Here is a Table of Contents for the March/April 2009 issue of Illinois School Board Journal. Highlighted articles are available here in full-text form. For other articles get in touch with:

IASB Publications
2921 Baker Drive
Springfield 62703
217/528-9688, extension 1131

• Agenda item #1: Building a new team
  by Linda Dawson
  Learn why your board may feel awkward in early May of this year and the inevitable process it will go through on a journey to building a new team.
  Sidebar: IASB offers new orientation, team-building help

• Superintendent evaluation: Is your board ready?
  by Walter H. Warfield and J. Gregory Reynolds
  A superintendent's evaluation process can be a powerful tool for continued school performance, so doing it efficiently and effectively is important for boards.

• Boards and superintendents: A precious but fragile bond
  by Doug Eadie
  The professional marriage of a school board and a superintendent ranks at the top of factors that influence educational performance.
  Sidebar: Partnership materials available

• Team building...What is it, really?
  by Peter B. Grazier
  Most people associate team building with trivial, rah-rah aspects of competition, but it's a necessary process as people come to understand they are greater collectively than individually.

• Forming a new team starts with candidates
  by Sherwood Dees
  A former superintendent says forming the new school board team actually starts before the election.

• Myths vs. reality...Interim superintendents can make things happen
  by Leonard D. Fitts
  Interim superintendents have a lot to offer, including a smooth transition into a new permanent relationship.

• First-year board presidency yields 16 observations.
  by Sean William Doyle
  As a new board president, take a moment to celebrate and then get ready for what's to come with observations from someone who's walked in your shoes.

• New curriculum connects science, math to real life.
  by Mike Carr
  Interest is growing in Project Lead The Way, which can help schools steer more students into engineering-related careers.

• Practical PR: Good PR can help a new team succeed.
  by Bill Clow and Sherry Douglas

• Ask the staff: 'Getting up to speed' is the board's job
  answered by Dean Langdon