This article analyses the disaggregated data from the 2020 American Superintendent Decennial Study. The focus on superintendents of colour provides important insight into the ways individuals holding the highest rank in school districts govern the instructional, facilities, fiscal, personnel, and community relations matters as they comprehensively…

The implementation of national educational reform in China calls for newer and stronger school administration. Recognizing the need to establish a knowledge base for leadership development, we employ a set of existing US professional standards for educational leaders as a frame of reference to unpack the complex role of Chinese superintendents.…

Most published research on the superintendency has failed to examine the voices of female superintendents. Today, white males make up approximately 85% of superintendents, rendering female responses to the superintendency almost non-existent. This study, commissioned by the American Association of School Administrators, provides a historical…

This article reports the two-year tenure of a woman superintendent in a small southern city. Placed against the background of local community politics and school district politics it shows that women in the superintendency still face issues of gender stereotyping that influence the way they are perceived as leaders of school systems. A feminist…

Uses multidimensional ethical framework to critique 15 Virginia superintendents' responses to the achievement gap as measured by the Standards of Learning (SOL) tests. Questions majority of superintendents' readiness to deal with moral and ethical issues related to achievement gap. (Contains 24 references.) (PKP)

Provides historical background and current context for school administrator preparation and professional development in the United States. Discusses changes in the work of principals and superintendents in last twenty years and draws implications administrator preparation and professional development. (Contains 92 references.)(PKP)

Analyzes research on superintendent attrition and supply. Refutes popular belief of a crisis in the superintendency. Draws implications for policy and practice. (Contains 50 references.)(PKP)

Considers the moral dimension of educational leadership, based on the lived experiences of 11 women superintendents. Examines interviewees' perceived options in resolving moral dilemmas that defy adherence to policy. Most evident is superintendents' reliance on localized knowledge of particular people, capacity to imagine the other's situation,…

This paper reports on the current thinking about the position of principal and superintendent in America's schools. The positions of school principal and district superintendent have been undergoing changes in definition and scope over the last century and a half. As America undergoes significant societal transformation, the definition of these…

This paper presents findings of a study that investigated the reasons why more women are not in the superintendency when there are many women who are qualified and interested. Using a feminist poststructural approach, the first phase of the research consisted of a pilot case study of four women aspiring to the superintendency. The second phase…

This poem is composed from the interview data of a participant in a qualitative study of what it means to be a woman superintendent. This representation captures the woman's rhythms, images, and metaphors. (SLD)

Studied the mentoring relationships of 14 African American and 4 Hispanic American women to determine the ways in which mentoring provides the means for women of color to gain entry into educational administration. Identified six needs and desires of proteges of color seeking entry into educational administration. (SLD)

Reviews 50 years of superintendency literature. Offers a possible reconciliation of the superintendency by juxtaposing the traditional with ideas from feminist and postmodern literature. Recognizing postmodern paradoxes allows questioning of the traditional superintendency and leads to more caring, socially committed leadership strategies.…

Amid reports of superintendent shortages and concerns about equal opportunity, what place do women superintendents occupy in today's school districts? Are they sought after or are they struggling to break into a traditionally male-dominated profession? What qualities, if any, do they bring to the office that may make them more desirable as…

Few superintendents of K-12 public school districts in the United States are women, though many women have leadership positions in schools. This book presents findings of a study that explored what it was like to be a qualified woman aspiring to the superintendency. Data were obtained from interviews with 27 self-identified women aspirants who…