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Superintendents, School Board Members From Six Urban School Districts Selected to Participate in Governance Training to Improve Student Achievement

Posted on: Monday, 13 August 2007, 09:16 CDT

Superintendents and school board members from six urban school districts have completed the first course of "Reform Governance in Action," a two-year education reform training program for teams of top education leaders, The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation announced today.

Held July 13 through 17 in Park City, Utah, the training session brought together the core district leadership of the superintendent and full school board from the following urban school districts:

Aldine Independent School District, Texas

Hartford Unified School District, Conn.

Durham Public Schools, N.C.

Prince George's County Public Schools, Md.

Providence Public School District, R.I.

Dallas Independent School District

The districts were selected based on their strong leadership and willingness to work collectively on improving student achievement.

Reform Governance in Action was developed by the Center for Reform of School Systems to train and support the nation's most promising reform-minded school boards and superintendents. The training is funded by The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, which covers all travel and program costs. The Dallas Independent School District's participation is being funded by the Meadows Foundation.

"A solid partnership between a district's superintendent and school board and their singular focus on improving the student achievement of every child is one of the most important keys to the success of an urban school district," said Eli Broad, founder of The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation. "These districts have demonstrated a willingness to work together, wrestle with the tough issues and make the right decisions for the benefit of their students."

Over the course of the two-year training, these district teams will evaluate their policies and practices and determine if they could be more effective in such activities as board meetings, management oversight and how to measure a district's progress. These districts will participate in three more Reform Governance in Action weekend sessions in November, May 2008 and February 2009. The coursework the participants will complete extends beyond the training sessions.

Superintendents and school board members have homework that is incorporated into their regular interactions with one another at their districts. The rigorous curriculum includes analyzing case studies on reform efforts in major urban cities including St. Louis, Oakland, Calif., Philadelphia, San Diego and Houston, as well as lectures on reform governance from leading national experts.

"The curriculum," said Don McAdams, the founder and president of the Center for Reform of School Systems, "is designed to build a highly-functional board/superintendent team, professional in how it does its work and effective in dramatically improving student achievement and district operations."

The Center for Reform of School Systems is an independent not-for-profit Texas corporation that works to support school district and community leaders who want to become more effective school reformers.

The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation is a national venture philanthropy established by businessman and philanthropist Eli Broad to advance entrepreneurship for the public good in education, science, and the arts. The Broad Foundation's education work is focused on dramatically improving urban K-12 public education through better governance, management, labor relations and competition. For more information, please visit www.broadfoundation.org.

Source: Business Wire

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