Alsbury Balanced Governance Solutions

ABOUT

A board engaging in balanced governance is one that strives to not only set and monitor high end-goals for student learning, but is also knowledgeable about the means used to reach those ends.

Balanced governance is an approach that discourages micromanagement of the superintendent and district staff while setting out a constructive role for the school board in monitoring student outcomes more deeply.

Balanced Governance equips boards to better dialogue with community stakeholders, and craft targeted policy language that intelligently oversees formative progress on adopted processes and programs.

Highly effective boards for improved student learning.

Thomas Alsbury, Ed.D., President

PAST & CURRENT CLIENTS

National Associations
NALEO
NSBA
AASA
USDE

State Associations
Georgia DOE
West Virginia State BOE

School Districts
Clark County, NV
Washoe, NV
Pasco, WA
Bellevue, WA
Marin County, CA
Clarke County, GA
Mequon-Thienville, WI
Dillingham, AK
Wrangell, AK
Jefferson, KY
Poudre, CO
Prosser, WA
Pueblo, CO
Seattle, WA
Nampa, ID

State School Board Associations
Oregon
Kentucky
Alaska
West Virginia
Texas
Idaho
Colorado
Washington
Virginia
Mississippi
Iowa
New Jersey
North Carolina
California
Nevada
Alabama
Maryland
Missouri

SERVICES

Effective Board Assessment

Analysis of Board Characteristics compared to Highly Effective Boards in seven areas

Three of the Seven Characteristics:

Balancing Board & Superintendent Role
Cultural Responsiveness
Vision-Directed Planning

Board Conflict Assessment

Conflict among Board Members
Conflict between Board Members and the Superintendent

Board Meeting Analysis

Quality analysis of board meetings in areas such as:

Time Management
Topics
Goal Management

Governance Policy & Protocols

Functional and tested policy and protocols adapted to meet local needs and move the Board to more effective practices.

Superintendent Evaluation

Superintendent evaluation cycle and tools aligned to effective governance standards and district strategic goals.

Training Workshops for Board Members

Customized Workshops and Training including:

How is the Balanced Governance Model different?
How is Balanced Governance supported by research?
Effective Board/Superintendent roles
Effective Board standards
Effective individual Board Member characteristics
Productive Board Meeting practices
Formative and summative Board evaluation that works
Governance policy and protocols used by highly effective Boards
Effective Superintendent evaluation

Thomas Alsbury is Professor of Educational Leadership at Northwest University, and former teacher, principal, and district administrator. He is former director of the National University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) Center for Research on the Superintendency and District Governance.

Dr. Alsbury has consulted on school governance issues in 12 countries and across the United States. He has over 50 publications on school board and superintendent research. His current book “Improving school board effectiveness: A Balanced Governance approach” is a top-selling governance book for Harvard Press.