The 1997 Nebraska Legislature enacted Bill 806 to promote school consolidation, which legislators believed would lead schools to become more cost-efficient and provide a significantly larger curriculum. This legislative action begged the question: Has the move to consolidate schools made Nebraska schools more efficient while providing greater…

The role of the superintendent has undergone numerous changes in the last century. Many report the job has become almost undoable and superintendents are becoming overwhelmed as new expectations are being placed upon them. No Child Left Behind has had a significant impact on the role of the school superintendent as they attempt to balance three…

In October 2008, the American Association of School Administrators invited superintendents of the year from across the country to gather in Denver, Colo., for three days of intensive dialogue about the challenges facing today's district leaders. Representing rural, urban and suburban districts, state award winners came to listen, share best…

This is an analysis of equity in Iowa educational leadership from the 1978-1979 school year through 2007-2008, and the extent to which rapidly changing student racial demographics are reflected in the schools. We found that male principals continue to outnumber women 6:1 in rural districts, but in urban schools the rate is closer to 1:1. Female…

This document focuses on the role of assistant superintendents in (1) general school administration, (2) instruction, (3) business affairs, (4) personnel services, (5) pupil services, (6) school community relations, and (7) human relations. (LLR)

"Alabama Education News" is published monthly except for June, July, and December by the Alabama Department of Education. This publication, authorized by Section 16-2-4 of the "Code of Alabama", as recompiled in 1975, is a public service of the Alabama Department of Education designed to inform citizens and educators about…

When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, it caused a devastating impact on the Crescent City's public education system. The devastating storm and its aftermath completely wiped out the educational infrastructure of the New Orleans Public Schools, making one of the country's largest metropolitan school districts virtually disappear. Two…

The purpose of this study was to discover if there was a statistically significant relationship between the self-reported instructional leadership practices of North Carolina superintendents and the achievement of their students with limited English proficiency (LEP) and students with disabilities (SWDs) as measured by the percent of students who…

In 2006, representatives of the New Jersey Department of Education, the New Jersey School Boards Association, and the New Jersey Association of School Administrators, conceived a joint venture aimed at assisting board of education teams, including their superintendents, to function better as cohesive teams and foster improved academic achievement…

The peaceful quiet that often accompanies the warming of a mid-April morning in a rural/suburban school district outside Philadelphia was broken harshly when several alarmed high school students arrived at school with Neo-Nazi flyers. The flyers were designed to recruit new members into a hate group calling itself the Pottstown SS. In addition,…

Recruitment includes all organizational practices and decisions affecting the number and type of individuals willing to apply for and accept vacant positions (Rynes, 1991). Effective recruitment practices have the potential to improve the quality of educational experience for students, reduce the cost of personnel development, and decrease the…

The author of this article, an education attorney, begins by describing a case where, a school superintendent of personnel for a rural school district in Michigan had just received a performance evaluation with high marks and a new three-year contract. Two months later the school board called him into a closed session and presented him with…

At the turn of the twentieth century, middle-class educated gentlewomen in Ireland had established positions of authority and leadership in the relatively new professions of education and nursing. Acting in the roles of lady principals and lady superintendents, respectively, in education and nursing, many of these women had themselves participated…

THE HISTORICAL ROLE OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT HAS ENCOMPASSED VARIOUS OBJECTIVES AND PURPOSES THAT HAVE AFFECTED THE EDUCATIONAL LIVES OF MANY PEOPLE. DECISIONS A PRESENT-DAY SUPERINTENDENT MUST MAKE STILL COVER MANY AND VARIED FUNCTIONS--MANAGERIAL, INSTRUCTIONAL, POLITICAL, ETC. TO A GREAT EXTENT THE SOCIAL MAKE-UP AND SIZE OF A…

Whether the intangible factor is called chemistry, vibrations, intuition, general feelings, or whatever, the fact is that board members must be convinced that they can relate effectively to the new superintendent. In other words, select the candidate who makes the best impression--be subjective and admit it. (Author/IRT)