2024-2025 AASB Whole Board Training Catalog

Whole Board TRAINING 2024-2025

Interactive Training for Excellent Boards

BECOME AN EVEN STRONGER BOARD Quality training is one way the Alabama Association of School Boards is accomplishing its mission to develop excellent school board leaders. Our exemplary training team comprises AASB staff members with decades of experience working with and for boards as well as a cadre of former board members and superintendents who were schooled in the real world. The team is prepared to help improve your skills via a wide variety of interactive courses created to meet boards’ needs.

The state requires 2 hours of whole board training per year for board-superintendent teams, but more importantly, research says school boards are more effective when all members of a school board learn together as a team. AASB’s standard and customized training sessions allow the whole board to come together and focus on a particular area of need, discuss the school system’s specific situation, ask questions and develop plans for improving performance.

LOW RATES!

Most workshops are $599 plus expenses for up to 4 hours. Legal workshops are $699.

Fully customizable, full-day board retreats of 4 or more hours are $999 plus expenses.

Discount available when boards contract for multiple sessions.

TRAIN WITH NEIGHBORS: School boards within driving distance of each other can share whole board training expenses to save money and enjoy an opportunity to learn with their neighbors. Coordinate the topic, date, time and location, and we’ll handle the rest. Contact AASB for pricing.

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“Interactive whole board training" hours must be completed annually by each board-superintendent team.

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Hours of continuing education must be earned annually by each school board member. Two of those hours must be your whole board training.

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Hours of coursework are included in AASB’s two-part orientation. This satisfies the one-time requirement for an orientation covering specific topics.

7/1

The training year begins July 1 and ends June 30. Training hours do not roll over from year to year.

8/15

Each August, AASB must provide the state superintendent of education a report indicating whether each board member met training requirements in the previous training year.

SAVE

10%

A 10% discount is applied to whole board workshops scheduled for July, August or September.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Workshops Available in a Variety of Topic Categories:

AN EFFECTIVE TEAM

Page 4

AN EFFECTIVE EVALUTION

Page 5

Clarified roles & improved team communication

Defined expectations & meaningful feedback

A WELL-TOLD STORY

Page 6

Meaningful relationships with stakeholders

DATA & GOALS

Pages 6-7

Measurable progress & performance

FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT

Page 7

Enhanced understanding of school finance

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

Pages 8-9

Sharpened focus on student learning

BOARD & THE LAW

Page 10

Familiarity with critical laws & regulations

ADDITIONAL TRAININGS

In addition to our standard workshops, AASB offers other workshops upon request.

Page 11-13

AN EFFECTIVE TEAM

Clarified roles & improved team communication

Boardmanship 101

2 hours | $599

This practical course uses numerous real-world scenarios to help members and the superintendent clearly understand one another’s roles. A great introduction for new board members, this training also serves as an important refresher for even veteran board members.

Boardmanship 201

2 hours | $599

Subtitled “Practical Boardmanship,” this scenario-based session allows board-superintendent discussion of real world issues that can diminish the board’s ability to function effectively. Discussion can be focused on specific issues the team is grappling with or can be focused on preventing problems that could arise in the relationships and operations of the governance team. The session typically results in the team’s drafting of operating agreements to solidify expectations.

Board-Superintendent Relations

2 hours | $599

In this session, the board and superintendent will discuss their respective roles and work with common scenarios to identify actions that are within the board’s oversight role versus overstepping into the responsibilities of the board or individual members.

Better Communication

2-4 hours | $599

Whether a leadership team is in conflict or is focused on being proactive to avoid conflict, this training helps the team understand each member's communication style. It can address ongoing issues, examine governing policies and develop clear agreements for the team to avoid conflict.

Communicate in Style

3 hours | $599

Nothing torpedoes a board’s effectiveness and the relationship between a board and its superintendent faster than chronic miscommunication. Using humor and an online assessment taken prior to the training, we will identify the communication style of each board member and the superintendent. Reports are generated to give each member a deeper understanding of how he or she communicates and makes decisions. AASB then teaches the board-superintendent team to work with each style to improve team function and communication.

Effective Board Meetings - The Basics

2 hours | $599

How you do business is as important as the business you do. Holding board meetings that are professional, orderly and student-focused will raise your stock with stakeholders. But it takes planning and a common understanding of how boards that get things done operate. This session blends videobased scenarios with discussion of best practices.

Effective Board Meetings - Beyond the Basics

2 hours | $599

This session begins with a review of the tenets of good meetings (the agenda, board packets and work sessions), but it focuses on the habits and beliefs of boards that use their meetings to improve student learning, including the eight traits of effective boards.

