The purpose of the study was to analyze career patterns of public school superintendents in Michigan serving school districts with a student population of 5,000 or more. Evidence indicated commonalities exist in the career path administrators follow to become the superintendent of a large Michigan school district.The population consisted of 77 superintendents in school districts of 5,000 plus enrollment. Sixty-three (81 percent) superintendents returned the questionnaire and ten of the responding superintendents were interviewed.Major findings from the questionnaire and interview instrument were:1. The superintendents in Michigan's large school districts are male between the ages of 4.6 and 55 and began their career in a public high school around age 24.2. The superintendents first administrative position had been either as an elementary principal, central office administrator, or a high school principal.3. Generally the superintendent accepted his first superintendency in a district of more than 5,000 students between the ages of 36 and 45.4. Most of the superintendents had a master's degree when first employed as a school administrator. A majority of the superintendents currently hold a doctorate.5. Human relations skills, a good background in school finance, and experience were necessary attributes in getting the appointment to the superintendency. The individual desiring to be the superintendent of one of Michigan's large school districts should be aware of factors which may enhance that goal. The individual must consider:1. The age at which career goals are determined and begun.2. The age of entry into the field of education.3. The size of the school district where first educational employment is accepted and where all subsequent administrative positions are accepted.4. Involvement in extra-curricular activities does not guarantee administrative promotion.5. The doctorate is of maximum importance in the career pattern of the large school district superintendent.6. Human relation skills, financial expertise, and experience are important criteria in seeking employment as a school superintendent.

The study was designed to determine the extent to which selected Indiana superintendents of schools tie work as central life interest and to compare leadership behaviors of superintendents identified as having high interest in work and superintendents with low work interest, as perceived by subordinate administrators. Ninety-five of the 116 superintendents invited to participate in the study completed the Central Life Interest Inventory developed by Dubin. Analyses of responses resulted in identification of the intensity to which superintendents viewed work as a central life interest. Subordinate administrators identified by the twenty-five superintendents identified as having high commitment to work and subordinate administrators identified by the twenty-five superintendents identified as having low interest in work were invited to evaluate respective superintendents by means of the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire- - Form XII.Twelve null hypotheses were developed to facilitate determination of statistically significant differences between subordinate administrator evaluative response of superintendents having high interest in work and superintendents having low interest in work. Statistical treatment of the twelve hypotheses was accomplished by means of the chi-square test of significance. The .05 level of confidence was established as the critical probability level for the non-acceptance of hypotheses.Findings relative to the first study purpose, which was to measure the extent to which selected Indiana superintendents view work as central life interest, were:1. Thirty-two, or 33.6 percent, of the ninety-five participating superintendents had a high interest in work as a central life interest.2. Eighteen earlier studies had measured the extent to which persons in various occupations viewed work as a central life interest. When superintendents were compared and contrasted, nine occupational groups reflected higher interest in work as a central life interest and nine groups reflected lower interest in work as a central life interest. Superintendents had a higher interest in work as a central life interest than lumber workers, truck drivers, American factory workers, secondary teachers, elementary teachers, principals, industrial arts teachers, clerical workers, and British factory workers. Superintendents had a lower interest in work as a central life interest than management personnel in Japanese industry, cooperative extension agents, nurses, Amana Colony workers, management personnel in American industry, middle managers in Oregon, middle managers in seven states, industrial supervisors, and German industrial workers.Findings relative to the second study purpose, a comparison of the leadership behaviors of the high and low superintendent groups as measured by perceptions of subordinate administrators using the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire--Form XII instrument, were no statistically significant differences were found to exist for the three specific leadership behaviors factors of Representation, Demand Reconciliation, and Initiation of Structures. Statistically significant differences were found to exist for each of the nine specific leadership factors of Tolerance of Uncertainty, Persuasiveness, Tolerance of Freedom, Role Assumption, Consideration, Production Emphasis, Predictive Accuracy, Integration, and Superior Orientation.The major conclusion relative to the first study purpose was that even though relatively small percentages of superintendents might score as having high commitment to work as a central life interest, superintendents as a group do have high professional standards and are committed to performing job responsibilities effectively and efficiently. The major conclusion relative to the second study purpose as that superintendents with a high commitment to work as a central lire interest, are perceived by subordinates as being more effective leaders.

The educational system in America has become a huge, complex business. Administration of the schools is vital to meet the problems involved. A well-qualified administrator is better prepared to overcome obstacles and to make the school system function to the highest degree of efficiency. Recent articles have indicated the general trend toward the county as the administrative unit for the school. As the population groups, so grow the problems of the schools and the county superintendency. / Typescript. / "August, 1957." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science." / Advisor: Edna E. Parker, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 34-35).

Statement of the Problem: The purposes of this study were threefold. The first was to identify the current practices and procedures being utilized in the Commonwealth of Virginia to evaluate local public school superintendents. Secondly, the study compared the reported practices from Virginia with those which have been identified as "best practices" from a review of the literature. Finally, this study examined selected variables which might have influenced the evaluation process of superintendents. Research Procedures: This descriptive study was designed to identify current practices within the State of Virginia related to the evaluation of public school superintendents. A questionnaire was used to survey the public school superintendents in Virginia to gain their perspective on the evaluation procedures utilized by school boards to evaluate their performance. Frequencies and percentages were used to report the data. Outcomes: The results of this study revealed that the practices currently used in Virginia need to be reviewed and improved. Less than half of the school boards in Virginia have established procedures or policies in place to evaluate their superintendents. Most superintendents report not having a formal evaluation procedure in place in their school division. Evaluation procedures in Virginia for public school superintendents do not compare favorably with identified best practices for superintendent evaluation. The study also revealed that the size and wealth of the school division influenced the evaluation process for the superintendent. Superintendents from larger school divisions are more likely to have formal evaluation procedures in place than superintendents from small or average size school divisions. Wealthy school divisions were also more likely to utilize a formal procedure for evaluating the superintendent than divisions identified as low or average wealth. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between principal job satisfaction and the principal perception of superintendent leadership style in six school districts located in North Central Texas.

