Communications Corner: IASB Resources Help Board Members Excel
By Kara Kienzler
For new board members finding their path, or experienced leaders hitting their stride, the Illinois Association of School Boards offers dozens of resources to help you excel in your role.
The IASB Community is an online hub offering school board members the opportunity to seek support, exchange ideas and resources, and find inspiration among their peers. The communities available bring together members from all IASB’s 21 divisions, and roles, such as board presidents and division leadership roles. This platform is a unique opportunity to connect and learn from others, bringing together members who make up the Association’s strong collective voice.
School leaders looking for more to read can visit www.iasb.com/about-us/publications for a wide variety of free resources that are compiled, published, and maintained by IASB for Illinois school board members and education leaders, including
- How School Boards Work
- Understanding School Finance
- Guide to Recruiting School Board Candidates
There you can also find information about the “Inside IASB” podcast and reports on surveys and data, such as IASB maintains a robust amount of data that may be useful, including administrator salaries (also see page 9), board member turnover data, finance election data, and the school design data file.
IASB offers titles for school leaders in its bookstore (iasb.com/bookstore), including these published by the Association:
- Illinois School Law Survey (2024) by the late Brian A. Braun and David J. Braun
- Essentials of Illinois School Finance: A Guide to Techniques, Issues, and Resources by James Fritts with Senior Editor Ann Williams (2024)
- Coming to Order: A Guide to Successful School Board Meetings (2023)
- Effective School Board Member (2023)
- Collective Bargaining and the Illinois School Board Member (2021) by Ronald R. Booth and edited by the late Brian A. Braun
If you’re just getting started, be sure to take the IASB Roadmap to Success along for the ride. The Roadmap guides you on mandated training, meetings, working with the superintendent, learning the work of the board, and the information and resources to help you carry out your duties and develop your leadership skills.
You can find all of this information and more on the IASB website: www.iasb.com. This includes daily “Leading News” headlines from local and national media, news items from IASB and partnering organizations. The website also offers access to IASB’s online training, webinars, Policy Services, division information, and the latest on IASB’s advocacy efforts, in which members are encouraged to participate. Plus, get the latest updates on the Joint Annual Conference, the premier statewide event for Illinois school board members and education leaders.
These resources help IASB fulfill its mission, which includes “Valuable benefits, pooled services, information, and expertise.”