To oversee superintendent performance, school boards can take three key steps: (1) assign accountability for managing the board-superintendent relationship to a standing committee; (2) the committee and the superintendent can agree each year on the specific leadership challenges; and (3) annually conduct an indepth assessment of the…

Offers advice on how to implement an online learning program. Includes a description of the planning process, funding requirements, teacher training, technology requirements, access options, and management and control issues. Describes some common types of online learning programs and virtual schools. Includes excerpts from "Guide to Online School…

Because life is unpredictable and plans often go awry, improvisation can be an important skill for educational leaders. This article explains the importance of improvisation; describes what drives it; and provide five questions to ask for assessing how leader improvisation, or lack of it, can affect a school district. (WFA)

Three school district superintendents discuss their perspectives on the advantages and disadvantages of school districts operating their own food service program or contracting with a private firm. (MLF)

The public expects school boards to review school budgets with diligence and a determination to put the needs of students above all else. Provides a 10-step primer for better budgets, a checklist for evaluating the budget-making process, and 20 questions often raised by the public. (MLF)

The qualities that school boards and others expect in superintendents are not being met. Solutions include (1) better training, with enrollment in management courses; (2) internships; (3) first-year support groups; (4) inservice training; and (5) personal development. (MLF)

A 52-item survey sent to 2,197 school board presidents was responded to by 1,217 (55 percent) of the executives. The results suggest that the longer they serve on school boards, the more inclined the presidents are to follow their superintendents' lead and the less inclined they are to support school reform. (MLF)

Describes a retiring superintendent's efforts to dismantle factory-style schooling and empower teachers. The Santa Fe (New Mexico) Schools' teacher/principal management teams have already instituted interdisciplinary teaching and ungraded, multi-age elementary classes. The latest project involved empowering teachers to select the next…

Survey forms were sent to 6,000 school board members who subscribe to "The American School Board Journal" in an attempt to discover what reform efforts are being utilized and which ones are working best in schools. A total of 1,347 readers (22.5%) responded. Curricular and instructional reforms were cited by 91% of the respondents, and 70% said…

Summarizes interviews with 60 Indiana superintendents and principals concerning the effects of statewide student achievement testing on the operation of schools or school systems. It describes side effects from the testing, noting they are so numerous and severe they may be worse than the problems they are supposed to cure. (SM)

The most significant finding of various commission reports is stakeholders' lack of involvement in the decisions affecting them. School board's major function is to develop processes that ensure stakeholder participation in developing and implementing a shared vision for education. Board should ensure that all competent administrators and teachers…

After two decades of court supervision, the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that the DeKalb County (Georgia) Schools were largely desegregated. In this article, the district superintendent describes the debilitating effects of court-supervised desegregation on himself and the school district. True integration cannot be achieved involuntarily. A…

Surveys school superintendents in Washington State for their views on interdistrict school choice and their perceptions of its advantages and disadvantages. Replies of 98 superintendents generally do not support interdistrict choice, although superintendents in districts with higher dropout rates tend to be more supportive. (SLD)

At the American Association of School Administrators' 124th annual meeting in February 1992, participating superintendents pursued improving public schooling design to achieve the results that communities are increasingly demanding. After detailing obstacles to success, speakers laid out workable solutions involving total quality management,…

About two years into her first urban superintendency, Gerry House knows she cannot solve every problem on-on-one but has created a responsive system to handle parents' complaints. The Memphis school superintendent hopes to boost minority achievement, ensure that all children learn at high levels, bolster community confidence in the schooling…