Superintendent Search

2 hours | FREE TO MEMBER BOARDS

This workshop is for boards faced with appointing a superintendent. Selecting a superintendent is one of the most important actions a school board takes. In this pre-search workshop, AASB walks boards through legal requirements related to a search, discusses the pros and cons of various search options and facilitates initial discussion of skills and qualities the board will seek in the system's next CEO. 4

AN EFFECTIVE EVALUTION Defined expectations & meaningful feedback Board Self-Evaluation + Goal Setting

2 hours | $599

Self-evaluation is critical to the board’s efforts to continuously improve its performance and should be done at least every two years. Prior to the session, each board member completes a broad online assessment covering an array of areas in which the board works. AASB then analyzes the results and, in the training session, facilitates board discussion of the results and best practices.

Superintendent & CSFO Evaluation - Best Practices

2 hours | $599

School systems progress when their boards set clear, measurable expectations for their superintendent and chief school financial officer annually, and evaluate their progress. This session helps the board ensure the evaluations are both fair and productive. It also covers the mechanics of a quality evaluation process. Use this session as a stand-alone training or as part of AASB’s superintendent evaluation service.

Ask About AASB’s Evaluation Service and Ready-to-Use Templates

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A WELL-TOLD STORY Meaningful relationships with stakeholders 2 hours | $599

Community Engagement

Schools tend to be the heart of their community. It's no wonder community expectations for schools are soaring. Discover the value of meaningful engagement. Participate in a facilitated discussion of strategies school systems use to engage stakeholders and build a lasting relationship with their communities.

Communicating in a Crisis

2 hours | $599

No school system can predict when or what a crisis will be, but every school system needs a plan to respond quickly, accurately and appropriately when a crisis strikes. Get hands-on guidance for proactive crisis communications, from working with the media to maintaining transparency and accountability in the eyes of stakeholders.

Media & Public Relations

2 hours | $599

Telling your success stories in ways that interest and engage your community requires an understanding of how public relations and media relations work in the 21st century. Learn ways to communicate more effectively with internal and external stakeholders and build public support for your schools.

Social Media Pitfalls, Potholes & Pointers

2 hours | $599

How can school systems effectively and creatively use social media to connect with their community and the digital natives in their schools? Learn tips for steering clear of social media tripwires that can spark lawsuits, lead to job loss or cause public embarrassment. Discuss the dos and don’ts of using social media as a school board member.

DATA & GOALS

Measurable progress & performance

Data 101: Using Data to Drive Decisions

2 hours | FREE FOR 2024-25

This data workshop is dynamic and grounded in research. It gives you a detailed look at the various data types available to Alabama school boards and helps you identify questions to ask to ensure your school system continuously improves. Follow this primer with Data 201 for a deeper understanding of your school system data.

Data 201: Exploring Your ACT Gaps

3 hours | $599

In this session, the board-superintendent team will review achievement gaps highlighted through examining data for their graduation requirements including WorkKeys, ACT, ACAP and CCR to begin discussing the causes and solutions. The session includes discussion of the board’s role in closing the gaps and the superintendent’s and staff’s roles.

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Facilitated Goal Setting

2 hours | $599

Goals are crucial to the success of any organization. Strategic plans generally establish long-term goals, but what if your board needs to plan for the short term? If your board-superintendent team is determining its annual goals, AASB can help you identify critical school system data and set goals for improvement. This workshop can stand alone, be used as a precursor to strategic planning or serve as a stopgap between strategic plans. It can be used as part of AASB’s strategic planning service.

Strategic Planning

2 hours | $599

All boards need a current, forward-thinking strategic plan to guide their actions and the actions of the staff. This training focuses on the role of the board in the planning process, from determining expectations to holding the system accountable for reaching strategic goals. Also, the trainer will facilitate a board-superintendent analysis of the system's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats -- a critical precursor to the strategic planning process.

FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT Enhanced understanding of school finance School Finance - The Basics

2 hours | $599

Brush up on the basics of school finance, including fund accounting, where your funds come from, including local, state and federal sources. Learn about financial reporting requirements. Board members learn to read and understand financial statements and financial reports.

School Finance - The Basics & Beyond

2 hours | $599

This training goes beyond the basics and includes the laws, rules, and new developments that drive local funding decisions. Follow this primer with a customized "Monitor Your Financial Health" session for a more strategic look at fiscal accountability.

