Addressing the urgent challenges of school leadership in our divided, post-pandemic landscape, "The Governance Core 2.0" is an essential guide for school trustees and superintendents dedicated to making a meaningful difference in their districts. Davis Campbell, Michael Fullan, and Babs Kavanaugh provide useful tools and techniques to…

This study explored the role of school superintendents and board of education trustees in closing the achievement gap, which can be defined as "the disparity in academic performance between groups of students" (Muhammad, 2015, p. 14). District leaders (superintendents and school boards) set the priorities and policies in their school…

The purpose of the present study was to explore the nature of hiring a public school superintendent in a context, which challenged school board trustees to select a particular type of leader. The researcher's intent was to study three former school board trustees who were initially involved in what they considered a complex change process,…

According to the California School Board Association, the role of the school board is to ensure that school districts are responsive to the values, beliefs, and priorities of their communities. Even though board members have a complex list of roles and responsibilities, CSBA assigns five primary major responsibilities: setting direction,…

Public school superintendents have a unique dependency on the capacity of their local school boards to function competently and lead their school districts effectively. As credentialed experts in all aspects of school leadership, superintendents serve at the pleasure of a board of individuals who gain their authority through political means…

Problem: A significant challenge confronting Seventh-day Adventist schools is declining enrollment, with schools in the North America Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church either closing or experiencing a substantial reduction in enrollment over the years. The purpose of this study is to identify the perceived factors influencing enrollment…

Women continue to be underrepresented in the superintendent role in public school systems in the United States. The path to the superintendency requires candidates to pass through a series of gates controlled by school board members. Qualified women seek superintendent jobs and are not passing through the gates at the same rate as men. This…

Lone Star Governance (LSG), a governance model rooted in school board best practices, was developed for Texas school board trustees and their superintendent to improve student outcomes (Crabill, 2017). This phenomenological study investigated school board members' perceptions compared to the perceptions of superintendents regarding the LSG…

Background/Context: Since the early 1990s, the United States has been witnessing reforms in large, high-visibility cities, with mayors granted the power to appoint school boards, superintendents, or both. This shift away from elected school board governance has been characterized as marginalizing traditional educators and ushering in reforms that…

This mixed methods exploratory case study illuminates work of educational governance in a rural school district that has experienced dramatic improvement over a five-year period between 2017 and 2021. As such, we offer practical insights about how these leaders support continuous improvement, and theoretical insights about rurality, leadership,…

The hiring process is a shared responsibility between the employer and the prospective candidates seeking employment. The purpose of the hiring or selection process is to find the candidate with the right knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) to perform the job or role and be successful within the employment process for the organization or…

For this comprehensive literature review, we begin by framing our study with a scholarship review of the theorizing of place-based leadership and rural administrators. We then synthesize research on the practice and experiences of district administrators, including superintendents, school boards, and other ancillary leaders. We identify multiple…

The purpose of this research study was to identify factors that lead to a positive relationship between school boards and superintendents and the overall importance of this relationship. Furthermore, this study looked at conflict resolution between school boards and superintendents and the influence of this relationship on student achievement. Two…

Educational outcomes for Black & brown students are the result of well-functioning school systems overwrought with top-down bureaucracy that stifle school-based leaders from generating school-based solutions. The dominant explanation is the growing power and influence of politically-driven school board members cut off from local, national, and…

Among the top reasons public school superintendents leave their positions is the poor relationships and conflicts with board members, and union representatives (Grissom & Mitani, 2016). The national average of superintendent tenure is less than four years resulting in K-12 leadership instability, at all levels of the school and district office…