The problem of this study was to determine the adequacy of the professional preparation of the Catholic school superintendent for his role as the educational leader in the diocesan school system. The study was divided into the following subdivisions: 1) establishing evaluative criteria to measure the adequacy of the professional preparation of the Catholic school superintendent; 2) evaluating the professional preparation of the superintendent in the light of the established criteria; 3) proposing a program which might close the gap between the existing practices and the established criteria.

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Statement of Problem: This research project was designed to study the policies and procedures used in the Commonwealth of Virginia to evaluate the public school superintendents from the perspective of the School Board chairperson. Specifically, the purposes of the study were: (1) to collect and summarize information describing the superintendent's evaluation policies, procedures and instruments utilized in Virginia Public Schools; (2) to compare existing policies and procedures in Virginia public schools for evaluating the superintendent of schools with those in the literature considered "best practice," (3) to determine if Virginia School Superintendent evaluation policies and procedures vary based on selected variables such as: size of school district, wealth of school district, and the gender of the school board's chairperson. / Ed. D.

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF EDUCATION in the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education of the Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand, 2006. / This study involves an investigation into the effectiveness of the Superintendents of Education Management (SEMs). In order to gain insight into the effectiveness of the SEMs relevant literature pertaining to effective leadership was reviewed. The literature review deals mainly with the following aspects: > Effective leadership. > Characteristics of effective SEMs. > Tasks of effective SEMs. Literature on the following aspects of effective leadership was also reviewed: > The occupational world of the SEMs. > Building and maintaining of relationships. The descriptive method of research was used to collect data with regard to the effectiveness of the SEMs. The investigation was aided by an empirical research comprising a structured questionnaire completed by 153 principals in the Msinga Circuit Management Centre, Ukhahlamba Region of the KwaZuIu-Natal Department of Education, in an effort to obtain the views of the principals on the effectiveness of the SEMs in their circuits. The respondents consisted of one hundred and nine (109) male principals and forty four (44) female principals. The age of the respondents ranges from thirty one (31) to over fifty (+50) years. Thirty two (32) out of 185 principals could not afford to complete the questionnaires citing different reasons. The descriptive method of research was used to analyse the collected data. From the information gathered the following are the most important findings of the research regarding the effectiveness of the SEMs: > SEMs trust the principals as their colleagues and have empathy for the task they perform. > SEMs base their leadership on the values of the community. > SEMs have good management skills and base their leadership on the needs of their subordinates. > SEMs understand the importance of a healthy school climate for effective teaching and learning. > Principals have a high opinion of sound tactics used by SEMs in matters involving cultural groups. > SEMs are open-minded and work collaboratively with the principals by taking their opinion into account. > SEMs play a vital role in encouraging the networking of schools in their circuits. The study also revealed that: > There is no effective cooperation between the SEMs and the teacher unions. > Principals are not happy with the salary backlog for educators because it affects the performance of educators in the classrooms. > SEMs do not communicate their circuit mission statements to all stakeholders. > SEMs have done nothing to assist the educators who failed to meet the curriculum objectives, which has a negative impact on the schools' final results. Based on the findings, the following recommendations were submitted: > That the SEMs should encourage and monitor the implementation of Whole School Evaluation (WSE), the Developmental Appraisal System (DAS) and Integrated Quality Management Systems (IQMS). This will provide the SEMs with relevant information concerning the performance of educators in schools. The analysis of information from the abovementioned systems will provide the department with the grey areas that need urgent attention. >. That the SEMs in consultation with all the stakeholders should formulate the circuit policy. > That the schools should be divided into clusters in terms of proximity and cluster coordinators. This will help SEMs with timeous distribution of information to schools. In conclusion a summary was presented based on the findings of the study. The following are some of the recommendations that have been made for further study: > That the influence of the SEMs in the final school results, more especially Grade 12, be investigated. > That the impact of the salary backlog on educators in their teaching and learning tasks in the schools be investigated. > "Why a lack of punctuality seems to be a way of life for some educators in high ranking positions.

The purposes of this study were to determine the career paths of women superintendents in the state of Texas and their school board members' perceptions of their levels of success. All women currently serving as superintendents of public schools in Texas, as well as all school board members of districts with women serving as superintendents were surveyed. The findings of this study indicate that the "typical" woman superintendent was hired from inside the district, with a master's degree. She was 48.3 years of age. Her first administrative position was the principalship and she moved directly from the principalship to the superintendency. The typical woman served in one district as superintendent. Her teaching and prior administrative experience was at the elementary level. Women superintendents perceived the position of teacher as the most beneficial experience prior to the superintendency. Women superintendents perceived leadership as the most important area of her professional development. School finance was the area perceived by women superintendents as needing to be more extensive in their professional development. Of the women superintendents who responded to this survey, 68.1 percent reported that they did not perceive discrimination in attaining the superintendency. Of the school board members who responded to this survey, 56.2 percent rated their women superintendents as excellent, 2 6 percent rated women superintendents as good, 12.5 percent rated women superintendents as average, 4.1 percent rated women superintendents as below average and 1 percent rated women superintendents as poor. Most school board members either strongly agreed or agreed with statements that women superintendents are capable in areas of school finance, school law, personnel, public relations, bonds and building programs and leadership. Women school board members rated women superintendents slightly higher, on the average, than male school board members.