Role Of The 21st Century Public School Superintendent

On February 11th, 2016 I attended the Houston Independent School District’s (HISD) school board meeting. I received a first-hand experience of how educational decisions are made and I also witnessed all the intricacies of the process. An article entitled Understanding Your School Board states that “school boards are entrusted by the public to translate the needs of students into policies, plans, and goals that will be supported by the community” (www.tasb.org). In other words, the board and its members are responsible for making and enforcing essential decisions for the school district. They are ultimately a strong determining factor for their students’ academic success.

This paper will focus on the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) Standards. Standard 1 which states, “This standard requires school leaders to be able to develop, articulate, implement, and provide stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school community.” This gives the people of the school the sense of direction and can uphold that vision. As well as Standard 5: Decision Making Strategies (ISLLC, 2015). The theorist that will support this paper include David Berlo and Peter Drucker.

Superintendents serve at the pleasure of the school board. Stream (2013) has argued that executive appointed officials change when new

Stemple, J. D. (2004) ‘Job satisfaction of high school Principals in Virginia’, Unpublished PhD dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia. Available at: http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/ available/etd-04252004-104719

The superintendent is the school district’s instructional leader. He is the driving force behind the

The overall purpose of the research is “to determine if there are certain responsibilities and characteristics that define a successful district superintendent” and if the teachers perceive the same responsibilities. The study

The other consideration I would ponder is the manner in which the new leadership formed. The new superintendent entered a community that previously had few freedoms in choice. They had not formed a voice of their own in the way decisions were made for the school, as the former leader was clearly a top-down manager and did not foster the independence and growth of the system, allowing it to become institutionalized. The culture of the organization never changed or formed its own being. Without the dictatorial leadership of their superintendent, there appears to be a sense of floundering and lost direction. While the new superintendent has the best of intentions in mind, one would ponder whether the community is ready, or able, to receive such freedoms in choice with the little hands-on guidance that she provides.

Maryland. The study evaluated the perceptions of principals, teachers, and support personnel concerning specific teacher attributes, characteristics, and behaviors that influence retention. It did not identify the actions principals take to promote retention. While the findings of these studies and others provide valuable data regarding the bigger issue of teacher retention, it is believed that more in-depth exploration will provide greater understanding of the role of the principal and the strategies they employ to reduce teacher retention. DeAngelis and Presley (2014) conducted a study to provide an overview of the findings of previous studies, paying particular attention to distinguishing between factors that have been found to influence teachers’ decisions to leave the profession vis a vis those factors

Although administrative support is often included in school climate, research has focused specifically on principal leadership and its relation to teacher retention (Hirsch, 2005). Effective leaders foster collaboration and create opportunities for teachers to learn from one another throughout their careers (Wong, 2004). While ineffective principal leadership often leads to teacher attrition, effective principal leadership often leads to teacher retention. School leaders can control the quality of teaching force at their school by hiring high-quality teachers, strategically retaining good teachers and removing poor teachers, and developing the teachers already at their school (Loeb, Kalogrides and Beteille (2012). How principals execute

The findings of this study provided information to stakeholders in educational settings such as administrators, boards of education, and teachers with knowledge on the dimensions of teachers’ perceptions of their principal’s leadership styles to strengthen weak aspects of educational leadership. It uncovered information linked to reducing high teacher turnover leading to increased job satisfaction and raising student performance levels.

An analysis of research on educational leadership acknowledges the importance of the principal in the elementary and secondary school setting. As a leader, the principal’s role has developed from one of a managerial position to one of an instructional leader who also manages. Cheney and Davis (2011) note that “The old job of principal as administrative building manager is no longer sufficient to dramatically improve student achievement. The job has evolved into a highly complex and demanding position that requires strong instructional and leadership skills” (para. 5). Northouse (2013) states that “to manage means to accomplish activities and master routines, whereas to lead means to influence others and create visions for change” (p. 13).

“The superintendent, by law in some states and by assignment in others, is the executive officer charged with carrying out the programs that the budget authorizes” (Brimley, Verstengen, Garfield, 2012, pg. 284). Some of these responsibilities are delegated within the business staff and district administrators. “The school boards responsibility for operating schools carries with it stated and implied powers for the protection of public funds and property” (Brimley, Verstengen, Garfield, 2012, pg. 332). The board will be presented the budget upon completion and their job is to approve the budget. If they do not approve, they must give administrative staff ideas on how to approve the plan in order for them to approve it. The principals are chief financial officer at the school level (Brimley, Verstengen, Garfield, 2012). The principal will carry out the plan and distribute money according to the needs of his or her school. The principal will establish a two-sided budget and ledger sheet with all receipts and expenditures along with monthly reports that will be reported to the district office (Brimley, Verstengen, Garfield, 2012). “Decentralize budget decisions pertaining to

and high stakes testing, the principal’s role has evolved to one of an instructional leader first who

The literature review indicated a link between principal leadership style and teacher job satisfaction. As shown in this chapter, the framework developed for this study will consider the impact, if any, of principal leadership styles and teacher job satisfaction. This study looked at transformational, transactional, autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire leadership styles (Northouse, 2103). Specifically, the study determined which leadership style created greater teacher job satisfaction. This study also investigated any possible relationships between a principal’s years of experience and a teacher’s preferred leadership style. Also, this study investigated the relationship between the number of years of a teacher 's experience in

In what way do institutional scripts support or constrain talk about change in school systems?