Rural Superintendents’ Experiences with Empowerment and Alignment to Vision in the Application of Principle-Centered Leadership

This qualitative phenomenological narrative inquiry research study used narrative inquiry to investigate rural superintendents’ experiences with the application of principle-centered leadership in their districts. Ten superintendents from rural districts in east Texas were interviewed. Narratives were analyzed by organizing, describing, classifying, and interpreting data collected from the interviews. The study results support the notion that the application of principle-centered leadership helps superintendents to become effective leaders in their districts. Other findings from this study include the notion that effective superintendents practice the tenets of principle-centered leadership with different actions and methods based on their beliefs and personalities. Findings also emphasized that trustworthiness and trust is the foundation of principle-centered leadership, which allows for empowerment and alignment to vision. This study provides superintendents and other educational leaders with practices critical to practicing principle-centered leadership in order to become more effective leaders in their districts.

Public School Board Presidents’ and Superintendents’ Perceptions of the Characteristics of Effective Superintendents in a Midwestern State

The expectation for strong superintendent leadership has increased due to a demand for greater student achievement and accountability. This study examined public school board presidents’ and superintendents’ perceptions of the characteristics superintendents must possess to effectively lead in today's complex educational system. A researcher-developed survey instrument was used to collect data from public school board presidents and superintendents in a Midwestern state. Computation of item means indicated school board presidents perceived developing a close, positive, and productive relationship with the school board, developing a culture and climate which enhances teacher morale and student achievement, developing partnerships between school and community, developing budgets and manage fiscal matters, and visibility throughout the community and district as the most important characteristics of effective superintendents. Superintendents perceived developing a culture and climate which enhances teacher morale and student achievement, developing a close positive, and productive relationship with the school board, building a team atmosphere and coherence, developing budgets and manage fiscal matters, and communicating with stakeholders as the most important characteristics of effective superintendents. School board presidents considered involvement of stakeholders in collaborative goal-setting and monitoring as well as superintendent visibility throughout the community and district to be significantly more important than did superintendents. In contrast, superintendents believed recruiting, selecting, developing personnel, and implementing effective evaluation structures to be significantly more important than did the superintendents. Independent sample t tests revealed that small district public school superintendents perceived recruiting, selecting, developing personnel, and implementing effective evaluation structures as significantly more important than small district school board presidents did ( p < .05). There was no statistically significant difference in perceptions for the 20 characteristics of effective superintendents between large district board presidents and superintendents, or between less experienced school board presidents and superintendents ( p < .05). More experienced school board members perceived involving stakeholders in collaborative goal-setting and monitoring to be statistically significantly more important than did more experienced superintendents ( p < .05).

Effective Schools–Effective Superintendents: The Emerging Instructional Leadership Role

The national commission reports, which launched the most intensive and sustained effort to improve schools in America's history, confirmed the importance of instructional leadership. Although the role of the principal was initially emphasized, research studies on instructionally effective schools indicate that superintendents use their “bureaucratic” positions in the formal organization to improve instruction. They enact their instructional leadership roles through a broad array of activities including staff selection, principal supervision, establishing clear instructional goals, monitoring instruction, and financial planning for instruction to improve instruction. The concept of instructional leadership has moved beyond a simple description of the principal's role to understanding it as a multi-level, multidimensional, and highly interactive activity that may require a more consultative leadership style.