Education reforms have affected schools and the educators who work in them. Using state-wide survey data from 1993 and 2003, this study examines how the work of school superintendents has been affected over a ten-year period by these reform initiatives, especially increased demands for accountability. The general message from our data is that…

Superintendent Steve Joel had reason to be concerned when he got a call from the police chief telling him that federal immigration authorities were coming to the local Swift & Company meat-packing plant to round up undocumented workers as part of a six-state raid. Of the 8,000 students in the Grand Island School District in Central Nebraska,…

In this article, the authors examine the components of leadership for learning employing research on highly productive schools and school districts and high-performing principals and superintendents, using a three-dimensional model of productivity. The knowledge base of leadership for learning is captured under eight major dimensions: vision for…

It takes strong leadership skills to successfully run an entity as large and complex as an urban school district, much less turn around one that is low-performing. Most people don't realize that many urban school systems are as large as the biggest companies in America. Yet, most school district leaders and school board members have no specific…

This report is a follow-up to "Gaining Ground in the Middle Grades" (Williams, Kirst, Haertel, et al., 2010). That study specified a comprehensive set of actionable practices that differentiated higher academic achievement among 303 middle grades schools in California. In doing so, the study provided a compelling and coherent account of…

The situational leadership model identifies four leadership styles--telling, selling, participating, and delegating. This paper discusses the initial findings of a study that examined the role of superintendents in Alabama. The study sought to determine if secondary school principals and local teacher-association representatives differed in their…

Stress intrigues and plagues academic and practicing school administrators alike. This paper profiles McGrath's (1976) social-psychological stress process which consists of four stages, and Gmelch's (1988) similar four-stage cycle. A study investigated the relationship between Stage I and Stage IV of the four-stage stress cycle and the influence…

This paper presents findings of a study that investigated the reasons why more women are not in the superintendency when there are many women who are qualified and interested. Using a feminist poststructural approach, the first phase of the research consisted of a pilot case study of four women aspiring to the superintendency. The second phase…

Recently, serious questions have been raised about the efficacy of the traditional leadership model, which relies on rigid hierarchical structure, competition, and control. This paper presents findings of a study that investigated the leadership practices of rural and urban female superintendents in the United States. The study was two-fold: (1) a…

The relationship between the board of education of a public school system and the school superintendent is extremely important to the functioning and progress of the system. First-time Ohio superintendents were surveyed at the end of their first and second years about their perceptions of their relationships with their boards of education (N=58).…

To help coordinate the effort of filling school staff positions, this brief article pinpoints the responsibilities of the school, board, superintendent, school attorney, and personnel director, and identifies the steps in the hiring process. The school board's role, which goes far beyond being a rubber stamp, is described as including both its…

The decision-making process of 16 superintendents in choosing among alternative instructional programs for elementary level grades was studied. The additive and lexicographic combination models of decision making were investigated for consistency with the process used by the Ss in ranking 27 alternative instructional programs. (Author)

This report presents the results of a survey of Rhode Island school administrators (n=523) and open-ended interviews of administrators (n=28) that would provide information for the design of leadership and staff development activities as part of Rhode Island's LEAD project--an attempt to improve the leadership capacity of school administrators.…

When some new superintendents assume a new position, they get along with their boards and staff, learn the ropes, and eventually gain credibility and "own" their precarious perch on the wall. Others, like Humpty Dumpty, crash off the wall, never to regain control of the position. Certain factors account for success: experience; clear understanding…

Purposes of this master's research project were to (1) determine the reasons for which parents educate their children at home, and (2) compare the attitudes of home-schooling parents and public school superintendents about the benefits of home schooling. Subjects were parents who home-schooled their children and public school superintendents in a…