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While abundant literature exists that outlines the benefits of investing in prekindergarten programs for children as well as the advantages of children attending prekindergarten, attention is needed to identify how decisions are actually made to fund full day prekindergarten programs. Most studies have focused on decision making in general and some studies have focused on the decision making process regarding implementing prekindergarten. Few studies, however, have focused on decision making for funding full day prekindergarten programs for low-income families. Additional research is needed to identify decision making factors and considerations that superintendents use to make decisions to fund full day prekindergarten programs. Therefore, this study identified characteristics superintendents use to describe their decision making processes and factors that were considered when making decisions for funding prekindergarten. Three questions guided the study: 1) How do superintendents characterize their decision making processes for funding full day prekindergarten programs serving low-income families? 2) What factors do superintendents consider to make full day prekindergarten funding decisions? 3) How do superintendents’ decision making practices, regarding funding for full day prekindergarten reflect rational decision making? A purposeful sampling method was used to select three superintendents for this study who had experience with decision making regarding funding for full day prekindergarten programs at the district level, had a minimum of two years in their role as superintendent, and who serve in large public school systems of at least 25,000 students. Face to face interviews, document analysis and observations were the primary data collection protocols. Findings suggest that superintendents characterize their decision making as collaborative, data-driven, and priority based. This study also found that superintendents appear to consider accessibility to high-quality education, benefit to community and sources of funding as factors when making decisions to fund full day prekindergarten. Further, a comparative analysis of the rational decision making framework and the decision making practices of superintendents suggest that the steps of a rational decision making process are completed to some extent. This study provides insight and information for practicing superintendents who attempt to make decisions for funding full day prekindergarten. Finally, given the nature and findings of the present study, recommendations for practice and further research are offered

Under the direction of a superintendent, senior executive leaders of large urban school districts in the southwestern United States, defined as having an enrollment of at least 10,000 students and being located 25 miles from a major city, share a common challenge of leading essential operations, including the human resources, operations, finance, and academic functions. Superintendents across the nation are tasked with hiring and organizing their leadership teams in order to maximize the effectiveness of the school system. There is a need to further explore the role that politics, human capital, and symbolism play as the superintendent decides how to hire for and distribute the responsibilities of his or her senior executive leadership team. This study shared the perspectives of retired superintendents as they reflected upon the individuals and realities that impacted their decisions to hire and organize the members of their senior executive leadership teams. This study may benefit urban school superintendents who will encounter similar challenges and opportunities during their careers. Aspiring and current superintendents will be able to use these findings to make informed decisions regarding how to engage stakeholders and approach obstacles to organizing and selecting their senior executive leadership teams how they see fit to lead complex school systems.

As demographics in urban school districts become increasingly diverse, social justice leadership in the K-12 setting is necessary to meet the needs of all students. Much has been written about social justice leadership at the school principal level, but there is a need to further explore social justice leadership at the superintendent level, with a specific focus on equity and access for all students. A social justice leader is defined as someone that keeps at the center of their practice and vision issues of race, class, gender, disability, sexual orientation, and other historically marginalizing factors. As schools are becoming more diverse, the role of the district leader has evolved from a just a manager of the district to a transformational and social justice leader who recognizes inequities in the systems that are in place and disrupts the status quo. The purpose of this study was to identify the traits and actions of a school district superintendent, perceived to be a social justice leader, and how he addresses equity. To this end, the researcher explored experiences, relationships, actions used by the superintendent to achieve equitable goals, and navigating the politics of a large urban district, while attempting to keep social justice at the forefront of every decision made. Therefore, the researcher followed a constructionist epistemology with a qualitative research case study approach. Data was collected, coded, and categorized following an inductive process. The use of multiple sources of data allowed for the triangulation of that data. The intent was to develop emerging themes that surfaced from the data analysis. Findings revealed that the superintendent, perceived to be a social justice leader, exemplifies the traits of being culturally competent, equity driven, and inclusive of all students; carries out actions such as making equitable organizational changes and courageous decision making; uses the strategies of relational leadership and a whole child education; and draws on personal and professional experiences as a foundation that drives his work as a social justice leader. Collectively these traits, actions, strategies and experiences resulted in changes at the district level, which in turn contributed to the progress the district made in creating a more equitable system for all students.

