The School Superintendent

Theory, Practice, and Cases

Theodore J. Kowalski

• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9781452241081
• eBook ISBN: 9781483321790
• Edition: 3
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Administration

The School Superintendent: Theory, Practice, and Cases is the essential guide to succeeding as a superintendent or as an administrator in another district-level position. Comprehensive in both theory and practice, this textbook and reference guide examines the role and responsibilities of school district administration in professional, social, philosophical, and political frames, while balancing perspectives of rewards and challenges commonly expressed by school superintendents. Important topics covered include the emerging role of superintendent as communicator, the changing conditions in districts and schools, inadequate funding for public schools, and the treatment of policy administration, leadership roles, and community involvement.

Fully updated, the Third Edition provides: greater emphasis on the challenges facing novice superintendents; new material on strategic planning and visioning; new and expanded coverage of contemporary issues such as inadequate district funding and social challenges; additional figures, tables, key terms, and other helpful learning tools; and more.

Part I The Position: Roles and Context

• Chapter 1: Defining Practice
• Chapter 2: Society and Schools

Chapter 1 Defining Practice

Key Facets of the Chapter

• □ Levels of public education governance
• □ Historical perspectives of the district superintendent
• □ Contemporary perspectives of the district superintendent
• □ Requirements for being a superintendent

Case Study the Board does Not Want a Recommendation

Debra Jackson is not afraid to be a ground-breaker. She was the first person in her family to complete college; she was the first teacher of color to be employed in a small but highly affluent suburban school district; she was the first female high school principal elected to be president of her state's athletic association; she was the first female to be appointed superintendent of the Habar School District.

Habar is technically a suburb, but definitely not an affluent one. Bordering the state capital, it was developed in the early 1950s, and most of the residents were employed in local factories. The district's student population peaked in 1975; since that year, it steadily declined from 13,500 to 4,700. During this same period, the general population declined by 37%, and the percentage of students eligible for free and reduced price lunches increased from 8% to 68%.

Habar's five-member, elected school board voted unanimously to employ Dr. Jackson. She replaced Dr. Samuel Ivory who retired after serving the district for 28 years, the last 11 as superintendent. Two factors prompted the board members to select her: They agreed with her espoused philosophy and they concluded that she more so than the other applicants could elevate student achievement test scores. The latter conclusion was based on Dr. Jackson's two previous administrative positions. As a principal and later as an assistant superintendent, she was widely praised for her ability as an instructional leader.

Dr. Jackson knew that the board expected her to be actively involved in curriculum and instruction. She also was aware that her predecessor had focused almost entirely on managerial responsibilities. Accordingly, she realized that she needed to realign responsibilities of the three assistant superintendents. Two of them (business and personnel) were assigned more responsibility and the third (instruction) was notified that she would work closely with Superintendent Jackson.

After assuming her new position on July 1, Dr. Jackson had to prepare for the school board meeting scheduled for 2 weeks later. The purchase of three buses was one of the items on that meeting's agenda. In accordance with state law, such purchases had to be based on sealed bids; however, the school board could consider both cost and product quality. Five vendors had submitted bids. In the past, Superintendent Ivory had presided over bid openings and basically decided which bid would be recommended to the school board as the best. With the realignment of authority, however, that responsibility now belonged to the assistant superintendent for business services. After he presided over the bid opening, he summarized pertinent data and sent it to Superintendent Jackson. The report did not include a recommendation. Noting that this essential element was missing, she talked with her assistant and reminded him that he was supposed to include a specific recommendation and a rationale for it. His response surprised her.

“I realize that you want me to make a recommendation but the school board does not want recommendations on certain matters. One of them is the purchase of school buses. They only want to see the figures and they will make the decision collectively.”

During her preemployment interviews and subsequent discussions with school board members, the issue of superintendent recommendations for board action items had never been discussed. Dr. Jackson assumed that board members recognized that superintendents had a professional responsibility to make recommendations on all matters requiring board approval. She reflected for a moment and then responded to her assistant.

“Starting now, every major purchase will be presented to the board with my recommendation. You are my expert for buses. Reconsider the bids, evaluate them, and tell me which one I should recommend. The next day, she received a revised report that included both analysis and a recommendation. Finding no reason to disagree, she accepted the recommendation and presented it to the board.

School board materials were distributed 3 days prior to the meeting. Within hours after they were delivered, Debra received a call from the board president. He informed her that two board members already had contacted him about the recommendation for bus purchases. He asked, “Dr. Jackson, why are you spending time with bus bids? Financial matters, buses, and buildings are topics the board members understand. Therefore, we prefer to make decisions in these areas without a recommendation from the superintendent.”

Dr. Jackson respectfully disagreed. She pointed out that superintendents had an ethical responsibility to make a recommendation for all action items and board members had an ethical responsibility to evaluate the recommendation and decide whether it should be supported or rejected. The board president had a different opinion.

“We hired you to improve teaching and test scores. Most and maybe all the board members prefer to make financial decisions without being limited by a recommendation. When it comes to buses and buildings, we feel we can decide how tax dollars get spent. I would expect that you would be pleased that the board is willing to assume more direct responsibility for financial management. This gives you more time to be an instructional leader. We need to discuss the whole issue of recommendations in our next executive session.”

Introduction

The November 1907 cover of the School Board Journal featured a cartoon in which a vacancy notice for a superintendent of schools had been posted on the front door of a board of education office. The solicitation noted that the board was seeking an individual who could please everybody, from ultraconservatives to radical progressives. The message conveyed by this evocative cover is arguably more relevant now than it was then. Today, stakeholders across the nation's approximately 14,000 school districts are divided into special interest groups expressing dissimilar preferences and competing with each other for limited resources (Björk & Keedy, 2001).

This chapter provides foundational information about the position of school superintendent and the organizational structures in which it functions. First, four tiers of public education governance are examined. Although superintendents are not present in the first tier (federal), they are in the remaining three (state, intermediate district, and local district). Next, the evolution of this administrative position is described in the context of five separate roles. Then, requirements for the position are identified and analyzed. Collectively, the three topics provide a broad perspective of contemporary practice.

Levels of Public Education Governance

Control of American public education is based on legal foundations derived from federal and state constitutions, statutes, and case law. Constitutions grant legislative bodies authority to enact laws in the public's interest, statutes provide actual laws, and case law establishes interpretations of constitutions and legislative acts (Alexander & Alexander, 2012). Essentially, American public elementary and secondary schools may be governed at two broad levels: federal and state. As depicted in Figure 1.1, intermediate and local levels of governance legally are extensions of state government. The secretary of education is the top administrator at the federal level; states, intermediate districts, and local districts have superintendents (although some may have equivalent titles such as c...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Detailed Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Part I The Position: Roles and Context
• Chapter 1 Defining Practice
• Chapter 2 Society and Schools
• Part II School Districts: Structure and Authority
• Chapter 3 School Districts as Organizations
• Chapter 4 School Boards
• Chapter 5 Superintendent and School Board Relationships
• Chapter 6 School District Policy
• Part III Superintendent Leadership and Management Responsibilities
• Chapter 7 Providing Leadership at the District Level
• Chapter 8 Community Leadership
• Chapter 9 Material Resource Management
• Chapter 10 Managing Human Resources, Student Services, and Legal Services
• Part IV Personal Perspectives
• Chapter 11 Contemporary Challenges
• Chapter 12 Personal Dispositions and Practice
• Chapter 13 Seeking the Position
• Glossary
• Author Index
• Index
• About the Authors