Online Learning Center Courses

Course takers learn about the board’s relationship with the superintendent and how to avoid common pitfalls. While focusing on best practices and boards’ legal roles and responsibilities found in state statute and board policy, this workshop will provide a guide for boards to be effective in governing the district.

This course includes a framework for understanding the various regulations affecting school board behavior and a review of government ethical standards, which focus on financial gain. You will learn what you need to know about Oregon's ethics laws to comply with the law and stay off of the front page of your local newspaper. This course explains the issues related to conflicts of interest, nepotism and acceptance of gifts. The course is about 38 minutes long and offers Leadership Institute Bronze Level credit.

This module provides new board members with resources and advice for a successful beginning to their board service. The course includes video vignettes of advice from experienced board members and links to several online resources. The course runs about 50 minutes.

The Legislature has given school boards the authority to lead their districts by setting policies. Learn what policy is and the role of administrative regulations play in the implementation of policy. The course includes common mistakes, steps for reviewing policy, best practices and problems that can result from holes in your policies. The course runs about 50 minutes and offers Leadership Institute Bronze Level credit.

It is not always in the charter school's best interest to adopt the sponsoring district's policy - and vice versa! Charter school policies can protect the charter school's flexibility and innovation as well as its liability. Find out what is required (and what is not) to improve your charter school's governance structure. This course offers Leadership Institute Bronze Level credit.

An overview of the do's and don'ts of public meetings, minutes and executive sessions along with examples. Whether meeting the letter of the law or the court of public opinion, this course discusses how to stay out of hot water, even though your actions may be completely legal. This course also discusses hHow to handle e-mail in order to avoid electronic meetings. This narrated course is 56 minutes long and offers Leadership Institute Bronze Level credit.

Learn the sources of funding for Oregon school districts and how that funding is distributed. We will discuss the board’s role in the budgeting, accounting and auditing processes and help Board members understand what they can do to ensure fiscal accountability. This course offers Leadership Institute Bronze Level credit.

This course is an overview for board members of their duties and legal responsibilities regarding policy, curriculum, staffing and budget. It provides an introduction to state and federal laws and includes a discussion of laws related to students, personnel, public records and public meetings. It will help you identify areas in which you may want more in-depth training. The course runs approximately 45 minutes and offers Leadership Institute Silver Level credit.

Superintendent Evaluation is one of those board responsibilities that can make board members squirm and superintendents cringe. A clear plan, well understood expectations and effective communications will make this very important board responsibility go smoothly. The OSBA Superintendent Evaluation online course walks you through an easy to understand process to guide your board on its way. Included is an overview of the OSBA Superintendent Evaluation workbook, available on OSBA’s website, and the public meetings and records pitfalls to avoid. This course offers Leadership Institute Silver Level credit.

In this 40-minute webinar, attendees will learn about how board members’ interactions with each other impact the school system they govern. Board culture matters and effective boards understand why it is valuable to examine board culture through the lens of student learning. In this workshop, boards are encouraged to use the board self-evaluation process to develop a board operating agreement that is a living document to help boards continuously improve. This course offers Leadership Institute Silver Level credit.

Are the students in your schools learning? How do you know? What assessments are used in your system? This webinar will explore the board’s role in assessments and questions boards may want to ask of the data.