Research Archive

American School Board Journal Contributing Editor Susan Black writes regularly on topics of interest to educators and education policy makers. Black, an education research consultant in Hammondsport, N.Y., has a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from Michigan State University and has taught at Trinity College, Vt., the University of Maine, and elsewhere.

Make Decisions With Data
Effective school leaders are leading through analysis to closely examine how their resources are currently being used, identify where the need is the greatest, and target those resources to where they will produce the greatest return on investment. Data can highlight the right questions to ask and lead schools to the right answers.
February 2012

Knowing the Labor Market
There are places in the country that can’t find enough workers – not because there aren’t enough people, but because the people available don’t have the right skills. As a school board member, what do you need to do so that your high school graduates have the skills they need in order to get good jobs?
January 2012