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STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT Sharpened focus on student learning

Chronic Absenteeism

2 hours | $599

Students who miss 15-18 days of schools – excused or unexcused – are at substantially higher risk of failure and other long-term consequences. In this session, you will learn about the causes and impact of absenteeism as well as what approaches have succeeded in increasing attendance and the board’s role in addressing the issue.

Barriers to Student Learning - Practices for Staff & Extracurricular Activities

2 hours | $599

This interactive session examines policies and practices related to staffing, extracurricular activities and the rigor of expectations for student learning – practices that can unintentionally create barriers for students based on their socioeconomic level, race/ethnicity or other demographic factors.

This course can be taken as a standalone as well as before or after the 201 level session. Barriers 301 is a customized course to examine data specific to your system.

Barriers to Student Learning - Practices for Funding & Discipline

2 hours | FREE FOR 2024-25

This interactive session examines policies and practices related to funding and disciplinary actions that that can unintentionally create barriers for students based on their socioeconomic level, race/ethnicity or other demographic factors. This course can be taken as a standalone as well as before or after the 101 session. Barriers 301 is a customized course to examine data specific to your system.

Educational Equity - Part 1

2-3 hours | $599

This new workshop examines the definition of educational equity and helps boards better understand their essential role to ensure the ground is level for student achievement. Boards will learn about the life experiences and influencers of students and families that hinder equity for each student. They will learn areas in the school system to look for educational equity including community engagement, academic achievement, student-centered structures and accountability. Part 1 is a prerequisite for Part 2 in this series.

Educational Equity - Part 2

2-3 hours | $599

In Part 2 of Educational Equity, board members will learn five essential actions to use to develop their action plan. This session offers boards a practical framework for discussion to assess, analyze, engage, implement and evaluate their plan in the four pillars from Part 1. Part 1 is a prerequisite for Part 2 in this series.

Improving Schools: Focusing on What Matters Most

2 hours | $599

What expectations has your board set for teacher and student performance? Do you have a sense of urgency about student achievement? In this research-based session, we will explore the ways the board can have a meaningful impact on student performance without encroaching on the roles of the superintendent and staff.

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This intensive, research-based training series is designed to help board/superintendent teams build their governance capacity and focus on improving student outcomes. Just as it takes ongoing lessons and practice over time for professional development to permanently alter teachers’ classroom behaviors, this series provides at least 11 hours of training over 12 months. It provides enough practical experience during and between trainings to permanently board culture.

Governing for Achievement Project (GAP) The Board's Role in Raising Student Achievement GAP Workshops:

5 SESSIONS OVER 1 YEAR | $3500

1. Committing to High Expectations. This session covers what’s at stake for students performing below grade level and includes efforts to create a sense of urgency among the board/superintendent team for addressing those students’ needs. The session also builds board members’ understanding of the impact of quality teaching and lack thereof and the importance of expecting more from employees, students and the board itself.

2. Our Culture & Beliefs. This session introduces the seminal research that found board members’ and employees’ beliefs about education, learning and the system’s potential to impact learning are pivotal to the system’s ability to raise achievement. The session gives boards the opportunity to study in-depth the results of a survey of their own board and employee beliefs and the degree to which the conditions needed for success are present.

3. Key Elements of Improving Teaching & Learning. In this session, the governance team discusses the importance of having strong building-level leadership, the board’s role in governance vs management, the elements of powerful professional development for teachers and the need to set a limited number of critical goals. The board-superintendent team also will identify its own expectations for the outcomes of professional development and will begin to discuss the data and information they need in order to set goals for improving student outcomes.

4. Where Are We Now? This session equips the board-superintendent team to understand the current status of student achievement in their system and set goals for improving it. This includes hands-on practice working with their system’s achievement data and how to interface with the superintendent and staff team.

5. Oversight for Excellence: The Ongoing Work of the Board/Superintendent Team. This session ensures that the board-superintendent team have the skills to sustain the work developed in the previous sessions. It includes creation of a data-monitoring plan as well as messages to be communicated throughout the community about the team’s vision and relentless commitment to improving student outcomes.

In addition to the training, the work begins with administration of a survey to identify the culture of the board and system as it relates to expectations for student learning. It also will measure their beliefs about students’ ability to learn at higher levels and the staff’s responsibility and ability to ensure that happens. The data will then be infused throughout the lessons of the five training modules.

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BOARD & THE LAW

Familiarity with critical laws & regulations

Legal Considerations in Personnel

2 hours | $699

This roundup of personnel-related legal topics can help your board avoid costly mistakes. Learn important information such as avoiding discrimination claims, posting vacancies, what you can and can't disclose about personnel and how to manage employee grievances.

