Schoolpeople have instigated compulsory attendance laws, consolidated schools, and the superintendency to defend themselves against parents. In the nineteenth century schoolpeople castigated the poor for indifference; in this century they blame well-to-do parents for permissiveness and for having high expectations for their children. (Author/IRT)

When hiring a search consultant to recruit superintendent candidates, school boards must consider more than reputation and reliability. This article discusses several important considerations, including availability, possible conflicts of interest, and techniques used to construct superintendent profiles, advertise the position, and reduce the…

Evaluation usually includes four stages: allocating tasks, setting evaluation criteria, sampling performances and outcomes, and assessing sampled results against standards. A recent survey showed that, if principals are to improve their performance, the evaluation stages must be clear, specific, and understood by the evaluators and the evaluated.…

An earlier paper examined the first of three necessary conditions for winning a school tax increase: a perception that the money is needed, that it will be well-spent, and that higher taxes are bearable. This paper examines the second condition. Citizens' ratings for superintendents and school boards heavily influenced their assessment of district…

Presents results from a survey of selected school superintendents about how to deal with the disease Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in the schools. They are in agreement that AIDS education should be part of the regular school curriculum. There is no general agreement on how schools should deal with other aspects of the AIDS disease.…

Research and experience in school labor relations suggest that superintendents can be more effective during contract talks by acting like unbiased education leaders--not tough negotiators. Superintendents can avoid taking adversarial positions by staying off the bargaining team and following suggested guidelines for their role as educator,…

Evaluating a superintendent's job performance is an important function of the school board. This proposed evaluation process includes short narratives as well as numerical ratings for use by board members. Includes a copy of the form. (MD)

Examined access to superintendency. Data analysis indicated that women differed from men on certain personal, career, and family variables. Women did not receive the sponsorship of professional networks but relied on visibility across school districts. Social class appears to have a strong effect on access to the superintendency for females.…

School boards and superintendents can work most effectively together when their operating styles are compatible. Boards may tend toward either the corporate or the familial style, while superintendents' administrative styles may tend toward the structured and task-oriented or toward the personal. Mismatches can be ameliorated through conscious…

A superintendent outlines a three-phase, wide-ranging search strategy for new principals. Included are a list of do's and don't's and a list of questions for use in the interview. (MD)

Administrators who find themselves misunderstood, misquoted, and forced to discuss many items having a limited relationship to education should consider these points in getting started with a weekly column in the local paper. (Author/MLF)

This survey of 96 Texas public school superintendents and 96 Texas public school business managers determined their decision-making roles and differing perceptions of the facility planning process. Survey data reveal few significant differences between superintendents and business managers suggesting that business managers often perceive correctly…

This report presents data on school superintendent characteristics, tenure, and salaries. Data come from 1999 surveys of member cities of the Council of the Great City Schools (GCS) and from the 1997 survey and pertinent national superintendent data for comparison. Survey forms were sent to the board of education secretary in each member district.…

Suggests do's, don'ts, and maybe's for the wives of superintendents who must acquire the finesse to live with what often appears to be contradictory and clashing sets of values and points of view. (Author/WM)

Tongue-in-cheek advice directed to the problems of excessive perspiration and underarm stains. (For the article to which this one responds, see the American School Board Journal, February 1974 pp. 29-31.) (WM)