There has been a renewed interest by local, state, and federal entities in teacher pay for performance programs. Billions of federal dollars have been given to states and school districts to develop programs to reward high-quality teachers based on student academic achievement test scores. Despite mixed-outcomes in data in the current literature, districts continue to develop and implement teacher pay for performance plans. School superintendents’ voices have been absent from the current discourse in the pay for performance literature. School superintendents are uniquely situated to provide valuable insight of their perceptions of teacher pay for performance programs they have implemented in their respective districts. This study was approached from a qualitative, phenomenological lens used to describe superintendent perceptions of teacher pay for performance programs. The research conducted attempted to answer the following questions: 1. How do superintendents perceive teacher pay for performance programs in their districts? 2. How have superintendents’ perceptions changed throughout the pay for performance program implementation? 3. How do superintendents determine the success of teacher pay for performance programs in their districts? 4. For superintendents, what is the essence of experiencing a pay for performance program? This study followed a qualitative, phenomenological research to gain an understanding of the perceptions of participants who all experienced the same phenomenon (Creswell, 2013), in this case, leading a school district that has adopted a pay for performance structure designed to recruit and retain teachers. Interviews with superintendents who had participated in the implementation of a district teacher pay for performance program were the primary data sources. Analysis included open coding procedures using qualitative data analysis software. Documents and member checks were used to triangulate data. Findings from this study could be used by school districts that might be contemplating implementing pay for performance programs.

The purpose of this study was to determine how superintendents conduct strategic planning in a changing educational environment. The literature suggests that superintendents must adjust to a new playing field that requires using already limited resources not only to educate students, but also position their schools as desirable in the market of public opinion. While the literature identified strategic planning as a valuable practice in educational leadership, very little research was available that provided a pragmatic view of how superintendents engage in the process. Superintendents involved in this basic qualitative study were able to identify the key components used for strategic planning, how other factors influenced the process, and how they linked the work of the strategic plan to action. The study participants all engaged in an entry plan process prior to beginning strategic planning. The information gathered from the entry plan helped the superintendents determine their next actions and, in several circumstances, formed the basis for the strategic plan. Learning about the culture and context of the district provided the superintendents with the information they needed to frame the strategic planning process in a way that would be well received, identify and involve a representative group of stakeholders, and design and implement a process that met the needs of the district. Superintendent experience, the needs of the district, and state and federal requirements also emerged as factors influencing strategic planning. Seven common components were represented in the approaches that the superintendents took in the strategic planning process: (a) determine board and community readiness, (b) utilize an external facilitation agent, (c) identify and involve stakeholders, (d) develop a shared vision, (e) determine priorities and goals, (f) develop strategies, and (g) solicit feedback and communicate through the process. Alignment of the strategies to the vision, goals, and priorities emerged as a key finding and served as parameters that empowered innovation and creativity. Linking the work of the strategic plan to action and monitoring progress happened through district and campus plans, superintendent evaluations, board and executive leadership retreats, goal-tracking documents, and campus visits, among other things.

This study uses a qualitative methodology to examine effective principal’s perceptions of the instructional leadership beliefs, knowledge, and practices of superintendents and how they impact student achievement and influence principal’s instructional leadership. The study was set in a large, urban school district. Six principals who met the selection criteria as highly effective were chosen as study participants. As the instructional leaders of their schools and subordinates to the superintendent, principals are uniquely positioned to provide valuable insight on their perceptions of superintendents as instructional leaders. The study answered the following research questions: How do effective principals in large, urban school districts in Texas, (1) describe instructional leadership beliefs, knowledge, and practices of superintendents? (2) perceive the impact of their superintendent’s instructional leadership beliefs, knowledge, and practices on student achievement? (3) describe how superintendent’s beliefs, knowledge, and practices as an instructional leader influence their own beliefs, knowledge, and practices as it relates to instructional leadership? (4) make sense of the instructional leadership beliefs, knowledge, and practices of their superintendent? Findings from this study may be used to provide greater clarity to superintendents and school boards members, regarding the role of the superintendent as an instructional leader and the specific beliefs, knowledge, and practices positively impacting student achievement and influencing principal’s instructional leadership.

As school districts struggle to find qualified superintendents to lead their systems to meet recent high-stakes accountability measures, it has been noted throughout history that few females attain this position, both nationally and in the state of Georgia. The organizational leadership behaviors of these administrators have been abundantly scrutinized in research; however, much of this research has been limited to the white male population. The primary purpose of this study was to describe to what extent female superintendents in Georgia exhibit leadership behaviors within Bolman and Deal's (2008) four organizational frames. A secondary purpose of this study was to create a demographic profile of female superintendents from the state of Georgia. This research was a mixed-methods study utilizing the Leadership Orientations Instrument-Self (Bolman & Deal,1990) survey data with demographic and open-ended questions (n=41) from female superintendents in the state. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze data from the survey and major themes from the open-ended questions were organized and described in narrative form. The findings suggested: (a) The female superintendents in this study described themselves as utilizing a multi-dimensional leadership orientation, with the highest scores on the human resource frame and the lowest scores on the political frame. (b) Significant relationships were found between age and average scores on the political frame, as well as age and average score on the symbolic frame. (c) Female superintendents in Georgia exhibited similar leadership behaviors in symbolic and structural frames. (d) The qualitative findings were similar to the quantitative results in that female superintendents in the state of Georgia reported strengths in the human resource frame, but weaknesses in political skills. (e) Female superintendents in the state of Georgia have similar demographic characteristics compared to the most recent national profile. (f) No significant correlation was found between the female superintendents' level of education and the four frames of leadership. These findings have implications for the preparation of female administrators seeking the superintendency and for boards of education seeking qualified candidates for superintendent positions.

