln’s
Words
Define Board
Leadership Well
School board members need to have a clear vision of
where the district wants to go and what the results need
to look like. In order to accomplish those results,
especially in terms of student achievement, the board
needs to select a leader who shares that vision, form a
trusting leadership team and then empower that
superintendent to form alliances to get the district
moving toward the desired results.
Decisions made by school board members or
superintendents may not have the magnitude of those
faced by President Abraham Lincoln preceding and during
the Civil War, but they are decisions that affect the
education of their community’s children—those often
referred to as “a most precious resource.” The following
Lincoln quotes can serve as a leadership framework for
school board members. It seems only fitting to share this
information in 2009 as the nation celebrates the 200th
anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth.
Balcony Perspective
"I am compelled to take a more impartial and
unprejudiced view of things. Without claiming to be
your superior, which I do not, my position enables me
to understand my duty in all these matters better than
you possibly can, and I hope you do not yet doubt my
integrity."—Lincoln's closing comments in a letter of
support for General-in-Chief Henry Halleck to a close
friend who urged his dismissal (May 26, 1863).
Public’s Pulse
“His cardinal mistake is that he isolates himself, and
allows nobody to see him; and by which he does not
know what is going on in the very matter he is dealing
with.”—Lincoln’s reason for relieving General John C.
Fremont from his command in Missouri (September 9,
1861).
Sometimes the only way to understand the issues
devoid of the personalities involved is to take what
is called a "balcony perspective." Effective board
members, working at a policy level, should concern
themselves with the vision, mission and goals of
the district and leave the day-to-day operational
functions of the district to staff.
Leaders must get out among their constituents and know
what is going on in order to be effective. They cannot
afford to isolate themselves from the general public or
act believing they know what is in the public good, when
a majority of the sentiment is obviously the other way.
Richard Broholm and Douglas Johnson described the
position leaders should take as follows in A Balcony
Perspective: Clarifying the Trustee Role: "While staff
must pay attention to the trees, trustees can look at the
whole forest."
Being well informed and knowing the public’s pulse
is especially important for school board members.
This connection can be as informal as listening to a
constituent in the grocery store, as formal as
initiating community study circles or something
that falls somewhere between the two.
A mere 59 pages, this book is based on teachings by
Robert Greenleaf, a former AT&T employee who authored
a series of essays on servant leadership, and Ronald
Heifetz, who taught leadership skills at the JFK School of
Government. It provides a wealth of information
interspersed with true-life stories.
Assembling a Team
“A house divided against itself cannot stand. Our case
must be entrusted to, and conducted by its own
undoubted friend—whose hands are free, whose
hearts are in the work—who do care for the result.”—
Lincoln’s remarks from “A House Divided” speech in
which he accepted the nomination for U.S. Senator at
the Republican State Convention in Springfield, Illinois
(June 16, 1858).
Holding No Grudges
"I shall do nothing in malice. What I deal with is too
vast for malicious dealing."—Lincoln's comments in a
letter about readmission of Louisiana to the Union
(July 28, 1862).
Lincoln had many problems with his leadership team,
including friction among his cabinet members. However,
he was adept at creating a strong alliance among the
people that he needed to move forward.
Community members may decide to be candidates
for the school board because they're unhappy
about something. They'd like to fire a coach. They
want a school boundary changed more to their
liking. They want a different superintendent.
5
Those who are elected on a single issue may find
themselves in a quandary once that issue has been
decided. If a successful coach is fired or a new
superintendent is hired, they may be left with three years
in a school board term without a focus for their energies.
weigh all the different perspectives and then reach
a decision that will be the most beneficial for the
district. Sometimes those decisions can be
unpopular with factions that seek to serve their
own interests.
Being mad or getting even is not a good reason to
run for the board. Staying mad and creating unease
during meetings is not an effective way to
approach board work. The issues are just too big
and too important to be ruled by negative emotion.
Board members always face public accountability through
the media, but now the advent of blogging on the
Internet has brought a new way, sometimes an
anonymous way, for the public to take jabs at board
decisions.
Better Slow Than Sorry
"Take time and think well upon this
subject." "Nothing valuable can be
lost by taking time." "Delay is
ruining us." "Time is everything."
"Please act in view of this."
"Make haste slowly."—Lincoln giving
seemingly contradictory advice to
different followers in different
situations (May 1861 to July 1862).
The board's venue is policy work—detecting the
wishes of the community and reflecting those
wishes in policies that can be carried out by the
administration. If the board understands its duty,
the likelihood diminishes that it will be drawn into
micromanagement issues—even though some in
the community would like to see that happen.
