Research shows that trauma-informed practices in schools can increase student performance and well-being. School social workers are well-suited to bring these practices to their system but are most successful when partnering with public-school superintendents. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to understand public-school…

Purpose: The purpose of this Delphi study was to identify the essential political competencies needed by current or future superintendents when presented with challenges. Conceptual Framework. The conceptual framework for this study integrated elements of Adaptive Leadership, Political Intelligence, and the Taxonomy of Leadership Competencies to…

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted P-12 public schools in the United States. School district superintendents were forced immediately into managing a crisis and leading organizational adaptation. This doctoral research study examined the lived experience of 15 New York State P-12 public school superintendents. This constructivist grounded theory study…

This case study involves a new school superintendent, unions, parent groups, and a school board. The case demonstrates how the emergence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic impacted the relationships between a school board, teacher and administrator unions, parent organizations, and the school superintendent. It is the story of…

Purpose: If PK12 administrators aspire to interrupt bias-based bullying, they need to understand their role in perpetuating structural and social inequality. The purpose of this study was to examine administrators': 1) awareness of gender-based bullying, 2) initial intentions to address bullying, and 3) actions that interrupted or perpetuated…

Educational leaders are increasingly expected to use school climate data to improve outcomes and promote equity for all learners, including in California where school climate is included in state accountability policy. In this study, beliefs towards school climate assessment were explored in a sample (n=298) of California superintendents using a…

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…

Many district and school leaders have leveraged instructional leadership or social justice leadership to advance student achievement for minoritized students. While research has examined these approaches separately, we identify a potential gap at the nexus between instructional and social justice leadership. In particular, we need further research…

This doctoral dissertation examines the relationship among the three components of organizational commitment: affective, continuance and normative, job satisfaction, and turnover intent of New Jersey superintendents. Additionally, it examines the interplay between job satisfaction and organizational commitment, exploring whether job satisfaction…

The existing gap between females in the field of education and those in the highest levels of leadership persists, with women only making up 27% of the superintendency nationally. This study, informed by Tallerico's (2000a) conceptual framework, sought to determine how one's own individual agency, educational structures (like sponsorship), and the…

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…

This study makes use of a data set detailing instances of public school superintendent turnover in Kentucky between 2014 and 2023. A quantitative research design was used to analyze salary changes based on a set of demographic and descriptive variables in the sample of 205 superintendent turnovers occurring during the identified decade. The…

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…

The COVID-19 pandemic presented a crisis that district superintendents and their leadership teams had not before experienced. In a matter of weeks, school systems needed to transition away from a traditional learning model, where teaching and learning occurred in a physical classroom, to a virtual learning environment. School districts were…

In keeping with the special issue centered on Gender and Race in the Workplace, this article explores the role that the intersection of race and gender played in the attainment of the superintendency for four Black women superintendents. Despite their increasing presence in educational leadership, Black women continue to experience marginalization…