Purpose: This study investigated how superintendents lead the process of within-district racial and socioeconomic integration. Design/methodology/approach: The researchers used Constructivist Grounded Theory methodology to analyze interviews with superintendents, documents and videos from four school districts in suburban, southeastern…

This study of a multi-district superintendency in rural Minnesota reveals how schools act as spaces where community boundaries expand as a result of partnership and collaboration. The project, informed by grounded theory, seeks to fill a key gap in understanding the experiences of school staff and community members in multi-district resource…

Educational policy makers continue to promote non-instructional service consolidation as one method to reduce operating costs through "economies of scale". Unfortunately, there is essentially no empirical evidence on the size or source of cost savings associated with such measures. Using panel data from 2004-2010, this mixed methods…

School districts at times need to implement structural and programmatic changes requiring students to attend a different school, which tends to elicit strong parental emotions. This qualitative study analyzes how parents in one suburban Rhode Island district responded to a large-scale redistricting at the elementary level in order to (a) attain a…

For the last five years, the lives of New York City (NYC) public school educators have been governed by constant change. With certainty, every January or June heralded something new--restructured departments and offices, staff changes and new initiatives. One of the most interesting chapters in the history of the NYC school system unfolded in the…

In June 2007 the Governor of Maine signed legislation that required the state's 290 school administrative units (SAUs) to seek partners for a reorganization that would reduce the number of SAUs to approximately 80 Regional School Units (RSUs) (Maine State Legislature, 2007). This policy initiative is the first reorganization of Maine's school…

The problem. To consider reorganization of two or more Iowa school districts in light of declining enrollment, dwindling financial resources, the end of the state budget guarantee program and pressure to provide the most rigorous and relevant education possible to Iowa's students. Specifically, the problem is to determine what two or more school…

Joan Raymond was just six months into a well-earned retirement following 20 demanding years in the superintendency of some of the hottest kitchens in the nation. But when some longtime friends told her about an opening in South Bend, Indiana, Raymond could not ignore the itch to give it one more whirl. Raymond found the school system in far more…

Beset with rising costs and inequity problems, Greensboro City, High Point City, and Guilford County districts merged to become North Carolina's third largest district, with 59,000 students. Although the superintendent had to downsize staff, eliminate special-interest programs, and refashion summer school, the merger yielded wider community…

Believing that their desegregation plans met court-ordered guidelines, three Arkansas school districts (Little Rock, North Little Rock, and Pulaski County) found that U.S. District Judge Woods had scrapped these plans and appointed a New York desegregation expert (Eugene Reville) in charge of the three districts. Sidebars discuss salary and court…

On the surface, Michael Moher's major challenges as a superintendent do not seem so foreign from any other leader who is responsible for the education of 28,000 students. He has been grappling in recent years with budget shortfalls, school closings, a couple of dissident board members and even a week-long teacher's strike. Moher runs a Catholic…

Area service agencies have been structured in many states to enhance service while preserving local school districts. A variety of patterns of cooperation have developed. In North Dakota a study team considered issues, based on the organizational and financial characteristics of existing area service agencies, about the organization of the…

Describes the substantive changes made by Superintendent John Stanford in the Seattle public school system over the last two years. (LMI)

People in the rolling, scenic valley, between the Ozarks and Ouchita mountains have a lot in common. As of this school year, they share something else in common: a school district. The four districts that make up the newly christened Two Rivers are among 57 rural Arkansas systems that state lawmakers forced to consolidate with their neighbors.…

Describes how the Cincinnati (Ohio) Public Schools reorganized to achieve a 50% reduction of central-office jobs. Downsizing aims to reduce the organization's size and create a new organizational culture that is more efficient, leaner, and more responsive. Superintendents must set institutional goals, create a new organizational chart, decide who…