Speaking with One Voice
"Some single mind must be master, else there will be
no agreement in anything … ."—Part of Lincoln's firm
stance regarding new elections in Arkansas (February
17, 1864).
As elected officials you have realized by now that not
every issue that comes to the board is black and white.
School board members often deal in the gray areas
where there is no right or wrong, just different
perceptions.
Once a vote is taken and a decision is made, that
decision becomes the will of the board. To have
members second-guessing a decision or continually
bringing up an issue that a clear majority have
declined to endorse undermines the authority of
the board to govern, as well as undermining the
level of trust that a board needs to govern
effectively.
When faced with tough decisions, speed and
decisiveness are not always best. While school
districts often are criticized for being bureaucratic
organizations that are as difficult to steer into a
different course as a giant ship on the ocean, some
decisions…especially those dealing with issues like
reorganizing the district's boundaries or
consolidating with another district…are best made
after much thoughtful consideration and not in the
heat of the moment.
While it is important for board members to be able to
express their opinions on the various issues that the
district faces, it's also important that the board ultimately
speaks with one clear voice. Some boards select a
spokesperson, possibly the board president, to handle
media inquiries and answer questions. Others allow board
members to speak freely with the media.
But boards also should remember that sometimes an
issue can be talked to death while a problem is left to
fester. The distinction comes from being able to move
decisively when such action is demanded but being able
to weigh the issues carefully before making a
decision…and then striking the right balance.
However your board chooses, the board, the district and
the community are best served if they present a unified
picture once a decision has been put to a vote.
Making Tough Decisions
"Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false
accusations against us, nor frightened from it by
menaces of destruction to the government, nor of
dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that right
makes might, and in that faith let us to the end dare to
do our duty as we understand it."—Closing statement
of Lincoln's Cooper Institute Address, in which he
encouraged party members to hold fast to their beliefs
(February 27, 1860).
Know Where You're Going
"I think Lee's army, and not Richmond, is your true
objective point. Fight him when opportunity offers. If
he stays where he is, fret him, and fret him."—Lincoln's
response to General Joe Hooker, who'd asked for
permission to advance on the confederate capital rather
than engage the enemy in combat (June 10, 1863).
Setting a clear direction for the district is essential
for success and an important part of the school
board's role. It's like picking out a prize and then
staying focused on obtaining it.
The job of a school board member is not one that
everyone understands. A board member must
6
While the prize is the vision, the exact route of how
to get to that prize is best left to the district's
administration…unless, of course, the "route" has
nothing to do with the ultimate prize.
Thanks to NASB’s Generous Corporate
Sponsors…Supporting Professional
Development for Nevada
School Board Members
Lincoln was making it clear to his general as to the
"prize" he wanted—Lee's army. Having control of
Richmond, while a notable objective, would not
accomplish the vision: Taking the Confederacy's leading
general out of the fight.
United Front
"I can't spare this man. He fights."—Lincoln's response
to critics who urged the dismissal of General Ulysses
Grant after the battle of Shiloh, where Grant had been
rumored to be drunk (April 1862).
In addition to setting policy for the district, the
school board has one employee—the
superintendent. Once a superintendent has been
hired, the board needs to be clear about the
expectations it has for that superintendent and the
district. And then it should hold the superintendent
responsible for attaining those expectations.
Just as Lincoln trusted Grant to get the job done, even
though he had detractors, the board needs to trust the
superintendent, all the while holding him or her
accountable for progress toward the district's goals.
Flexibility
"Still the question recurs: 'Can we do better?' The
dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the story
present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we
must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we
must think anew, and act anew."—Lincoln, in his Annual
Message to Congress, exhorting its members to join him
in a united venture to be conducted by the executive and
legislative branches of government (December 1, 1862).
Organizations need flexibility and maneuverable
leadership. Just because a district has enjoyed
success by doing things the same way doesn't
mean that same way will produce the same results
forever. Demographics change. Economics change.
Personnel change.
That means leaders—school board leaders and
administrators—need to "rise with the occasion" in
order to be the catalysts for change in their
districts. Even if your test scores are good, is there
room for teachers and students to do better? Can
board policies steer the district on an even better
course?
Abraham Lincoln would probably be humbled to know
that his words could help school board members think
about their roles and their objectives nearly 150 years
after his death. [Special thanks to Linda Dawson, Director of
Editorial Services, Illinois School Board Journal.]
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