Decision-making in general and policy decisions in particular are the prime responsibility of school boards because policies are control mechanisms by which trustees assert local control. Policy decisions differ from others in their concern with values and purposes and the legitimization of the organization to society at large. Additionally, they tend to be broad in scope and relatively permanent attempts to guide or regulate lower level decision-making. Rational models of decision-making in which policy-makers seek optimal alternatives amongst a wide range of choices are limited in application by practical issues such as time shortages. Conflict or political models are difficult to implement because finding the "optimal alternative" requires negotiating some consensus amongst pressure groups. One consequence of conflict models is to reduce significantly the role of expertise. In policy-making, boards need systematic ways of (1) identifying policy issues requiring attention, (2) prioritizing policy concerns, (3) arriving at decisions, (4) stating board policies, and (5) evaluating the effectiveness of policies. Boards with such skills and techniques are generally very effective at making policy decisions, and they provide excellent leadership in education. (Author/JM)