Local School Boards Research Articles

Policy Solutions: Pandemic recovery will depend on political rediscovery

The current culture wars have been showing up in schools and districts, making local school board races increasingly partisan. The 2024 presidential race is placing even more attention on the partisan divide in local education policies and decisions. Columnist Jonathan E. Collins writes that education advocates can leverage this focus and help put aside partisan politics and meet the post-pandemic challenges students face.

Readings on Evolution and the Nature of Science: One Christian’s Perspective

Readings on Evolution and the Nature of Science: One Christian’s Perspective

Parental Involvement All the Way Through Local School Boards

This article comments on the development of school boards in Sweden. These boards are elected with parents in majority in compulsory schools. Data were gathered through interviews, observations and analysis of documents (e.g., school board minutes). The results indicate that different interests are not adequately balanced on the boards. Communication between the board and parents not on the board was unsatisfactory in many cases and such parents felt excluded from the board’s activity. The principal’s collaboration with the board’s chairperson was an important influence on the board. Evaluation, support and feedback from the local school authority were often neglected. These developments are linked to the transfer of welfare policy in Sweden and to the resultant market-oriented political governance. Partnership became the new prestige word. Parents are today seen as individual consumers in a market, yet if they become board members, they are expected to make decisions for all parents. Parental influence is increased in the schools, but the net effect may increase differences between pupils and between parents since the parents are never a homogenous group. The state implementation of local school boards in Sweden and in many countries is, therefore, complex and is reflected in the weak interest shown towards the top-down creation of boards.

Local School Boards and LGBTQ Policy Decisions: A Qualitative Case Study

On 7 September 2022, the Miami-Dade School Board (MDSB), the governing body of one of the largest school districts in the U.S., rejected a resolution requiring the MDSB to observe October 2022 as LGBTQ History Month and directing the district’s superintendent to investigate the feasibility of providing “information and resources” about landmark LGBTQ Supreme Court cases for optional use in high school government classes. The current study coded the transcript of the September 7 meeting utilizing qualitative research protocols based on grounded theory. The resulting analysis identified three themes (curriculum, coercion, and illegality) associated with comments made by members of the public who opposed the resolution and three themes (curriculum, well-being, and anti-LGBTQ bigotry) associated with comments made by members of the public who supported the resolution. Analysis of the September 7 transcript also identified one primary theme (illegality) associated with MDSB members who opposed the resolution and two themes (disinformation and choice) associated with the MDSB member who supported the resolution. In addition to illustrating certain aspects of a contemporary moral panic in the U.S. and other countries, these results provide insights into how the public and U.S. school board members perceive the appropriateness and limitations of addressing the needs of contemporary LGBTQ students.

Drawn Into Policy: A Systematic Review of School Rezoning Rationales, Processes, and Outcomes

School rezoning is the process of drawing and redrawing school attendance boundaries (SABs). However, studies explicitly focused on changing SABs through rezoning or other mechanisms are spread across multiple bodies of literature. Rezoning is also a politically contentious issue governed by local school boards, tying it to conceptual work on the politics of education. This systematic literature review on school rezoning brings together fragmented but related bodies of work to develop a comprehensive understanding of the rationales for school rezoning, the strategies and processes underlying it, and its associated outcomes. Grounded in a contested legal landscape, findings indicate that rezoning involves overlapping and interacting policy issues as well as multiple stakeholders that complicate the theory of action. Limitations in prevailing student assignment plans influence the degree to which rezoning can disrupt racial and socioeconomic segregation in schools. This review highlights the need to reconceptualize rezoning as a transformative tool, rather than one that replicates (or worsens) systems of educational inequity.

Wyoming

The Wyoming state legislature holds the responsibility of establishing and funding the education system, as outlined in the state constitution. The funding formula for K–12 education in Wyoming adjusts every 5 years and considers factors like inflation and regional cost differences. The state spends approximately $18,144 per public school student annually and allows districts to set their own open enrollment policies. Charter schools, under local school board jurisdiction, receive around $400,000 per year for lease payments, while privatized and religiously affiliated schools are ineligible to become charter schools. A failed legislative bill aimed to reimburse parents for private school or homeschooling expenses. In the 2022–2024 Wyoming state budget, $1.523 billion in state funding is allocated to the basic support formula for the 2022–2023 school year, with an additional $245.4 million for K–12 capital construction and major maintenance. Property taxes serve as the primary revenue source for K-12 education, and the state also utilizes the Permanent Wyoming Mineral Trust Fund and other permanent funds for supplemental investment income. Wyoming ranks among the top 10 states with the highest per pupil spending, with a state pupil expenditure of approximately $16,224 in 2023.

