Books Approved for Board Member Certification

You may browse the list of books, approved for fulfilling the reading requirement for board member certification, by title. The link for ordering a book from the source is provided for your convenience.

To request to read book that is not on the list, email your request to training@mosba.org and provide the title, author and publisher before you purchase or read the book.

Contact

Leadership Development Department
Phone: 800-221-6722, ext. 329
Email: training@mosba.org

A - B

Title	Author(s)	Order/View
50 Myths and Lies That Threaten America’s Public Schools	Berliner, D. & Glass, G.
Accountability in Action, 2nd. Edition	Reeves, D.
Balanced Leadership for Powerful Learning	Goodwin, B. et al
Becoming a Better Board Member: A Guide to Effective School Board Service, 4th Ed.	NSBA
Belonging Through a Culture of Dignity	Cobb, F. & Krownapple, J.
A Better Way to Budget: Building Support for Bold, Student-Centered Change in Public Schools	Levenson, N.
Beyond the Bake Sale: The Essential Guide to Family-School Partnerships	Henderson, A. et al
Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People	Banaji, M.
Boards that Matter: Building Blocks for Implementing Coherent Governance and Policy Governance	Quinn, R. & Dawson, L.
Building a High-Impact Board-Superintendent Partnership	Eadie, D.
Building Equity: Policies and Practices to Empower All Learners	Smith, D. et al
Building Great School Board-Superintendent Teams	Balch, B. & Adamson, M.
Building Relationships, Yielding Results: How Superintendents Can Work with School Boards to Create Productive Teams	Hackett, J.
Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, 3rd Ed.	Collins, J. & Porras, J.

C - E

Title	Author(s)	Order/View
Columbine	Cullen, D.
Columbine: A True Crime Story, 2nd Ed.	Kass, J.
Compelling Conversations: Connecting Leadership to Student Achievement	Piercy, T.
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Parliamentary Procedure Fast-Track	Slaughter, J.
Complex People: Insights at the Intersection of Black Culture and American Social Life	Howard, D.
Courageous Conversations About Race: A Field Guide for Achieving Equity in Schools (2nd Edition)	Singleton, G.
The Culturally Proficient School: An Implementation Guide for School Leaders, 2nd Ed.	Lindsey, R. & Roberts, L.
Cybertraps for Educators 2.0	Lane, F.
Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education (3rd Edition)	Ravitch, D.
Effective School Boards: Strategies for Improving Board Performance	Smoley, E
Effective Superintendent-School Board Practices: Strategies for Developing and Maintaining Good Relationship with Your Board	Townsend, R.
Engage Every Family: Five Simple Principles, 2nd. Ed.	Constantino, S.
Engaging Students with Poverty in Mind: Practical Strategies for Improving Achievement	Jensen, E.
Equity, From the Board Room to the Classroom: Transforming Districts into Professional Learning Organizations	Rice, P.
The Essential School Board Book: Better Governance in the Age of Accountability	Walser, N. & Elmore, R
Every Child, Every Day: A Digital Conversion Model for Student Achievement	Edwards, M.
Excellence Through Equity: Five Principles of Courageous Leadership to Guide Achievement for Every Student	Blankstein, A. & Noguera, P.

F - L

Title	Author(s)	Order/View
Failure Is Not an Option: Six Principles That Guide Student Achievement in Highly Effective Schools, 3rd Ed.	Blankstein, A.
Five Habits of High-Impact School Boards	Eadie, D.
A Framework for Understanding Poverty: A Cognitive Approach, 6th Ed.	Payne, R.
Good Governance Is A Choice: A Way to Re-create Your Board – the Right Way, 2nd Ed.	Quinn, R. & Dawson, L.
Good to Great – Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t	Collins, J.
The Governance Core: School boards, Superintendents and Schools Working Together	Campbell, D. & Fullan M.
Governing at the Top: Building a Board-Superintendent Strategic Governing Team	Eadie, D.
Guide for Preventing and Responding to School Violence, 2nd Ed.	Int’l. Assoc. of Chiefs of Police (IACP)
How NOT to Be a Terrible School Board Member	Mayer, R.
Improving School Board Effectiveness: A Balanced Governance Approach	Alsbury, T. & Gore, P.
Improving Student Learning When Budgets Are Tight	Odden, A.
The Innovator’s Mindset	Couros, G.
The Key Work of School Boards Guidebook, 3rd Ed.	Gemberling, K. et al
The Leader in Me: How Schools and Parents Around the World Are Inspiring Greatness, One Child at a Time, 2nd Ed.	Covey, S.
Leaders of Learning: How District, School, and Classroom Leaders Improve Student Achievement	DuFour, R. & Marzano, R.
Leadership and School Boards: Guarding the Trust in an Era of Community Engagement	Reimer, L. & Wiens, J.
Leading for Equity: The Pursuit of Excellence in Montgomery County Public Schools	Childress, S. & Doyle, D.

