This paper is drawn from a larger qualitative study that explores the perspectives of eight retired Black school superintendents who personally experienced segregated schools as students and subsequent desegregation efforts as administrators. Unlike much of the mainstream literature that extols the virtues of desegregation for Black children,…

Nearly every legislative session in the last decade has changed state law in a way that requires school board members and superintendents to be more highly sensitized to conflict of interest issues, regardless of the size of their district. Prior state law simply forbade most opportunities for financial conflicts of interest, especially those…

This qualitative case study describes the transitional experiences (first 4 1/2 months) of four school leaders. The "life cycle" of leaders is often short, necessitating job changes with resulting transitions, when new leaders must simultaneously learn their positions and make changes to improve schools. Using previous leadership…

The school choice movement has become a major focus for traditional public school leaders. Facing declining student population and millions of dollars in lost funding, superintendents are now focused on the creation of effective market competition strategies. This represents not only a shift in thinking but adds another dimension to their…

Accountability is a high priority in the U.S. education system, and principals play an important role in student achievement. The author examined the means by which superintendents focus on characteristics identified in the literature on effective principals and student achievement when hiring building administrators. The author questioned whether…

The value of good communication practices in schools is important to their overall operation and to how efficiently and effectively teachers and students perform (Sobel & Ornstein, 1996). The challenge of communicating as often as needed and with the appropriate method is ever present for the school administrator, in particular. Communication…

The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the strategies Texas superintendents use to both prevent and resolve conflicts between the school board-superintendent leadership team and to examine the effects of gender, age, ethnicity, level of education, experience in education, tenure as a superintendent, leadership style, and type and…

This article reports the results of a survey of novice superintendents in California, Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio. The research provides a profile of novice superintendents and their opinions regarding the adequacy of academic preparation and the problems they encountered after entering this challenging position. Findings indicate that the…

This paper presents findings of a study that investigated the concerns of Canadian superintendents. In a three-round modified Delphi design, an inventory of educational concerns was mailed to all 105 chief superintendents in a western Canadian province. A total of 76 superintendents responded in round 1 and 87 responded in round 2. They identified…

Women outnumber men in school-administration graduate programs and in the teaching ranks of American public schools; however, women continue to be underrepresented in the superintendency. This paper presents findings of a study that identified the personal and professional characteristics of Virginia's first women superintendents. Data were…

This paper uses the seven principles of "stalking," the cultural wisdom for training Yaqui Indian warriors as described by Carlos Castenada, as a framework for organizing insights shared by successful women superintendents. "Stalking" is a metaphor for the process through which women seek success as superintendents. The research used a modified…

This handbook presents findings of a study that examined the outcomes of the Chief Executive Officer Leadership Development Program, which was developed by the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL). The 1-year program was comprised of classroom sessions, coaching, journal writing, and learning projects. Data were derived from: (1) a pre-program…

This report is the third in a series presenting results from surveys on safe, disciplined, and drug-free schools. The introduction notes that the data were obtained from a survey of 739 public school superintendents. Among the highlighted results are the following: (1) nearly all public school districts were found to have written policies on…

This paper presents findings of a study that examined the views of Illinois female superintendents toward the superintendent-selection process. A survey mailed to all (N=83) women superintendents in Illinois elicited 47 responses, a 57 percent response rate. Findings indicate that women superintendents in smaller school districts received salaries…

This paper presents findings of a study that identified school-district attributes that attract and hinder women who apply for a superintendent position. Data were derived from a survey that was sent to approximately 200 female subscribers to the Washington Association of School Administrators professional job listing service. The response rate is…