Stakeholders in Assessment and Evaluation: An Analysis of Evaluation in Afghanistan and Its Effects

At first, I want to say something about stakeholders. Stakeholders indicate one type of system or organization in which all members or participants are seen having an interest in its success. Or, stakeholder denotes on a people who work for the success of the education system in schools or other educational places. They are students, teachers, employees, principals, parents, friends, education authorities, policymakers, community leaders, and members, politicians, government test service providers, researchers/Media/Religion, organizations teacher training institutions, local business leaders and school board members. When it is selecting an assessment and evaluation, it is important to consider the needs of all the stakeholders involved. Stakeholders, or persons involved with or invested in the assessment and evaluation process, include students and test-takers, administrators, parents, teachers, instructors, and many others. The Stakeholders map shows a web of potential stakeholders. It may not be possible to meet the needs of all stakeholders in assessment and evaluation. However, it is important to plan with these groups in mind and to find an assessment and evaluation that fit best. I want to review some stakeholders in assessment and evaluation, the impact of effect and I have to analyze the evaluation systems which are followed in Afghanistan. In this study, I have mostly analyzed many evaluation methods that are popular in Afghanistan and are currently being used.

Role of Calamba City Local School Board in Good Governance

This study looked into the lived experiences of seven members of the Calamba Local School Board (LSB) in regard to their role in good governance. A proposal to reformulate the LSB clause in the Local Government Code was proposed as a guide for policymakers to adopt reforms in the body as a result of this study.
 This study used a qualitative research approach based on phenomenology. The ten superordinate themes identified through thematic analysis were Constituent Needs, External Motivators, Different People Providing Assistance, Various Perceptions on Helpful Inputs, Roles of LSB Members, Good Governance Practices, Positive Feelings, Different Challenges, and Varied Solutions.
 The first theme explored the role of the LSB members in ensuring transparency and accountability. The second theme showed how the members of the LSB ensured that the needs of the constituents were responded to. As for the third theme, it enumerated what made them motivated in ensuring good governance. The fourth theme elaborated on who helped them in ensuring good governance, meanwhile the fifth theme elaborated on how they perceived their help in ensuring good local governance. The sixth and seventh theme revealed their roles in the LSB in ensuring good and effective governance. The eight theme revealed the positive feelings of the members of the LSB when they were able to provide good governance. The ninth and the tenth theme revealed various challenges faced by the LSB as well as steps taken by its members in solving those challenges.

Allied Attestations: Troubling a Progressive Goodwill and ‘Duty to Speak Out’

ABSTRACT Increasingly fraught disputes over education have elevated local school boards as key sites of inquiry. In this critical ethnography, we examine how ostensibly neutral school board rules, routines, and relations play out in practice. We asked, How do (queer) youth of color proponents, white opponents, and white allies of an anti-oppressive educational program exercise their agency within the organizational contexts of one suburban California school board? Drawing on our field notes and 146 school board testimonies, we argue that white allies leveraged their social positioning (e.g. “As a white male …”) to counteract white opponents’ reactionary grassroots campaign. These allied attestations expressed progressive goodwill and yet reified violent hierarchies of human being that naturalized (queer) youth of color as illegitimate knowers. We discuss how an ethic of co-witnessing might interrupt hierarchies of truth and being encoded in school board organizational settings.

Capacity and Control: Superintendent-School Board Relations in Locally Controlled Districts

