| The Key work of school boards is to improve student achievement The Key work of school boards is to improve student achievement and community engagement to promote student success. As local boards of education face challenges of providing effective governance through training and consultancy, we can use our time and focus on these twin imperatives. Today, education has become more central to our future as we prepare our children to compete in the global marketplace. Board work is, well, work! Today, local boards of education are no longer merely overseers of school systems, they are being trained and prepared to lead in public education in their states and communities. They are, in turn, charged with the responsibility to fund and to insure the training to staff and district employees that will address school improvement issues and, thereby, create conditions within their school district that enable both principals, teachers, and students to meet rigorous knowledge and performance standards. Creating optimal conditions for teaching and learning is a formidable challenge for courageous school board leadership. It requires that the school board is collaborative, is well prepared, and trained in understanding deeply to remedy issues in addressing the five essentials to continuous improvement and to realign and prioritize economic resources to foster a culture within the schools that supports and rewards the effective and productive work of principals, teachers, and students in improving student achievement performance levels. Being proactive means that the board take responsibility for results even as we also put in place the framework to hold others in the school district accountable. It means that the school board articulate the educational mission of the district and garner the funding, training, public support and resources of parents and tax payers needed to achieve our mission in continuous improvement. To assist our school board in carrying out its work, the National School Boards Association has developed a framework called the Key Work of School Boards. This framework delineates eight key areas that boards need to focus on: (1) Vision, (2) Standards, (3) Assessment, (4) Accountability, (5) Alignment, (6) Climate and Culture, (7) Collaborative Relationships/Community Engagement, and (8) A Continuous Improvement Process. The Key Work of School Boards, published by the National School Boards Association, which all district 227 board members possess is a framework that can help district 227 board members with the understanding and leadership through governance that will create conditions under which excellent teaching and accelerated student learning can take place. David E. Morgan, Ph.D., Educational Leadership School Board Member & Chair of Continuous Improvement Planning Committee Rich Township High Schools District 227 Olympia Fields, Illinois 60461 | 