Open Meetings & Public Records

2 hours | $699

How you do business is as important as the business you do. This session focuses on when and how you notify the public of meetings, how to use executive sessions and the limits on what boards can do outside the public's view.

Special Education

2 hours | $699

The laws governing special needs students are complex and missteps can be costly. The session provides an overview of the expectations and strategies for avoiding pitfalls.

Students First Act & Teacher Accountability Act

2 hours | $699

There is much superintendents and boards should know about employment actions, including when and how to reassign, transfer and discipline employees and principals. This training details the Students First Act and Teacher Accountability Act's rules for personnel actions and walks the board through common mistakes boards make when serving as judge and jury in those actions.

Title IX

2 hours | $699

Boards of education operate under the watchful eye of the Office for Civil Rights, which enforces multiple federal laws meant to prohibit discrimination, including Title IX. Learn how this law designed to combat gender discrimination in schools can impact athletics and other program offerings.

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ADDITIONAL TRAININGS In addition to our standard workshops, AASB offers the following additional whole board training options by request.

Customized trainings require a six-week notice when scheduling due to specific content.

EFFECTIVE TEAMS

Better Boardmanship

2 hours | $599

Quality teamwork takes a good working relationship among board members and between the board and superintendent. Leadership team members will learn how to work together more effectively and develop clear agreements about how the board will operate going forward. Each team member will also learn about the others’ communication styles and how to better work with team members whose styles differ.

Building a Functional Team

2 hours | $599

Based on the work of Patrick Lencioni and researchers' findings on best practices for school boards, this session explores what sets successful teams apart and helps you identify collective behaviors that are helping - or hurting - your team.

The Core Work of School Boards

2-4 hours | $599

Using an array of board-focused research, this session focuses on the core skills effective boards need to ensure all student achieve at high levels. You will learn how to put those skills into action and fundamentally change the effectiveness of your board-superintendent team’s work.

Custom Conflict Resolution

CALL FOR PRICING

Designed for teams with ongoing conflict and/or deeper divisions, this customized series of sessions aims to help teams work through the issues creating problems. The series will include individual training, facilitated team discussion and development of team operating agreements.

Effective Board Meetings - Beyond the Basics This session begins with a review of the tenets of good meetings (the agenda, board packets and work sessions), but it focuses on the habits and beliefs of boards that use their meetings to improve student learning, including the eight traits of effective boards.

Parliamentary Procedure

2 hours | $599

Used properly, Robert’s Rules of Order give board meetings the structure and order needed to accomplish business effectively. We'll walk you through the rules, customs and ethics that govern school board meetings. Every member of the board-superintendent team should understand how to conduct a deliberative meeting.

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EFFECTIVE EVALUATION

8 Traits of Effective Boards: Next-Level Self Evaluation

3 hours | $599

Is your board operating effectively? Are there areas it could focus on to improve its own performance? Prior to this session, each board member completes a broad online assessment covering an array of areas in which the board works. AASB then analyzes the results and, in the training session, facilitates board discussion of the results and a 1-hour session to help the board set goals to improve its performance.

DATA & GOALS

Custom Data Training

2 hours | $599

This session combines both training and hands-on work with school system data. The system will provide data from a single area (such as academic, demographic or financial). AASB will teach the board-superintendent team how to review information effectively, identify questions to ask and choose areas they want to explore more deeply as a team. The session also includes discussion of how boards use data to drive decisions.

FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT Bids, Buildings and Blueprints

2 hours | $599

Management of capital assets is generally thought of as the CSFO’s job. But this course offers insight into laws and issues related to capital planning as well as the types of data a board should study before planning begins. It also provides a primer on key laws, including the bid and public works laws, which impact capital planning decisions and processes.

Budgeting, Budget Hearings & the Board

2 hours | $599

If your board’s role in the budgeting process is limited to a work session to review the proposed budget right before you vote on it, this course is a must. From working with the superintendent to identify goals and priorities early to identifying issues that should be included in the budget presentation to the board, this session will help your board stay in its lane while ensuring the budget meets system needs.

Financial Questions Boards Should Be Asking

2 hours | $599

Does your board know the key indicators that reveal the financial health of your system and that can serve as an early warning that you’re headed for financial trouble? This training explains the data to monitor and the questions your board can ask to ensure the system is – and stays – in the black.

Monitor Your Financial Health

2 hours | $599

Financial stewardship and accountability are two critical areas of board leadership. Your board should have a solid understanding of the system's financial health. Learn about Alabama's School Fiscal Accountability Act and your chief school financial officer's fiduciary responsibility to the board. This advanced-level workshop complements Introduction to School Finance.