Purpose: In the wake of school board protests nationwide, it is essential for educational leaders, policymakers, and researchers to understand locally controlled educational governance. The stability of educational districts depends on superintendents navigating relationships with their school boards, yet little research exists that addresses board–superintendent relationships in locally controlled districts. Using theories of local will and capacity, and community power relationships, I examine what factors shape the extent of local control enacted by school boards, and how these factors affect superintendent–school board relations. Research Methods: The qualitative case study design is bounded as one multi-district union superintendent and three rural school boards. Data collection included semistructured interviews, ethnographic observations, and document collection to understand the relational dynamics of local control. Data analysis included in vivo and a priori coding, and the development of analytic matrices. Findings: All boards demonstrated local will and some local capacity, which explained the dimensions of enactment of local control. Rural board capacity—tenure, expertise, and residency of board members—influenced the extent of local control. Cross-case analysis revealed a relationship between board capacity, community capacity, and board–superintendent relationships. These patterns are theorized as local control school board–superintendent relationships typology, based on board capacity and local community capacity. The relationships include role contestation, confusion, collaboration, and dependence. Implications for Research and Practice: The study expands the theory of local capacity to include community and board dimensions and describes the complexities of superintendent–board relationships. The study concludes with recommendations for practice, policy, and research on locally controlled school boards.

Critical Professional Development: A Necessary Risk?

Amy Yarborough, a veteran teacher and curriculum resource leader in a rural district in Virginia, facilitates a professional learning community focused on social justice and equity-oriented instructional practices. When allegations of teaching critical race theory are reported via the state’s email tip line and community social media groups, Amy is asked to present her professional learning community materials to the local school board. In the midst of stakeholder protests and media scrutiny, Amy must decide how to explain her professional decisions. Current and future educational leaders interested in issues related to race and equity will consider the roles of policy and the public in influencing teachers’ lessons.

The Mediating Effect of Empowering Leadership on The Relationship Between School Culture and Teaching Efficacy

This study determined the mediating effect of empowering leadership on the relationship between school culture and teaching efficacy. A non-experimental quantitative research design using the descriptive-correlational technique was employed. The respondents were composed of 400 teachers. There were 300 teachers from the elementary level, 50 teachers from the Local School Board (LSB), and 50 teachers from the Alternative Learning System (ALS) of Asuncion District, Asuncion Davao de Norte through universal sampling. Three adapted instruments were used to gather the data from the respondents. The tools used in analyzing the data were Mean, Pearson r, Regression, and Medgraph. Results show that teachers posted a very high-level school culture, teaching efficacy, and a high level of empowering leadership. Findings also revealed that there is a significant relationship between school culture and teaching efficacy, school culture and empowering leadership, and empowering leadership and teaching efficacy. Further, it was found that empowering leadership significantly mediates the relationship between school culture and teaching efficacy. With this current proposition, teachers who are highly empowered in leadership can influence their school culture as well as their efficacy in teaching.

Unmasking the Power Dynamic Between Local School Boards and the State Executive Branch: Implications for Future Local School Safety Protocols

Unmasking the Power Dynamic Between Local School Boards and the State Executive Branch: Implications for Future Local School Safety Protocols

Lambs of Sacrifice: Termination, the Mixed-blood Utes, and the Problem of Indian Identity

Lambs of Sacrifice: Termination, the Mixed-blood Utes, and the Problem of Indian Identity

The Critical Reception of Mark Twain's Introduction to English as She is Taught

The Critical Reception of Mark Twain's Introduction to <i>English as She is Taught</i>

8 The Effect of Decreased Physical Activity on Physical and Mental Health of School-Aged Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract Background School-aged children are recommended to complete at least one hour of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity per day. North American data has shown that due to COVID-19 restrictions placed on in person schooling and extracurricular activities, children were not meeting recommended levels of physical activity. Additional barriers to activity during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic included lack of access to public facilities including community centers, parks, and outdoor recreation. Decreased physical activity in children has been shown to have a negative impact on both physical and mental health, and childhood development. However, there is a paucity of literature on parents’ perceptions of the association between physical activity and physical and mental health. Objectives The objective of this study was to gain a better understanding of the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on levels of physical activity and parents’ perceptions surrounding physical activity and physical and mental health. Design/Methods An online survey was distributed to parents of school-aged children aged 4-13 in Ontario. The survey included questions regarding demographics, children’s physical activity prior to and during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, and parental perceptions regarding the pandemic’s impact on mental and physical health. This study received ethics approval, was hosted on the REDCapTM platform, and distributed from February-June 2021 through a local school board, the Pediatrics section of the Ontario Medical Association, and through social media. Results Of 361 participants, 90.4% strongly agreed that physical activity was important for mental health, and 92.2% strongly agreed that physical activity was important for physical health. There was a statistically significant decrease in the overall mean number of hours of physical activity per week between pre-COVID and the first wave of COVID (mean difference = 9.34 hours, SD = 10.06, p&amp;lt;0.001). Additionally, parents of children with decreased physical activity reported a statistically significant negative impact on physical and mental health as compared to parents whose children had no change in amount of physical activity. Decreased energy, poor sleep, increased anxiety, mood disturbances, and disruptive behaviour were noted by over 50% of respondents. Conclusion This survey highlights that parents themselves perceived a significant negative impact on children’s mental and physical well-being with decreased physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. This emphasizes the importance of retaining access to recreational facilities and extracurricular activities. Future research includes identifying ways to re-engage parents and children with physical activity during times of decreased access.

