The issue of school safety has been interrogated as school shootings have occurred multiple times each year in the United States. This devastating reality has captured the attention of many throughout the United States. School leaders have implemented strategies to increase school safety, including the creation of practices to deter shooting…

The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experiences of Black/ African American women aspiring, serving, or having previously served in the role of Superintendent of Schools in the State of Texas. Additionally, the study investigated the perceived barriers and challenges that impacted the participant's ascent to the superintendency, and…

A recent study published in "Educational Researcher" by White (2023) examined superintendent gender gaps. This work required 4 years of internet searches to identify and match superintendent names with each of the roughly 13,000 school districts in the United States. Although this study provided important insights into the superintendent…

This study involving 233 participants from ten states sought to identify the types of educational journals practicing superintendents read. The findings indicate that the majority of superintendents are reading publications provided by professional and trade organizations rather than peer-reviewed journals. Across all subgroups, "Educational…

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…

While most teachers in America are women, women are underrepresented in administrative leadership roles, such as the superintendency. This underrepresentation is even worse for women of color. Given the importance of on-the-job mentorship for new and aspiring superintendence, the lack of female superintendents of color means those who do reach the…

Minoritized students in public schools in Texas and across the nation continue to underachieve academically compared to their white peers. Despite similar academic achievement and socioeconomic backgrounds, minoritized students are often perceived more negatively by a predominantly white teacher workforce. The idea of cultural dissonance or…

Curriculum adoption and implementation is not a onetime event for districts and schools. It is a multi-year process involving district leadership in multiple units (e.g., curriculum office, finance office, superintendent office, student services), school leadership, instructional staff, students and their caregivers, and other relevant community…

Background: The perceptions K-12 school administrators hold of parental STEM awareness, strategies to promote STEM awareness, and student STEM preparation are critical as these are the individuals who must make significant decisions regarding STEM curricula, STEM programming and funding, and STEM school reform. Purpose: The present research study…

School superintendents face numerous challenges, high demands, and pressures from the community, school board, and stakeholders. State and federal accountability policies and mandates contribute to rising levels of stress for superintendents, which negatively affects their health and well-being. As a result, superintendents are leaving their…

Using a Critical Race framework, researchers conducted semi-structured interviews to explore how educational leaders across Texas have made meaning of the impact of George Floyd on their practices. Findings from this study add to the literature by examining administrators' reflections on race, racism, and their impact on their approaches to…

This qualitative study sought to explore the perceptions of women school superintendents in K-12 public schools in Texas about the challenges they face as leaders and how they endure these impactful challenges, particularly during critical times such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Using Polidore's Resilience Theory (2004) as the theoretical framework,…

Politically charged education issues roiled the 2022 races for seats on state boards of education, yet none of the boards flipped partisan control. However, majority parties expanded their representation on boards in Colorado, Kansas, and Utah so far. Of the 63 seats on the ballot for 12 state boards, 35 incumbent candidates were reelected. This…

This research explores how educational leaders in Texas navigate issues of anti-Black racism. In this Grounded Theory study, 19 participants engaged in a 90-min interview. They offer firsthand accounts of their experiences in navigating issues of anti-Black racism as well as strategies that they perceive to be necessary in interrogating and…

The superintendent is one of the most important positions within public school districts because they have the capacity to influence policies, practices, and perceptions among school staff while simultaneously holding sway over the public. Yet, few Latinx administrators are hired into the superintendency -- even fewer are Latinas. Consequently,…