Although urban and suburban school superintendents serve the largest group of students in terms of sheer numbers of schoolchildren, there are actually more superintendents serving in rural school districts in the United States. I examined the expected roles or "hats" of the rural superintendent by collecting data from several districts…

This article reports on the collaborative efforts undertaken for systematic statewide support for the recruitment, development, and retention of quality leaders in schools and school districts in Kansas, USA. The author presents the case of a strong sense of "collaboration" that made the difference and stimulated movement from vision…

A correlational research design was used to examine the influence of superintendent tenure on student achievement in rural Appalachian Kentucky school districts. Superintendent tenure was compared to aggregated student achievement scores for 2011 and to changes in students' learning outcomes over the course of the superintendents' tenure. The…

Jane L. Beyer Westerhold knows no boundaries. As superintendent of the Des Plaines (Ill.) Community Consolidated School District 62 in suburban Chicago, Westerhold has led a three-year master plan with a $109 million facilities upgrade, narrowed the achievement gap between low-income and other students, and kept a AA+ bond rating--the highest…

This article brings to light discourses that constituted the education of Asian-American children in California in the second half of the nineteenth century. Guided by Foucaultian ideas and critical race theory, I analyze California public school laws, speeches of a governor-elect and a superintendent, and a report of the board of supervisors,…

Senior leadership positions in Jordanian Ministry of Education are held predominantly by men. Women are teachers and/or school principals. This under-representation of women is primarily due to culturally derived stereotypes that see women as teachers or school principals, but not as superintendents. The purpose of this study was to investigate,…

Superintendents from eight southeastern United States school districts self-described their leadership styles across the choices of autocratic, laissez-faire, democratic, situational, servant, or transformational. When faced with this array of choices, the superintendents chose with arguable equitableness, indicating that successful leaders can…

This qualitative case study focused on why rural North Carolina superintendents do or do not consider utilizing pre-kindergarten programming in their public school districts. The primary data sources were interviews of North Carolina school superintendents in rural counties. Review of an e-survey was used to supplement the interview data. The…

The purpose of the study was to determine how the California School Board Association's (CSBA) Masters in Governance (MIG) training program leads to more effective school board leadership and governance. This study employed the framework of authors Lee Bolman and Terrence Deal, the CSBA, and the Lighthouse Inquiry of the Iowa Association of School…

African American educational leadership has long been part of American education and African American activism to resist oppression. However, the field of educational leadership has rarely included the contributions of African American leaders, particularly women leaders, into mainstream leadership theory and practices. This omission is difficult…

The 1983 publication of "A Nation at Risk" was the start of the latest chapter in the long history and development of the public school superintendent. "A Nation at Risk" brought new pressure and awareness on university programs that train school administrators coupled with suggestions on how to improve their effectiveness.…

In recent years, doctoral programs in education leadership have been subject to notable criticism and proposals for reform. Starting with a synthesis of this criticism, this article focuses on the two primary constituencies--university faculty members who teach in such programs, and school superintendents, who are the leading practitioners such…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify leadership strategies utilized and the barriers encountered by females in pursuit of the role of superintendent. This study also intended to identify the strategies women used to overcome these barriers. Methodology: This study utilized descriptive research. Descriptive research involves gathering…

Too often, new superintendents--even if they have succeeded in other administrative positions--can undermine their successes by making critical novice mistakes, such as failing to recognize political stumbling blocks or unintentionally inviting school board member micromanagement. "Moving into the Superintendency: How to Succeed in Making the…

The purpose of this research was to describe the experiences of six women superintendents who began their careers as elementary principals. The central question was: What can we learn from the lived experience of women who came from a background as elementary educators and advanced to the superintendency in a variety of district contexts within…