Transformation is change—especially under challenging circumstances—that is significant, systematic, and sustained, resulting in high levels of achievement for all students in all settings (Caldwell, 2006). Urban education is the primary focus and target of the school reform movement. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) includes explicit requirements to ensure that students served by Title I are given the same opportunity achieve to high standards and are held to the same high expectations as all other students in each state. Urban public school superintendents confront social and economic challenges unique to urban districts and are under pressure to meet NCLB’s accountability standards and mandated policies. This study started with a broad question about effective urban public school superintendent management concepts and strategies. The study was designed and conducted to (a) identify the prevailing management concepts and strategies initiated by the superintendent to attain organizational clarity and effectiveness in improving student performance; (b) examine the degree to which the superintendent’s leadership and management concepts and strategies were understood, supported, and embraced by key members of the organization; and (c) examine how the management concepts and strategies used by the superintendent align with a business management concept that may be useful to district leaders and administrators seeking a concept or strategy to sustain organizational change. This researcher used a single-case study to examine the management concepts and strategies used by an urban public school district superintendent. This study was conducted in the largest urban public school system in Texas. The superintendent, 6 members of the district’s leadership team, and five principals were interviewed and answered online questionnaires. A board member was also interviewed. Finally, student achievement data were examined. The study found the superintendent implemented management leadership concepts and strategies that prevailed over the social and economic barriers faced by urban students. Use of these strategies increased and sustained student performance. Despite limitations, this study opens opportunities for further research in management leadership. Opportunities include further research within this urban district, outside the school district, or on each management leadership concept or strategy identified in this study.

Changes in education have placed increased pressure on school superintendents. Some states have implemented mentoring programs to aid new superintendents in adjusting to the role. This study looked at Ohio's formal mentoring program employing a quantitative-qualitative approach. The study used an instrument based on Cohen's Principles of Adult Mentoring Survey to compare perceptions of mentors and mentees of the mentoring experience. The instrument measured two dimensions of the mentoring experience: structure of perceived mentoring relationship and quality of perceived mentoring relationship. The study found that there were differences in both dimensions between mentors and mentees, and by years of experience. Qualitative data was gathered from participant feedback to the program to explain the differences in perceptions.

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 size of school districts on the strategies used by superintendents in Texas to prevent and resolve conflicts with school boards. This study was limited to superintendents in the state of Texas during the 2007-08 school year (approximately 1,050). The survey methodology involved an electronic questionnaire that allowed this researcher to survey the entire population of public school superintendents in Texas. The data was analyzed using the Social Sciences (SPSS, 2007) Statistical Package descriptive statistics. In order to validate the data, three superintendents from the largest districts in Texas were interviewed using a semi-structured approach to questioning using the results of the electronic survey. Based on the demographic data provided by the respondents, the typical superintendent in Texas is a married, White, non-Hispanic male, age 50 – 54 who serves a rural school district with a student enrollment of 1 – 499. He has a base salary of $85,000 to $99,999 and serves under a three-year contract and holds a master’s degree and majored in education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The typical superintendent has five to nine years of both teaching experience and site-based administrative experience and one to four years of central office administrative experience. More than 70% of the responding superintendents who held more than one superintendency reported that they left their last superintendency because of an opportunity to move to a larger district or for a higher salary. The majority of Texas school superintendents described their leadership/management style as collaborative and that human resources management was their greatest area of conflict with their school board. The factor that they report most inhibits their effectiveness was inadequate financing of schools. The strategy that the of majority Texas superintendents used to prevent and resolve conflict was to discuss the policy role of the school board with board members, participate in annual team-building activities and provide leadership training for board members. There was very little correlation between the demographic factors and strategies used by superintendents to prevent and resolve conflict. Follow-up interviews with large city superintendents provided additional information regarding specific strategies superintendents use to prevent and respond to conflict. Recommendations were made for further research regarding the role of the superintendent versus the role of the school board using qualitative research methods to further explicate the relationship between leadership/management style and strategies superintendents use to prevent and resolve conflict with school boards.

