SCHOOL BOARDS AND SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERSHIP, RECOMMENDATIONS AND REPORT OF A SURVEY / JAMES A. PERKINS and OTHERS.

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF NEW YORK STATE SCHOOL BOARDS AND THEIR MEMBERS ARE INVESTIGATED, AND A DIFFERENTIATION IS MADE BETWEEN EFFECTIVE AND INEFFECTIVE BOARDS. TWENTY-SEVEN SCHOOL DISTRICTS, STRATIFIED BY REGION AND EFFECTIVENESS, WERE INCLUDED IN THE SAMPLE. INTERVIEWS AND QUESTIONNAIRES WERE USED TO OBTAIN DATA FROM ALL CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS, TWO OF THE MOST RECENTLY RETIRED BOARD MEMBERS, AND THE PRESIDENTS OF TEACHERS' AND PARENTS' ORGANIZATIONS. FOUR SEPARATE CRITERIA WERE USED TO ASSESS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF EACH SCHOOL BOARD--(1) A SUBJECTIVE RATING BY EDUCATORS, (2) A SUBJECTIVE RATING BY THE INTERVIEWERS, (3) AN OBJECTIVE COMPARISON WITH SIMILAR SCHOOL DISTRICTS ON PER PUPIL EXPENDITURES FOR INSTRUCTIONAL SERVICES, AND (4) AN OBJECTIVE COMPARISON WITH LIKE SCHOOL DISTRICTS ON THE LEVEL OF LOCAL FINANCIAL EFFORT FOR EDUCATION. A SCHOOL BOARD RANKED AS EFFECTIVE ON TWO OF THE FOUR CRITERIA AND AVERAGE ON THE OTHER TWO WAS CONSIDERED EFFECTIVE. THE FINDINGS REVEALED--(1) BOARD MEMBERS TENDED TO BE MIDDLE AGED, FINANCIALLY AND OCCUPATIONALLY ABOVE AVERAGE, WELL-EDUCATED, MALE, PROTESTANT, AND REPUBLICAN, (2) MEMBERS OF EFFECTIVE BOARDS WERE FINANCIALLY MORE SUCCESSFUL, WERE BETTER EDUCATED AND OF HIGHER OCCUPATIONAL STATUS, AND HAD LONGER BOARD EXPERIENCE THAN MEMBERS OF INEFFECTIVE BOARDS, AND (3) EFFECTIVE BOARDS WERE LOCATED IN LARGER AND WEALTHIER DISTRICTS, WERE MORE LIKELY TO USE FORMAL NOMINATING COMMITTEES TO SELECT AND RECRUIT NEW BOARD MEMBERS, AND MORE OFTEN ASSISTED NEW BOARD MEMBERS IN LEARNING THEIR JOB THAN INEFFECTIVE BOARDS. (GB)

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