Citizens' perception of the relationship between school board operating structure and board planning, board goals and board behavior, 1993

Very little research has been done on the dynamics of school boards. This study was undertaken to examine perceptions of school board behavior. Also the study attempted to determine the relationship of board behavior, board planning and board goals.Sources of data for the study included questionnaire, formal and informal conversation. The subjects were graduate students enrolled in Clark Atlanta University Education department; other subjects were nongraduate (citizens). Statistical procedures used was the Pearson correlation analysis. Some findings emerged from data analysis. When respondents see the school board as planning and cooperative in terms of the clients' needs, they also see the board as reaching its student goal. Respondents see dominated and fragmented boards as negative for student achievement goal, cooperative behavior and system planning, while they see 1 positive relationship for board consensus and passive board with cooperation and planning. However, there is no significant relationship among board consensus, passive board and board goals. The general perception is that school boards should improve public relations. The recommendations were the school board should improve the citizen perception or improve their performance