Examined the effects of representative literature on one black female graduate student as she focused her attention on the possibility of becoming a superintendent. Used the narratives of a black female superintendent to expand the understanding of issues facing black female aspirants to the superintendency. (SLD)

Focuses on the leadership role of the associate/assistant superintendent and their impact on Catholic education. Writes about the scarcity of educational research on this topic, the history of this role, its areas of responsibility and organizational structure, and the need to recognize assistant superintendents for their expertise, dedication,…

Profiles Diana Lam, Gerry House, and Esperanza Zendejas, who accomplished what few women do: they became school superintendents. Qualified female candidates for superintendents are out there. School boards need to pay attention to the way they hire personnel and focus on leadership skills. In addition, boards can support professional memberships…

Each month, "Curriculum Review" offers teachers mutual support, the sharing of ideas, and words of encouragement to help them face challenges in the classroom. The April 2005 issue of "Curriculum Review" contains the following articles: (1) "We Hear from Readers"; (2) "What They're Saying"; (3) "Google Plans to Digitize Big Library Collections";…

The frequent turnover of school board members in the US represents a concern for many educational practitioners who worry about the discontinuity of leadership, leading to negative impacts on students and staff. School board member turnover is also a key variable in studies of democratic theories of public school governance. Using descriptive and…

This author, superintendent of Winnetka Public Schools (a K-8 district in the northern suburbs of Chicago), shares a board president's perspective that may help shed some light on one of the superintendent's most challenging jobs: successfully working with a board of education. Why is it so challenging? Certainly because in the current culture of…

This study examined superintendents' perceptions of current performance evaluation practices and their preferences for those practices. Specifically, 1,125 superintendents across the nation received a questionnaire exploring evaluation effectiveness and results-based procedures. Findings indicate practices are neither uniformly effective nor…

The quality of superintendent-school board relationships has a direct impact on the success of any school system through the power of good public relations. The traditional roles of superintendents and school boards and the artificial division of labor between the two no longer serve our school systems well. In this article, I apply a model of…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine decision making and resource allocation in a small, rural district in a Midwestern state of the USA during a time of economic retrenchment. Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative case study methods were used, including focus groups and personal interviews with current and former district…

This study explores the process one school district employed in its search for, and selection of, a new superintendent. The research design is a single site case study using qualitative methods. Data collection techniques include observation in the form of "shadowing" a search consultant, document analysis, and open-ended interviews of…

"Instructional Or Managerial Leadership: The Principal Role" is a case study written to challenge the beliefs of graduate students preparing for educational leadership roles and educational leaders already in these positions as to the importance of the principal as an instructional leader. This case explores communication between superintendents…

The pressures of a nation-wide decline in educational funding coupled with the increase in demands for accountability has renewed legislative discussion about the efficacy of school consolidation. This national survey of school superintendents who have experienced school merger, explored the effects of consolidation on school communities,…

In this article, the authors present Edwin Diaz, superintendent of California's Gilroy Unified School District and discuss the common challenges and strategies among those education leaders who take on--and succeed at--the role of change agent and reformer. When Edwin Diaz became superintendent of California's Gilroy Unified School District in…

The role of the superintendent has changed dramatically, from community leader to school manager to education leader to scapegoat, and it is anyone's guess where the job is headed. What is clear, however, is that today's educational climate calls for a new way of doing business. With the formal powers of their position stripped away by bargaining…

The pool of candidates for urban superintendencies is dwindling, and those who take the jobs are likely to serve for only 2 or 3 years. This book explores contemporary conditions surrounding the urban superintendency and looks at the lives of 17 superintendents who were in office in large cities at the start of 1993. All were members of the…