Whether from frustration, ambition, or financial necessity, administrators are inclined to say "yes" when private companies come calling. Sometimes superintendents initiate contacts themselves and begin new careers as well-credentialed salespeople or behind-the-scenes think tanks. At the Edison Project, former superintendents work in…

Beginning superintendents should reconsider before buying homes and settling into new communities. Today's superintendent, like the Old West hired gun, has a short, precarious tenure. Superintendents should be prepared, learn to recognize signs of trouble, quit while they're ahead, and keep their (metaphorical) bags packed. Board hostility is…

Postbaccalaureate students applying for admission to a teacher certification program (n=100) were asked why they selected teaching as a career. Primary motivators were internal, such as the desire to make a difference. Many came from careers that lacked a social orientation. (JOW)

In a period of business downsizing, older workers are at risk for unemployment. Finding a suitable replacement job is difficult and can lead to emotional and financial distress. Counselors need to be aware of the work-related issues facing older adults and understand the suitable interventions that will help them make smoother career and life…

Interim superintendencies, signaling an interruption in administrative continuity, are growing in duration and number. The right interim superintendent at the right time can bring respite, focus, or unity to a troubled or divided district. Today's mobile, activist interims often make critical decisions affecting their districts' long-term future.…

The job-search rate of employed persons declined from 1995-1999. Those who actively sought new jobs were more likely to be younger, lack health or retirement benefits, or have higher educational attainment. The relationship between earnings or occupation and the likelihood of job search was not significant. (SK)

Identifies and describes occupational career patterns (OCPs) for a single cohort of high school graduates. Stable OCP is experienced by persons engaged in the same type of occupation over their entire working career. Results indicate that more than one third of the respondents experienced stable OCPs, and that OCP stability is linked to lower…

In this article, the author suggests that if there is one thing that can be said about nontraditional superintendents--the men and women of business, government and the military who leave those fields to become school system leaders--it is that they never take the easy job. "School districts tend to look outside for a superintendent only when…

This author was once one of those nontraditional candidates who elected to leave a central office post in a metropolitan public school system, with ninety schools and four thousand five hundred teachers serving seventy-five thousand students, to head a six hundred private K-12 boarding/day school in rural Hawaii. While that had been a fulfilling…

This national study examines those demographic characteristics and work life issues that may have an impact on the morale and satisfaction of midlevel student affairs leaders and their intentions to leave their positions. Using structural equation modeling, this study proposes to demonstrate the roles job satisfaction and employee morale play in…

Because problem-solving appraisal has been demonstrated to be a critical variable in psychological adjustment, this study examined its potential role as both a static and dynamic client attribute influencing the process and outcome of career counseling. Participants were 151 adults who received an average of five sessions of naturally occurring…

This article profiles Pegi Deitz Shea, an author who considers herself a rule-breaker. While she is surely capable of writing lovely, sentimental stories such as "New Moon" (Boyds Mills Press, 1997) and "Bungalow Fungalow" (Clarion Books, 1991), she is concerned with much more than just telling kids about the niceties of life.…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate career change intention and its predictors among career change seekers interested in a career opportunity in the information technology (IT) industry. Design/methodology/approach: Ajzen's theory of planned behavior (TPB) was used to predict career change intention in this group. In addition, we…

Science teacher attrition is a topic of frequent discussion among teacher educators, administrators, university educators, and policy makers. While attrition could be described as leaving the workforce for any number of reasons (e.g., retirement, moving to a new location, contract not renewed), those in education often link attrition to teachers…

[Slides] presented at the Annual National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) in New York in March 2008. This presentation explores the demographic information as well as how and where educational measurement professionals are in the field.