Derailed superintendencies are a colossal waste of talent and resources. Major causes include interpersonal-relationship problems, conflict with district staff, micromanagement, and failure to make strategic decisions during transitional times. Superintendents should establish rapport with principals, build trust throughout the organization, and…

Restructuring is changing the system of rules, roles, and relationships that govern the use of time, people, space, knowledge, and technology. The teacher's new role is inventing engaging work. The school board's role is educating the community about school conditions. The superintendent's role is influencing stakeholder decision making. Without…

Explores gender issues in school board membership through interviews with 13 male and 5 female school superintendents and 28 male and 26 female school board members in Arizona, New York, and Pennsylvania. Responses represent the beginning of a database of experiences of female school board members. (SLD)

Compares areas and levels of political conflict in racially isolated school districts by surveying six superintendents from racially isolated African-American schools and six superintendents from racially isolated white schools. Similar issues arise at every conflict level with small variations among issues between African-American and white…

Presents the views of Steven Zwerling, Ford Foundation Senior Director, on collaborations with educational institutions and on factors that help make them successful. These factors include: (1) a college president who strongly believes in partnerships; (2) a strong working relationship with the school superintendent; and (3) strong ties to the…

Two studies investigated the involuntary turnover of small-town school superintendents. The studies involved interviewing county superintendents and examining state financial records from Illinois. Results indicated that it was personal and political conflicts that most often dictated the high superintendent turnover (both voluntary and…

Describes the Ysleta School District, El Paso (Texas), which has, despite high poverty and a constant inflow of immigrants with limited English skills, the best test scores of any urban district in Texas. In spite of the district's accomplishments, the school board seems determined to oust the current superintendent. (SLD)

School leaders can create an environment that supports highly effective beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors in teachers. Effective teachers believe every student has abundant, innate potential. Instead of watering down standards and expectations, they modify three key variables (time, grouping, and methodology) to help specific students achieve…

In a recent case study, three white, middle-aged women who were formerly public-school superintendents analyzed problematic work experiences. Results demonstrate the sexism that is part of the superintendency's culture, the educational administration profession's silence, and participants' proposed solutions for problems of sexism and silence.…

Management by spontaneity shuns job descriptions, supervisory duties, needs assessment, strategic planning, group process, and problem solving. Not for the fainthearted, MBS requires knowledge of psychology, lawyerly skills, and philosophic wisdom. MBS remains untested, as current job descriptions have confined authors to MBO and TQM. (MLH)

Examines the nature and direction of social changes in the United States population, characteristics of children in schools, and the gender and racial makeup of school superintendents. Analyzing findings from the 2000 Study of the American School Superintendency to identify career paths and factors limiting and advancing the careers of women and…

Discusses trend of "takeovers" of low-performing big-city school districts by skilled outsiders and argues that success depends on how schools are overseen rather than who oversees them. Describes optimum district environment for success and argues structure and accountability ultimately more important than person in charge. (KSB)

The author's superintendency has been like a good marriage. Both she and the school community feel blessed to have had a true partnership built on mutually held beliefs and convictions, and to have had an opportunity to dream and make their dreams come true. Like most marriages, however, it has been a tremendous amount of work as they have…

Information about the experiences successful leaders perceive as vital to their development can be helpful to one's understanding of resiliency. Such information can also offer insights into the ways successful leaders use positive and negative situations as learning opportunities and the strategies they implement in addressing adversity. The…

Research addressing the attraction and selection of individuals for administrator positions is encapsulated in a structural model that depicts different phases of the employee procurement process. Within the present study, attention is devoted to the prescreening stage of the selection process, and screening decisions of superintendents are…