OSBA Bridges to Achievement Project

Resources

The Elements of Success

The Elements of Success is a framework of ten integrated action areas intended to support and guide boards as they focus their efforts on K-12 student achievement.

Indicators have been developed in order to evaluate a board's implementation of the Elements of Success. A summary of the indicators for each element can be found in Elements of Success with Indicators Summary (77k ). A complete listing of the indicators with summarized expert comments can be found in Indicators of Success with Expert Comments (796k ).

Summer Study Series

For the Bridges to Achievement Project we are introducing a program entitled Summer Study Series. More and more school boards are engaging in book studies or enhanced reading to improve their knowledge about schools and effective learning for students. We want to bring this powerful learning technique electronically to the Bridges Project district boards and administrators.

Communications Inventory

The communications inventory materials will help us learn about the things you're doing well, and give you ideas on what to improve without a lot of extra effort on your part.

The following is a selected list of books, articles and reports, and other resources.

Books

Good to Great, Jim Collins, 2001
Built to Last, Jim Collins and Jeffry Porras, 1994
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni, 2002
The Five Temptations of a CEO, Patrick Lencioni, 1998
The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive, Patrick Lencioni, 2000
Death by Meeting, Patrick Lencioni, 2004
The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge, 1990
The Fifth Discipline Workbook, Peter Senge, 1994
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey, 1990
The 8th Habit From Effectiveness to Greatness, Stephen R. Covey, 2004
Leadership and the New Science, Margaret Wheatley, 1999
Boards that Make a Difference, John Carver
Getting There from Here, Richard Goodman, Luann Fulbright, William G. Zimmerman, Jr., 1997
High Student Achievement: How Six School Districts Changed into High-Performance Systems, Gordon Cawelti and Nancy Protheroe, 2001
The 5 Essentials of Organizational Excellence, Lawrence L. Marazza, 2003
Five Habits of High-Impact School Boards, Doug Eadie, 2005
Improving School Board Decision-Making: The Data Connection, NSBF, 2001
Team Leadership for Student Achievement, Ellen Henderson, Jeannie Henry, Judith Brody Saks, Anne Wright, 2001
The Key Work of School Boards: A Guidebook, Kathryn W. Gemberling, Carl W. Smith, Joseph S. Villani, NSBA, 2000
Cultural Proficiency: A Manual for School Leaders, Randall B. Lindsey, Kikanza Nuri Robins, Raymond D. Terrell, 2003
Failure is not an Option: Six Principles That Guide Student Achievement in High-Performing Schools, Alan M. Blankstein, 2004

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Articles and Reports

“School District Leadership that Works: The Effect of Superintendent Leadership on Student Achievement," (317k ) J. Timothy Waters, Ed.D. & Robert J. Marzano, Ph.D., Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McRel), September 2006
“Beyond Islands of Excellence, A Project of the Learning First Alliance," (562k ) Wendy Togneri, Stephen Anderson, 2003
“The Lighthouse Inquiry: School/Board/Superintendent Team Behaviors in School Districts with Extreme Differences in Student Achievement," (153k ) by The Iowa Association of School Boards. Presented at the AERA 2001 Annual Meeting. Dr. Ron Rice, Mary Delagardelle, 2000
“Balanced Leadership: What 30 years of research tells us about the effect of leadership on student achievement," (229k ) Tim Waters, Robert Marzano, Brian McNulty, A Working Paper McREL, 2003
“Sustaining Leadership," (238k ) Andy Hargreaves, Dean Fink, Reprinted from Phi Delta Kappan 84(9), May 2003, pp. 693-700
“Coherent Governance," Linda J. Dawson, Randy Quinn, The School Administrator, November 2004
"Engaging the Public: How School Boards Can Call for Community Involvement in Important School Decisions," Harris Sokoloff, American School Board Journal, September 2001
"Focus on Critical Issues: Bridges to Achievement"

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Other Resources

The Catalog of School Reform Models, produced jointly by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory and The Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement.
Change Your Message: Increase Community Support Through Communication - Oregonians aren't getting enough of the right information about their local schools to create a very big fan club for education. This summer 2005 issue of OSBA's Critical Issues provides examples of "blue-ribbon" triumphs in our schools and gives you new tools to help you change the public's opinion.
Implementing a Community Discussion (89k ) is a tool boards can use to plan, schedule and conduct a 4-hour community event.

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