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BOARD & THE LAW

Board’s Role in Personnel Hearings

1 hour | $699

This scenario-based training walks the board through the pitfalls superintendents and boards can face when dealing with personnel matters and personnel hearings. Learn the right and wrong ways to handle persistent parents, board member bias and aggressive attorneys. (This course can be combined with another legal topic for the same price.)

Charter School Law

2 hours | $699

Deciding whether to become a charter school authorizer requires a clear understanding of the benefits and obligations associated with Alabama's charter school law. Learn the basic components of the law, along with specific issues your board should consider before making this game-changing decision for your school system.

Ethics & Nepotism

2 hours | $699

When family or business interests intersect with your school board duties, missteps can be costly. This training session provides a deeper understanding of what the nepotism and ethics laws allow – and prohibit – when it comes to board members, the superintendent and system employees.

Fair Labor Standards Act

2 hours | $699

No board plans to run afoul of the Fair Labor Standards Act. But noncompliance happens and often means expensive lawsuits, low employee morale and trouble for a school system. Learn what rules apply to exempt, non-exempt and contract employees and the right questions to ask your superintendent to avoid wage-and-hour issues and other ticking time bombs.

Sexual Harassment in the #MeToo Era

2 hours | $699

Sexual harassment is a serious issue, but school systems with the right policies, procedures and staff training can lower their liability exposure and better protect staff and students. A school system’s improper response — or failure to respond—to allegations could lead to legal nightmares. The scope of this issue can extend from students and employees to third parties, so don’t be caught off guard.

Students and the First Amendment

2 hours | $699

From free speech to religion, the rights given to students under the U.S. Constitution can be complex for schools and school boards to navigate. In this session, you will learn how to preserve students rights using a series of legal cases that have made boards’ obligations clearer.

Working With Your Board Attorney

2 hours | $699

Your board attorney is a key player on the leadership team. How do you choose an effective one?

What should you expect to pay? What are the rules of confidentiality? What do you do if the relationship goes bad? These are just some of the practical, real-world questions that will be answered.

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NOTES

NOTES

SPECIALIZED TRAININGS Whole board training can focus on a specific area of need for your school board.

These may be areas identified during your own board conversations, the evaluation process, strategic planning, annual goal setting, accreditation, state intervention or through community feedback. AASB can design a custom workshop or board retreat to help. For extensive customization, call AASB for pricing at 334.277.9700.

Book Studies Board-superintendent teams can elevate and enrich their learning with book studies. Choose a thoughtprovoking book from our list. Then schedule an AASB facilitator to guide discussion of the key leadership concepts. On the shelf are books about change, student achievement, teamwork, leadership and more.

Call for the list.

Poverty Simulation Experience one month of poverty in one hour with AASB’s Poverty Simulation, an eye-opening opportunity for board members and school staff to build awareness and empathy for students living in poverty. When your full board participates, the Poverty Simulation counts as your two-hour Whole Board Training credit. The simulation requires 30-80 participants and approximately 20 volunteers. Contact our Leadership Development team or visit AlabamaSchoolBoards.org/PovSim for more information. Boards who have experienced this simulation and realize the benefits are encouraging their superintendent to schedule the session for teachers and staff during professional development days.

Candidate Training (Call for Length & Pricing) Sometimes -- through situations such as the conversion from an elected to an appointed board or the creation of a new school system -- school boards will see the potential for a large turnover in members.

When that occurs, AASB can provide training for the would-be board members about what board service entails. The session is designed to help candidates understand the position they are seeking, the requirements and time commitments and the scope of the board's and board members' authority.

Startup Board Training (Call for Length & Pricing) Whether a city system has formed a new school system or a new charter board has been created, this session provides a solid introduction to the law and practices that help a fledgling board avoid costly or embarrassing mistakes.

Whether a city system has formed a new school system or a new charter board has been created, this session provides a solid introduction the law and help a fledgling board avoid costly or What options areto eligible forpractices WholethatBoard Training? embarrassing mistakes.

Training taught by the Alabama Association of School Boards (AASB) or external training pre-approved

by AASB is considered “eligible” for whole board training.

The External Training Provider Application is available for download at Alabamaschoolboards.org/training/external-training-application.

To learn more about the guidelines for earning pre-approved whole board training using an external trainer, visit Alabamaschoolboards.org/training/external-training-guidelines.

www.AlabamaSchoolBoards.org

800.562.0601

training@AlabamaSchoolBoards.org