The purpose of this study was to determine the overall job satisfaction, the level of intrinsic job satisfaction, and the level of extrinsic job satisfaction of public school superintendents in Nassau and Suffolk Counties (Long Island) in New York. Also, the study investigated the school board relationships of public school superintendents in Nassau and Suffolk Counties (Long Island) in New York. The population of this study included all 125 public school superintendents of both Nassau and Suffolk Counties for the year 2007/2008. Despite many daunting challenges, the superintendents in Nassau and Suffolk Counties (Long Island) in New York were greatly satisfied with overall, intrinsic, and extrinsic factors of job satisfaction. The study indicated that the demographic variables such as age, gender, salary level, years of experience levels of education and district size did not have any significant impact by itself on the job satisfaction of the superintendents. The overall job satisfaction of superintendents with a doctorate and working in a larger size district combined contributed to slightly higher level of job satisfaction. However, neither of these two factors alone accounted for a significant proportion of variance in general satisfaction. There were no significant differences in the satisfaction factors between Nassau and Suffolk Counties public school superintendents. There were no statistically significant differences in the satisfaction factors of Nassau and Suffolk superintendents in New York and Hunterdon and Somerset superintendents in New Jersey. The study revealed significantly higher satisfaction scores for the Long Island superintendents compared to affluent (DFG I&J) New Jersey districts. The study concluded that Long Island superintendents maintained very positive working relationships with school boards, highly satisfied with their leadership and ethical conduct, and enjoyed overwhelming community support. The Long Island superintendents expressed significantly higher level of positive relationships with their school boards in comparison to the national study as reported in The State of the American School Superintendency, A Mid-Decade Study by American Association of School Administrators (2007).

During the study, the researcher investigated the overall characteristics of the Georgia public school superintendency. The school superintendent has many functions, but all of these functions are to achieve one primary goal: the best possible educational environment for all children. Demands that are now being placed on school superintendents require them to create conditions in which all students can increase achievement, while creating these conditions with fewer and fewer resources. The superintendent constantly seeks consensus between the board, staff, and the community to make the best educational decisions for all students. The superintendent is a leader in the true sense, for he/she must always bring out the best in all stakeholders of the school community. A descriptive research study was developed to gather data from all 180 Georgia school superintendents. From those surveyed, 86 responded to the survey. The researcher addressed superintendent perceptions regarding school board/superintendent relations, challenges facing the school superintendents, and the school superintendents' level of satisfaction with their careers. The researcher gathered both qualitative and quantitative data. The results from this study clearly showed that school superintendents have a strong understanding of their relations with school board members, challenges in the superintendency, and their levels of career satisfaction. Superintendents responded positively regarding their relations with school board members. Of the challenges identified by school superintendents, finance and state/federal mandates proved to be the greatest problems. Superintendents reported moderate to considerable stress in the school superintendency. Despite the challenges and stress, superintendents indicated achievement of career satisfatcion as school superintendents. The researcher's findings provided data that was not available for the state of Georgia and strenghtened data from previously national studies on the school superintendency.

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The problem of this study was to determine the status of program budgeting in selected Texas public schools as perceived by superintendents of those schools. The purposes were (1) to determine the implementation status of program budgeting in the major concept areas of systems analysis, multiyear planning, objective-based programs, cost inclusiveness, and administrative commitment and (2) to determine if the perception of the superintendents differed significantly depending upon the size of the school district they represent. Conclusions and recommendations for effective transition to a program budgeting system were then formulated. It was concluded from the findings that program budgeting concepts are present in all sizes of school districts surveyed; however, the data failed to reveal a fully implemented system in operation in any of the districts. The moderate level of program budgeting implementation in school districts appears to be the result of mandated utilization of the program-oriented accounting system. The program budgeting concepts other than the program budget seems to be implemented only to the degree necessary to adequately operationalize the required accounting system elements. There were no significant differences for any of the concept items relative to the size of the districts. Tire review of the literature failed to reveal significant encouragement from the state level for the full implementation of a program budgeting system in local school districts. It was implied from, the findings and conclusions that program budgeting should continue as a priority for Texas school districts, and efforts at all levels of education be expended to establish fully operational program budgeting systems in Texas school districts.

The purpose of this study was to determine the stress factors which create the most difficulty for the superintendent; to determine which, if any, groups are most responsible for generating these stress factors? to determine if variables in the personal life of the individual superintendent are related to the amount of stress felt by him; and to suggest ways in which the amount of stress may be reduced. The population of this study was the school superintendents in Texas. The instrument used in this study was a two-part questionnaire consisting of thirty-five items designed to elicit perceptions of superintendents toward those situations that were most bothersome on their job.

