Schools and districts in Pennsylvania continue to experience a gap between the demographic diversity of their students and staffs. Culturally responsive practices are an important approach bridging the gap between PA's teachers and increasingly diverse students and communities. This qualitative study was guided by three research questions: What…

In the year following the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic-related school closures in March 2020, educators began to sound the alarm about increasing chronic absenteeism. Chronic absenteeism is defined as a student missing at least 10 percent of school days (i.e., 18 days in a typical 180-day school year) for any reason, whether excused or…

There is growing concern about the pervasive underrepresentation of qualified Black women superintendents, despite women significantly outnumbering men in public education. This study sought to shed light on the lived experiences of Black women superintendents in North Carolina. The purpose of this basic interpretive qualitative study was to gain…

A school district's need to satisfy the school community's expectations for current, accurate information and manage a social media presence has increased the necessity for superintendents to employ public relations professionals. As such, these professionals are a recent addition to many school districts' administrative teams. However, few…

Superintendents play a key role related to influence and decision making at the school building level. This study aimed to determine the perceptions of superintendents across [State] related to school-based agricultural education (SBAE). The Theory of Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior undergirded this study. This non-experimental descriptive…

Women in the field of education are strongly represented in the classroom but are much less likely to become school district superintendents. For decades, women have continued to attain the top district leadership role at a rate of slightly less than one to four, compared to their male counterparts. The purpose of this study was to understand how…

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological research was to better understand how the lived experiences of Missouri public school superintendents as they lead their districts and handle the stressors and opportunities of social media. The framework for this study centered Avolio and Gardner's theory of Authentic Leadership. Their theory…

As superintendents steer their districts through uncharted territories, their experiences and strategies are key to transforming schools. This study employed transcendental phenomenology to explore how seven Virginia superintendents from two different regions described their experiences implementing novel cultural competency training. Data…

In the U.S. public educational system, the superintendent role is crucial for shaping student outcomes, yet it is predominantly occupied by White males (73%), with African American females making up less than 1% of these positions. Historical research on superintendents often overlooked gender and racial diversity, contributing to the…

This study explores the impact of self-efficacy, with a specific focus on verbal persuasion, on the career trajectories of Latinx school administrators. Grounded in Bandura's (1986) theory of self-efficacy, the research investigates how verbal persuasion has influenced the paths of Latinx school administrators toward achieving top leadership…

The purpose of this study is to examine the transition in a rural Midwestern school district from a long-serving superintendent who served sixteen years in the position to a recently hired superintendent, focusing on leadership behaviors and how the observed behaviors of the two superintendents influenced the transition period between…

This qualitative phenomenological study aimed to explore the experiences of female superintendents in leadership positions, focusing on the opportunities and barriers they faced on the journey to the superintendency and in the position of superintendent. Women are underrepresented in the superintendency in the female-dominated educational field.…

Public school superintendents face wide-ranging pressures and would benefit from improved understanding of ways to manage stress. This quantitative study used the theoretical framework of Transformational Leadership to investigate whether the presence or absence of faith practices resulted in better stress management for superintendents, and…

This nationwide study of 532 female school district superintendents, the largest such sample to date, offers compelling evidence that unconscious gender bias exists on the job and further inhibits equitable female representation in the superintendency. A modified version of Tran et al.'s (2019) Perceived Subtle Gender Bias Index (PSGBI), was…

This correlational study examined the relationship between leadership behaviors exhibited by superintendents and the collective efficacy of their leadership cabinet. Irby, Brown, and Duffy's Synergistic Leadership Theory provided the framework for the study with explicit focus on the Leadership Behaviors component of the tetrahedral model.…