In the landscape of modern education, the role of a superintendent has become increasingly complex, marked by demands for higher student achievement and round-the-clock communication. This complexity, underscored by technological advancements and evolving accountability measures, underscores the criticality of strategic planning for school…

This correlational study analyzed the data from surveys administered to current Illinois superintendents. Two-way MANOVAs were used to identify if there was a statistically significant relationship between the nine factors of Transformational and Transactional leadership styles as measured by the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) and…

This qualitative study explored the decision-making processes of 13 diverse Chancellors, President/Superintendents, and Presidents from California community colleges during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on how they navigated campus closures, the return to in-person work, and what or who influenced their decisions. Through interviews, three main…

Sam Patrick, a White female superintendent is in her fourth year leading the Douglasville School District, a high-performing, predominantly White suburban district that has a long history of unacknowledged and unchecked racism and racial disparities. Sam is driven to embrace a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) agenda and move the district in…

This study explored the perceptions of district superintendents in Texas and Arizona concerning the internship activities of superintendent candidates they supervised. Twenty superintendents agreed to participate in interviews. Five uniform questions were presented during the interviews. A qualitative analysis of interview responses is shared, and…

Our recently completed research project investigated strategies being used by Wisconsin rural school districts to address educator shortages, including a diverse set of "grow your own" (GYO) initiatives such as Educators Rising that involve partnerships with educator preparation programs (EPPs) and other local partners to identify,…

This dissertation focuses on the relative shortage of female senior leaders in higher education compared to men and the potential effect of gender and personality traits on the timeline to promotion. The primary research question asked was "do gender and personality type predict time to promotion in higher education?" The research…

Educator preparation programs for school district leaders are encouraged to review internship topics and activities for relevance in today's changing educational climate and programing. The National Educational Leadership Preparation (NELP) standards are research-based standards that have been approved to assist advanced programs at the master,…

Although active learning designs are recognized as elemental to stronger learning designs, there is limited literature on active learning pedagogical approaches for use in educational leader preparation. This article names problem- and case-based learning, simulations, and action research as "first generation" active learning pedagogical…

This article describes a research-enriched, action-oriented plan for supporting educators in PreK-12 district-wide mentoring through online professional development inspired by Kram's model.

This essay examines the tension between rigor and relevance in a newly designed EdD program in School System Leadership in a Research 1 institution. After a three-year redesign of this program that prepares students to become superintendents, our faculty continue to wrestle with questions around how to make methodology coursework meaningful,…

To address the question of how to develop the capacity for every instructional coach to provide job-embedded professional learning for every teacher and student, the Utah State Board of Education's quality instruction team designed and built a statewide 22 networked professional learning system that includes instructional coaches, local education…

Many school districts struggle to retain early career teachers, but the challenge is particularly pronounced in small and rural districts (Frahm & Cianca, 2021). The School-University Resource Network, a university center at William & Mary School of Education in Virginia, discovered this firsthand through a community of practice they…

The 10th biennial Community College League of California's (League) "CEO Tenure and Retention Study" for California Community Colleges (CCC) includes data from the League's updated companion "CEO Tenure and Retention Dashboard" available on the League Website. This 10th edition of the League's CEO Tenure and Retention Study…

The role of principal supervisor has been shifting from a focus on management to one that emphasizes support for principals. External partners can sometimes help with redesigning the role and other aspects of district organization. However, most research focuses on large urban districts with role conceptions and organizational structures that are…