Board conflict and public performance on urban and non-urban boards: Evidence from a national sample of school board members

摘要

In this article a national sample of survey data collected from U.S. school board members paired with school-district level data from the National Center for Education Statistics are used to test the relationships between board conflict and school district performance. We add to the existing governance literature through our use of a national data set and specific focus on the impact of conflict on urban school boards. The analysis indicates a negative relationship between board conflict and district performance that is magnified on urban school boards. We conclude that school board members in general can improve school district performance by mitigating potential sources of board conflict, and that the importance of reducing conflict is greater on urban school boards.