Responding to compelling evidence of gender inequity and a systematic campaign of political pressure to redress these inequities, Congress passed Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681) prohibiting sex discrimination in all aspects of education in institutions receiving federal financial assistance. At the time Title IX was…

The public school superintendency is the most powerful position in U.S. schools. Yet research has shown that women who hold the position have difficulty talking about power (Brunner, 2000). I designed a mixed methods study to investigate how women school superintendents viewed their uses of power. A survey was sent to all women superintendents…

The reader is the new superintendent recently appointed by the Board. In their new role, they will certainly face many difficult and complex challenges. To accomplish this task, the first step in the process is to establish with the cabinet and Board of Trustees a definition of a "shared vision" and "strategic plan" and what process would be used…

Although women comprise about 65% of the educational workforce, they occupy only about 14% of the superintendent positions nationwide. In the past, some theorists accounted for the underrepresentation of women by claiming that women were not assertive enough, didn't want the power, lacked self-confidence, didn't aspire to line positions, were…

The most powerful position in public schools is that of school superintendent, and it is a position dominated by men. Several factors account for the decline of women in superintendency. Perhaps the most important reason there are so few women in the superintendency is that women enter the teaching profession to teach children. Based on the…

Given the unrelenting pressures of school management, how can principals and superintendents devote the time or resources to do much of anything that deviates from addressing the basic needs of schools? What are the levers that school leaders can use to infuse creativity and innovation into the cultural fabric of their organizations? In this…

Hispanic teachers are growing in number in public schools, especially in regions that have a heavy concentration of Hispanics. The majority of positions Hispanics occupy in public schools, however, are teaching positions, not leadership positions. The number of Hispanic women who achieve senior-level administrative positions, such as the…

Background: The No Child Left Behind legislation creates an increased need for new school-based empirical studies whose implementation will depend largely on researchers' access to various school populations and records. Access decisions are typically made by superintendents, or their designees, functioning as gatekeepers who control right of…

This article reports findings from formative assessments of one state's administrator mentoring and induction program during two years of program piloting in 2002/03 and 2003/04. The purpose of this evaluation research was to establish baseline data and to detect problem areas, so that changes could be made in subsequent years. More broadly, the…

This paper presents the Superintendent's 20th Annual Report, a comprehensive overview of Hawaii's public schools for school year 2008-09. This report contains essential progress indicators and measures, as well as highlights and comparisons of core educational data presented in a concise and user-friendly format. Appended are: (1) Glossary; (2)…

Research (Goodman, Fulbright, & Zimmerman, 1997; IEL, 2001) supports that the most critical decision a school board has to make is its selection and appointment of a superintendent to lead the district toward its mission of effective schooling for all students. Given that board members hold influential power in this regard, what competencies…

This book presents the largest and most comprehensive look at the men and women leading the nation's public schools. This profile of the school superintendency offers a close examination of: (1) superintendents' personal characteristics, professional experience, and professional preparation and training; (2) superintendent/school board relations;…

In rural Oklahoma, the role of the superintendent is often vastly different than that of superintendents in large cities. The superintendent is the leader of the school district, which is typically the community's largest employer. There are a few examples of superintendents who embrace this sometimes overwhelming responsibility and who are often…

This paper presents findings of a 1994 followup study of New York state school superintendents. The first survey was conducted in 1992. Questionnaires sent by the New York State Council of School Superintendents (NYSCOSS) to over 700 superintendents elicited 516 responses, a 68 percent response rate. The questionnaire gathered data on…

This paper presents findings of a case-study analysis of the first year of a superintendent, with a focus on the relationship between school-district context and individual characteristics. The case study was conducted as part of a larger, national study comprised of 13 case studies of the superintendency across the United States. The case study…