M - R

Title	Author(s)	Order/View
Making Sense of School Finance: A Practical State-by-State Approach	Born, C.
The Mental and Emotional State of School-Aged Students	Brooks, S.
More Courageous Conversations About Race	Singleton, G.
Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis	Putnam, R.
Outside Money in School Board Elections: The Nationalization of Education Politics	Henig, J. et al
Performance is Key: Connecting the Links to Leadership and Excellence	Cotter, V. & Hassler, R.
Poverty is NOT a Learning Disability: Equalizing Opportunities for Low SES Students	Howard, T. & Dresser, S.
The Power of Smart Goals: Using Goals to Improve Student Learning	O’Neill, J.
Proactive School Security and Emergency Preparedness Planning	Trump, K.
Promoting Your School: Going Beyond PR, 3rd Edition	Warner, C.
The Public School Advantage: Why Public Schools Outperform Private Schools	Lubeinski, C. & Lubeinski, S.
Rac(e)ing to Class: Confronting Poverty and Race in Schools and Classrooms	Milner, H.
Reaching and Teaching Students in Poverty: Strategies for Erasing the Opportunity Gap, 2nd Edition*	Gorski, P.
Reducing School Expenses: Containing Insurance Costs, Funding Capital, and Tackling the Challenges	Born, C.
Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools	Ravitch, D.
Revisiting Professional Learning Communities at Work: Proven Insights for Sustained, Substantive School Improvement, 2nd Ed.	DuFour, R. & DuFour, R.

Title	Author(s)	Order/View
The School Board Fieldbook: Leading with Vision	Van Clay, M. & Soldwedel, P.
A School Board Guide to Leading Successful Schools: Focusing on Learning	Hirsch, S. & Foster, A.
School Budgeting for Hard Times: Confronting Cutbacks and Critics	Poston, W.
School Communication That Works	DeSieghardt, K.
School Finance Elections: A Comprehensive Planning Model for Success, 2nd Edition	Lifto, D.
The School Shooter: A Threat Assessment Perspective	O’Toole, M.
Schools Cannot Do It Alone: Building Public Support for America’s Public Schools	Voller, J.
Schools That Succeed: How Educators Marshal the Power of Systems for Improvement	Chenoweth, K.
The Secrets of School Board Success: Practical Tips for Board Members	Hamilton, L.
Shattering Inequities	LaSalle, R. & Johnson, R.
Slaying Goliath	Ravitch, D.
Stronger Together: Answering the Questions of Collaborative Leadership	Martin, T. & Rains, C.

T - Z

Title	Author(s)	Order/View
Teaching with Poverty in Mind: What Being Poor Does to Kids’ Brains and What Schools Can Do About It	Jensen, E.
Threat Assessment In Schools: A Guide to Managing Threatening Situations and to Creating Safe School Climates	Fein, R.
Transforming School Culture: How to Overcome Staff Division, 2nd edition	Muhammad, A.
Turning High-Poverty Schools into High-Performing Schools, 2nd Ed.	Parrett, W. & Budge, K.
Vanishing School Boards: Where School Boards Have Gone, Why We Need Them, and How We Can Bring Them Back	Rice, P.
Violence Among Students and School Staff	Brooks, S.
The Violence Continuum: Creating a Safe School Climate	Manvell, E.
We Can’t Teach What We Don’t Know: White Teachers, Multiracial Schools, 3rd Ed.	Howard, G.
What School Boards Can Do: Reform Governance for Urban Schools	McAdams, D.
Where the Finger Points	Brooks, S.
Why Rural Schools Matter	Tieken, M.
The Will to Lead, the Skill to Teach: Transforming Schools at Every Level	Muhummad, A. et al