This study addressed superintendents' value perceptions of nineteen component parts of P.L. 94-142, The Education For All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. In addition, the study sought to determine whether relationships existed between superintendents' value perceptions of P.L. 94-142 and (1) school district size and (2) total years experience as a superintendent. As a result of this research, twenty-one conclusions were drawn, consisting of Texas superintendents' perceptions of several aspects of P.L. 94-142 such as: its effectiveness, appropriateness, process hearing costs, funding, time/cost efficiency, feasibility, and ultimate goal. Additionally, there was no significant relationship between the total number years served as a superintendent, or the size of school districts served, and the superintendents' value perceptions concerning P.L. 94-142. In summary, twenty-one conclusions were reached regarding superintendents' value perceptions of P.L. 94-142. A total of seven implications were drawn from the conclusions. Finally, seven recommendations for future study were made.

Using a case study approach, this investigation focused on the decision-making processes and leadership of a school district superintendent as he initiated and implemented the school restructuring effort of year-round education. The study was conducted during 1 school year period but was enhanced through a 3 year follow-up report. The research questions focused on the superintendent's decision-making processes and the impact that groups had on those processes. Questions also emerged during the data collection phase of the study about the superintendent's change-facilitation leadership behaviors. A Texas school superintendent committed to the implementation of year-round education was selected as the subject of this study. Data were collected for 1 school year by the participant observer who served as an unpaid intern to the superintendent. Data included field notes recorded during the day-to-day operations and interactions of the district, meetings which the superintendent attended, newspaper articles, district memoranda and documents, observation, and interviews. Field notes and interviews were triangulated with document analysis to identify patterns in the data and to identify the factors influencing the decision-making processes and the leadership behaviors of the superintendent.

The study warranted the following conclusions: (1) The rural superintendent uses competencies that require a high level of personal involvement. Furthermore, effective rural superintendents must call upon a wide range of general competencies if they expect to perform effectively. (2) The urban superintendents delegate responsibilities to others. The competencies they rely on most heavily relate to problem analysis, planning, and delegating tasks among subordinates. (3) The competencies on which superintendents in vocational districts place heavier emphasis than their counterparts in public school systems involve public relations and other externally oriented activities. They must have or develop competence in recruiting and working with external resource people to be used as advisory, planning, or evaluating committees. (4) In contrast to what some might expect, the majority of the superintendents in this sample did not identify the use of computers in administration as an important competency for the superintendency. (5) There was relatively strong consensus among superintendents on the fundamental competencies needed for successful superintending. The differences among them were primarily in degrees of emphasis.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was-to determine the distribution of mediation styles among California school superintendents. It also investigated the relationship between superintendents' mediation styles and the :following variables: tenure, mobility, professional preparation, job satisfaction, school board relationships, self-perceived leadership style, and district size. Procedures: Two hundred fourteen superintendents were surveyed. Each participant self-administered the Gregorc Style Delineator and completed a questionnaire regarding tenure, mobility, and professional preparation. A subsample of 32 superintendents was -Interviewed by telephone regarding the remaining variables. Data collected were statistically analyzed through use of chi-square goodness-of-fit, chi-square test of association, and analysis of variance. Findings: Analysis of the data indicates that the Concrete Random mediation style reported by 43% of the respondents is the most prevalent among California superintendents. The Concrete Sequential mediation style was reported by 36% of the participants, while Abstract Sequential was reported by eight percent, and Abstract Random was reported by seven percent of the sample. There were significant differences between the four mediation-style groups when the variables of tenure, leadership style, school board relationships, and job satisfaction were examined. There were no significant differences-between groups for the remaining variables. Conclusions or Recommendations: The .large percentage (79) of superintendents reporting concrete rather than -abstract perceptual abilities suggests that superintendents perceive information through the physical senses rather than ·intuitively. Fifty percent of the superintendents also reported random rather than sequential- ordering ability, suggesting that they arrange and organize information in-a nonlinear holistic manner rather than sequentially and discretely. The Concrete Random style was the most reported mediation style, suggesting that superintendents perceive events from the physical world, but systematize and dispose of them intuitively and instinctively. The small percentage of reported Abstract Sequential and Abstract Random mediation styles suggests that the qualities of emotion, holistic experiences, and inductive reasoning occur less frequently or are less valued by superintendents . . Additional research is needed to determine-(1) how the-mediation styles of superintendents compare with other populations and (2) whether mediation styles change over time.