The total population of 340 Texas school female superintendents and assistant, associate, and deputy superintendents was identified. Resulting information included career paths, demographics, and educational backgrounds. The principalship was found to be the most significant career path for females to superintendency. (Contains 2 tables and 26…

Profile of Paul Vallas, superintendent of the Philadelphia public school system. Vallas is credited with turning around the Chicago public school system during his tenure as superintendent from 1995 to 2001. He is known as a nontraditional superintendent, a tireless worker, and firm believer in accountability. (WFA)

When not asking whether he will be fired, local reporters often cast Baltimore's school superintendent as a "miracle worker." The press might be overlooking the developing cooperation between schools and community organizations. Hunter is trying to unite a city with 156 proudly independent neighborhoods and a severely underfunded…

Reports on superintendent selection practices by school boards of small school districts in Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri. Ranks importance of 15 applicant skills and 14 applicant characteristics involving educational experience or personal qualities. Suggests how small districts can attract quality candidates. (SV)

Following up a 1979 survey, 121 responses from vocational administrators (65 percent) indicated that students enroll in agriculture because of personal interest or teacher popularity; teachers need improvement in cooperation with administrators/faculty and other professional areas; and teachers should be prepared to handle extracurricular duties.…

Discusses California's efforts to improve curriculum and assessment, including the new state frameworks in each subject area. California rejected existing math and science textbooks for being redundant and overemphasizing skills at the expense of meaningful application. New educational objectives are to prepare students for work, citizenship, and…

In response to changing school demography, a Phoenix, Arizona, elementary school district made community participation the centerpiece of a new strategic planning process. The superintendent and board set up a broadly representative planning team to identify critical issues in enrollment, funding, curriculum, and personnel. The process is…

Superintendents need to recognize the two realities that the school board has the ultimate power and that superintendents are appointed to serve a specific term. Offers six remedies to superintendents in the case of real conflict with the school board. (MLF)

This article describes the results of a survey of Alabama special education teacher educators, school superintendents, special education coordinators, and noncategorically certified teachers five years after implementation of a mild learning-handicaps teaching certificate in the state, and relates the findings to national reports on this topic.…

The life stories of (North Carolina) principals in a graduate education class reveal vast changes over the past 20 years. "Good ol' boy" superintendents and principals have been replaced by self-interested political "sharks" concerned more with image than substance. Fortunately, principals with resiliency, caring values, and…

Since December 1992, the Capac (Michigan) Community School District has adopted zero-based budgeting for 40% of its budget. Instead of building on the previous year's budget, the superintendent requires every staff member and school to justify projected expenditures based on contributions to future educational goals. Academic programs benefit.…

Recent incidents in the Baltimore and Piscatawny (New Jersey) school districts reveal a new ethical problem: how to treat school leaders' out-of-school relationships with private companies doing business with their districts. Contracting for instructional services could lead to collusion between administrators and contractors. Strict financial…

The $300 billion-a-year public education market has many private investors salivating--until they confront the complexity of school management and teacher unions' resistance. Private companies want to shift the school board's role from sole proprietor to purchaser of educational services. Sidebars advise superintendents and describe 15 private…

In "Thriving on Chaos," author Tom Peters suggests that future managers will need the quick reactions of video game players. Patient observation may work better. Chaos theory teaches that random happenings cannot be controlled; the toughest, randomly caused problems have no solutions; a leader's vision or moral code cannot be imposed on…

During 1992-93, an upstate New York district saved a million dollars while improving services for special needs students. The district saved tuition costs by reclaiming 80 disabled children formerly placed in outside programs. By carefully reviewing students' learning difficulties, staff lowered the number of students classified as educationally…