7 Does Physical Activity Vary By Virtual or In-Person School Models in School-Aged Children?

Abstract Background Current recommendations for school-aged children’s physical activity include at least one hour of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity per day. Schools play an essential role in providing access to physical activity, through both structured and unstructured activity such as physical education and recess. North American data has shown that due to restrictions placed on in-person schooling, children were not meeting recommended levels of physical activity during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Objectives The objective of this study was to understand the effect schooling models have on access to physical activity and subsequent reported changes in mental and physical health. Design/Methods An online survey was distributed to parents of school-aged children aged 4-13 in Ontario. The survey included questions regarding demographics, children’s physical activity prior to and during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, and parental perceptions regarding the pandemic’s impact on mental and physical health. This study received ethics approval, was hosted on the REDCapTM platform, and distributed from February-June 2021 through a local school board, the Pediatrics section of the Ontario Medical Association, and through social media. Results A total of 361 survey participants responded. Although there was a statistically significant decrease in the overall mean number of hours of physical activity per week from prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (mean difference = 9.34 hours, SD = 10.06, p&amp;lt;0.001), there was no significant difference in hours of physical activity when comparing in-person and virtual school models (p=0.892 pre-COVID-19 pandemic and p=0.146 during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic). There was no significant difference in parent-reported impact of either physical (p=0.724) or mental (p=0.822) health between those that were enrolled in virtual or in-person school models, and no significant difference between school model and restarting activities (p=0.078). Conclusion This survey highlights not only that parents identified a significant decrease in children’s physical activity during the pandemic but also that there was no correlation between school model and physical activity. This may be due to several organized physical activities not being re-started despite schools reopening, thus contributing to similar outcomes for children in both school models. Future research may include exploring why virtual and in-person models demonstrated no significant difference in physical activity and to conduct a qualitative analysis on methods used by parents to engage children in activity.

“Schools Are Not Safer with Police”: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Public Comments on the Removal of School Resource Officers

Public comments offered by citizens at local school board meetings play an important role in shaping the educational policy process. However, educational researchers have underexamined them in debates about educational policy change. Drawing from critical discourse analysis, this study examines the public comments offered at a school board meeting where a proposal to terminate a contract with the police department and remove school resource officers from schools was being considered. In particular, this study is interested in the arguments that stakeholders use to express their support for or opposition to the board’s proposal. My findings highlight the logics that stakeholders employ to let their perspectives be heard including conflicting notions of safety, the possibilities for alternatives, and individual encounters with “good” police. As more districts across the United States consider removing police, this study contributes new insights into the influence of public opinion on policy decisions, as well as into community attitudes toward police in schools.

Gathering Strength to Combat Access Inequality

Nestled on the northern edge of Lake Ontario, Prince Edward County is home to a six branch public library system that is proud to have created a robust and vibrant relationship with the local school board. Through the lens of access, this article explores the steps taken by the public library to create meaningful connections with administrative staff on the school board level in order to bring practical training and resources to teachers and students in order to enhance and support their learning.

Hip-Hop History: A Course for Change

Hip-Hop History exposes inequities within the social studies curriculum and the challenges facing those who seek to change it. In this article, we share the process for creating a new social studies course in a suburban high school in central Ohio, the need for the course, and the resources created to assist in its adoption. The article argues for the theoretical need for change in the social studies curriculum. Using Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Hip-Hop Pedagogies, we use Hip-Hop as a medium to shift the lens through which events are viewed. We use this course as an attempt to deconstruct the white, male, privileged version of American history and provide space for voices previously silenced by the dominant narratives. The article also outlines the many challenges educators and local school boards encounter trying to make such changes in current bureaucratic systems designed to perpetuate those narratives.