Research on School Board Effectiveness

Research and WSSDA

Academic research, where evidence indicates relationships between board practice and student outcomes, is the foundation of the Washington School Board Standards. In turn, the Standards, coupled with practical insights from school board members, are the foundation of trainings developed by WSSDA for individual board members and board-superintendent teams.

For decades, WSSDA has been participating in, following, and incorporating school board research into its professional development resources, trainings, and events. And the research increasingly points to the importance of school boards in creating the conditions for student success.

Foundational Research

The Lighthouse Inquiry, conducted by the Iowa Association of School Boards in 2000, represents one of the foundational studies demonstrating the direct connection between school board governance practices and student achievement outcomes.

This study investigated whether some school boards create higher student achievement than others by studying districts with schools that ranked very high or very low on standardized achievement tests over three academic years. The findings were clear: in districts where the board and superintendent worked collaboratively, students performed better.

The study’s methodology, comparing districts with extreme differences in student performance, provided compelling evidence that governance behaviors matter significantly for student outcomes. These findings were later reinforced by Lorentzen & McCaw (2015, 2017, 2021), who demonstrated the impact of board behavior on student achievement.

Lorentzen & McCaw—WSSDA Research Partners

Now retired, Dr. Ivan Lorentzen, professor of psychology at Kalispell Community College, and Dr. Bill McCaw from the University of Montana collaborated with WSSDA for several years to study the intersection of board practices and student achievement.

By aggregating assessment results from each state using WSSDA’s free Board Self-Assessment Survey, the pair used multiple years of data, cross-referenced with students’ academic outcomes, to continually review and refine their findings. Presenting at the 2025 WSSDA annual conference, the pair made it clear that WSSDA’s free board self-assessment tool is easy to access and highly impactful for a board trying to operate with insight rather than intuition. See their presentation, Insight over Intuition: 20 Years of Research on Student Achievement and School Boards.

Scholarship on School Boards and Democracy

Recent writing has also highlighted the important role that school boards play as functioning examples of democratic dialogue and decision-making. Nationally, finding common ground, when ideological differences exist, has become increasingly difficult in some areas, but school boards are a perfect place to show it’s possible; and there are almost 300 of them in Washington state alone.

Scott Levy (2025) argues in his book, Why School Boards Matter, that school boards are uniquely positioned to strengthen both the public education system and democratic governance during a time when board meetings have increasingly become contentious.

Democracy Speaks, by Johnathan Collins is another entry on the intersection of school boards and democracy, along with Democracy For What and For Whom?: The Possibilities and Challenges of K-12 School Boards.

Impact on Student Outcomes

Overall, the growing body of research is unambiguous: school boards that adhere to evidence-based governance standards and collaborate well with their superintendent are more likely to see higher levels of student success over time than those who don’t. Or put another way by a retired superintendent, “districts with high-achieving students usually don’t see their school board in the news.”

Research Citations

The following articles, presentation or papers have informed WSSDA’s development of training, publications, and events. As the research evolves over time, so will WSSDA’s offerings.

  • Alsbury, T. L. & Gore, P. (2015). Improving school board Effectiveness: A balanced governance approach. Cambridge, MA., Harvard Education Press.
  • Delegardelle, M (1998-2008). “The Lighthouse Inquiry: Examining the Role of School Board Leadership in the Improvement of Student Achievement.” In T. Alsbury (Ed.), The Future of School Board Governance: Relevancy and Revelation.
  • Gemberling, K. W., Smith, C. W, & Vallani, J. S. (2000). The key work of school boards guidebook. Alexandria, VA: National School Boards Association.
  • Hattie, J. (2003, October). Teachers make a difference: What is the research evidence? Paper presented at the Building Teacher Quality: What does the research tell us. ACER Research Conference, Melbourne, Australia. Retrieved from http://research.acer.edu.au/research_conference_2003/4/
  • Iowa School Boards Foundation (2001). Paper Presented at the American Educational Research Association 2001 Annual Meeting April 10-14, 2001: ERIC – ED453172 – The Lighthouse Inquiry: School Board/Superintendent Team Behaviors in School Districts with Extreme Differences in Student Achievement., 2000-Oct
  • LaMonte, H. & Delegardelle, M. (2009). “Seeing the Light.” American School Board Journal, August (2009)
  • Lee, D. E., & Eadens, D. W. (2014). The Problem: Low Achieving Districts and Low Performing Boards. International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership, 9(3). https://doi.org/10.22230/ijepl.2014v9n3a563
  • Lorentzen, Ivan J. (2013). The Relationship Between School Board Governance Behaviors and Student Achievement. Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 1387. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/1387
  • Lorentzen, I. J., & McCaw, W. P. (2015). How board governance practices affect student achievement. In T. Alsbury, & P. Gore (Eds.), Improving school board effectiveness: A balanced governance approach. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
  • Lorentzen, I. J., & McCaw, W. P. (2017). Why boardsmanship matters: Research shows that school boards do impact student achievement. Texas Lone Star. April 2017. texaslonestaronline.org
  • Lorentzen, I. J., & McCaw, W. P. (2017). The science of student achievement: Adhering to board standards impacts districtwide student success. Texas Lone Star. May 2017. texaslonestaronline.org
  • Lorentzen, I. J., & McCaw, W. P. (2017). Why boardsmanship matters: Research shows that school boards do impact student achievement. Texas Lone Star. June 2017. texaslonestaronline.org
  • Lorentzen, I. J., & McCaw, W. P. (2017). Staying the course: Conclusion of boardsmanship series underscores successful school board behaviors. Texas Lone Star. August 2017. texaslonestaronline.org
  • Lorentzen, I. J., & McCaw, W. P. (2022, April). A letter to the school board: Boardmanship during the pandemic. National School Board Association.