The Student Achievement Leadership Team is comprised of school board members who provide expertise to lead the OSBA student achievement initiative. The team consists of three school board members from each of OSBA’s five regions along with the OSBA president, president-elect and immediate past president. SALT members are recommended by the OSBA executive director and appointed by the OSBA president.
Advancing student achievement and student learning is not a new concept for the Ohio School Boards Association. Over twenty years ago, on November 9, 1998, the OSBA Delegate Assembly passed a Resolution creating the Student Achievement Initiative. The initiative recognized that school board members were committed to and understood the importance of students performing at their highest potential and acknowledged the then relatively new idea of school board accountability for student results. Committed to supporting student achievement, OSBA created, staffed and supported work to encourage and sharpen school board focus on student achievement.
Further, the initiative established a framework to carry out newly developed strategies. A Student Achievement Leadership Team composed of school board members from each region of the association were appointed to provide guidance. To disseminate information and fan the growth of the initiative, the Student Achievement Leadership Team created the Student Achievement Liaisons. Appointed by each board of education, the liaisons serve as the link between OSBA’s student achievement efforts and those of the local school district.
Most recently, the Board of Trustees via the Visionary Initiatives for Strategic Action (OSBA strategic plan) established and staffed a new program area to assist school board members in understanding their roles, challenges and opportunities to improve student achievement. The position of student achievement consultant was established. As such, the student achievement consultant works within the established student achievement initiative framework, and advances understanding of issues and board roles related to student achievement; functions as a liaison between the association and the Ohio Department of Education; interprets and shares research results with school board members and creates and maintains communication channels between public schools and other organizations to support public education.