The Hero Maker: How Superintendents Can Get Their School Boards to Do the Right Thing

Learn how to turn your school board members into heroes by helping them make smart, worthwhile decisions they will deserve to brag about. In this much-needed book, Ryan Donlan and Todd Whitaker offer practical strategies to help superintendents develop better working relationships with their boards.
You'll discover how to: - reconnect board members to the real purpose of education, despite their personal agendas - work with your board more effectively during meetings and at times in between - guide board members into more productive roles when they overreach beyond policymaking - connect and communicate with board members regardless of personal disposition
Each chapter contains hero-making tips to help you get started. In addition, this timely second edition features a new chapter on navigating the superintendent-board president relationship. With this practical book, you'll be able to overcome the challenges of the superintendent-board relationship so that your board can make better decisions for those who matter most-the students.

Ryan Donlan is a Professor of Educational Leadership at Indiana State University and specializes in school leadership, governance, and team performance, with books for board members, superintendents, principals, assistant principals, and teachers, including Uncommon Sense for New Teachers: A Good Beginning is Half the Work.
Todd Whitaker is a Research Professor at the University of Missouri. He is a leading presenter in the field of education and has written 65 books, including the national best seller, What Great Teachers Do Differently.