This article aims to explore educational infrastructures for superintendents' and deputy superintendents' professional development and to analyse what kind of professional development these infrastructures bolster. The article builds on a qualitative case study focusing on the central municipal level in Sweden. Findings are based on data from…

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…

In the U.S. public educational system, the superintendent role is crucial for shaping student outcomes, yet it is predominantly occupied by White males (73%), with African American females making up less than 1% of these positions. Historical research on superintendents often overlooked gender and racial diversity, contributing to the…

This study is a phenomenological inquiry on the achievement bridge in Latina leadership and educational advancement. The case studies used counter-storytelling to explore the triumphs and challenges of Latina leadership in superintendency. Education is in dire need of leaders who disrupt, disquiet, or unhinge oppression with the disposition of a…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify the perceptions of superintendents as to how prepared and supported they were to successfully lead an organization through crisis situations. A phenomenological approach was used and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 current or retired public school superintendents from diverse…

Although their numbers are growing in the field of education, women of color are highly underrepresented in high-level leadership positions such as superintendent of schools. The purpose of this narrative research study was to explore the experiences, facilitators, and barriers of 20 women of color high-level educational leaders, including…

Email has become a prominent communication tool for principals. Although principals have reported benefits of communicating via email, they have also indicated that it has intensified their workload. Specifically, principals have indicated that they receive a large volume of email, which contributes to extending and fragmenting their workdays.…

The Region 14 Comprehensive Center (R14CC) is one of 20 technical assistance centers supported under the U.S. Department of Education's Comprehensive Centers program from 2019 to 2024. The center works to drive educational change in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas so that every student has the opportunity to thrive. Collaborative, customized,…

Barriers surround top-tier leadership in K-12 education. The superintendent position continues to be occupied by male leaders despite the overwhelming number of female educators. This qualitative study explored the disparity between male and female leaders through the perspectives of female superintendents in a southern state. This study relied on…

Leaders are often wounded in practice, most often psychologically. My dissertation is a qualitative three-part interview study that explored how six superintendents describe and understand a wounding experience--defined as a serious conflict, dilemma, or critical event in leadership practice that has a profound impact on the person. This study was…

Stronger administrative support for teachers has consistently been shown to increase teacher retention (Holmes et al., 2019). Nationally, researchers have explored the connection between administrative support and teacher retention, however, administrative support is not clearly defined (Billingsley & Bettini, 2019; Podolsky et al., 2019;…

This qualitative study explores the lessons learned by suburban superintendents as they led through the crisis of the COVID-19 global pandemic. As our world experienced the most disruptive and unprecedented event in our generation within the context of racial tensions and a volatile, divisive presidential campaign and election, superintendents…

It is widely known that gender bias persists in male-dominated fields. Gender bias is often defined as acts that position one prototypical social group over another (Begeny et al., 2020; Gloor et al., 2020; Roberts & Brown, 2019; Scheifele et al., 2021). It is unknown how male superintendents mentor women while established in their…

Trust is never more important than during a crisis. For years, researchers have been studying trust in organizations and schools, focusing on the principal and teacher relationship and its impact on school climate. The literature has been less focused, however, on the superintendent and principal relationship--and the role trust plays within that…

The primary purpose of this research was to examine the mindset of an effective superintendent, which successfully motivates employees of the Millennial and Generation Z generations. The research methodology for this dissertation was a phenomenological qualitative study that interviewed three superintendents across the United States who subscribed…