The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the turnover of incumbent board members and turnover of the district's superintendent. Research questions asked were: 1.What are the turnover rates within five years for: a. superintendents? b. incumbent board members? c. superintendents when an incumbent board member fails to be reelected? 2. What are the factors associated with board member turnover? 3. What are the factors associated with superintendent turnover? 4. Are there variables which may be used together to discriminate between categories of superintendent turnover? 5. What is the relationship between district size and number of schools in the district to superintendent and board member turnover? 6. What is the relationship of geographic location of the districts to superintendent and board member turnover? 7. What is the relationship of the type of district, elementary, high school, or union high school, to superintendent and board member turnover? A questionnaire was sent to the superintendents of all school districts in Oregon governed by five-member school boards. The results obtained from the questionnaire were analyzed using frequency distributions, percentages, means, standard deviations, and content analysis. All hypotheses were tested at the .05 level of significance. The following conclusions were based upon the data collected and analyzed in the study. The total number of elections impacted both board member and superintendent longevity. The total number of changes on the board dramatically affected superintendent longevity. The superintendent's relationship with the board did not affect superintendent turnover until the political climate in the district became active. Political climate played a crucial role in both superintendent and board member turnover. Recommendations for further research include: (a) an in-depth study of what constitutes a contested election, (b) a study of the differences between large and small school districts that may impact superintendent and board member turnover is recommended, (c) a study of the role of the board chair in superintendent turnover, and (d) a study of the difference in superintendent turnover between superintendents who also serve as principals and those who do not.

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. / text

The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of the school board/superintendent relationship on academic achievement in one Texas school district that serves high-poverty, majority-minority students. Previous studies identified successful school systems with school boards and superintendents who functioned as a true leadership team. However, previous research focused on school board/superintendent relationship and politics, not student achievement. This case study examined the dynamics of the school board/superintendent relationship and how the dynamics of that relationship influenced the academic achievement of its high-poverty students who were also the majority-minority. The methodology was an intrinsic and qualitative case study which used the constructive perspective and the researcher as the primary instrument for gathering data (Stake, 1988; Patton, 2002). Qualitative data was collected using a loosely structured focus group, individual interviews, and an examination of district documents and records. The research suggests that the dynamics of the school board/superintendent relationship tend to be centered on politics and political power. Politics and political power are impacted by the changing majority/minority composition of the school board, which may lead to instability in the superintendent’s relationship with the board. The research also corroborates previous studies in which effective communication, trust, collaboration, support, and a constant focus on student achievement are the essential building blocks of an effective school board/superintendent relationship. Further, the research supports many other studies which found that the campus principal’s focus on was the catalyst for improved student achievement. Even though educators believe and support the notion that collaborative leadership between the school board and the superintendent is key to the attainment of high academic achievement, this study found there was no apparent effect of the school board/superintendent relationship on the academic achievement of its students. This research has practical implications which may be useful to superintendents and school boards as they face the daily challenges and responsibilities of managing and improving academic achievement. / text

The study investigated role relationships of School Governing Body (SGB) chairpersons and principals in school governance in selected primary and secondary schools in the KwaMashu area. Through the provision of the South African Schools Act, 84 of 1996; the chairperson and the principal are leaders in the governing body and school management team respectively. Moreover the principal is an ex-officio member of the governing body. Literature and my experience as an educator suggested that, there existed conflict between the parent governors and principals in general; and SGB chairpersons and principals in particular. The purpose of the study therefore was to investigate whether or not SGB chairpersons and principals understand their roles in school governance. This was a multi-site case study of four schools in the same locality. The study was conducted through semi-structured interviews; observation and document analysis. The findings suggest that SGB chairpersons and principals appeared to have an understanding of one’s and each other’s roles. However, a deeper examination of the situation suggests that this apparent clarity was superficial. It was so in that from the principals’ perspective, it was fine if chairpersons permanently needed their assistance in performing their governance duties. It also emerged that the inexperienced governing body chairpersons and principals lacked adequate understanding of their governance roles and those of each other. There was apparent harmonious working between principals and chairpersons which was arising because of inequality between chairpersons and principals in terms of educational levels. However, there were areas of conflict between the two parties especially regarding the control of finances, and the selection and appointment of educators. The study recommends that schools should design their own training programmes where they could invite departmental officials or other consultants to train their own people. Schools should also be adequately linked to centres such as Adult Basic Education and Training to develop their own people. This will help in equipping parent governors with sufficient knowledge and skills regarding their governance responsibilities. The study also recommends that further studies be conducted around induction programmes to make them more useful. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007.

This study provides a demographic profile of former Indiana superintendents who exited during or immediately after the 1997-98 and 1998-99 school years. Exits were defined as leaving the position without returning within two years. The population consisted of 29 individuals, 23 of whom participated in telephone interviews in September and October of 2000. Data concerning the exits of the remaining six individuals were obtained from officials in the districts where the exits occurred. The study also examined perceptions regarding exits and conditions that may have prevented them.The population was predominately male (only one female); the mean age was 58 (none below the age of 50); and 616/6 reported having earned a doctorate. Most (45%) had been employed in districts with enrollments between 2001 and 5000 pupils, while 21% had been employed in large enrollment districts (>5000 students). Immediately after exiting the superintendency, just over 78% started receiving retirement benefits under the state program. Approximately three-fourths of the population (regardless of retirement status) continued to work after exiting, with 70% of this group reporting part-time employment. Among those who continued to work after leaving the superintendency, approximately 53% reported working in education or in an education related field.Reasons for the exits were mixed. The most common were conflict with the school board (27%), other full-time employment (17%), tired of the position (17%), wanted to retire (14%), thought it was time to leave (10%), and personal or spouse illness (10%). Just over 45% reported that nothing could have prevented their exit. The data does not support that the crisis in filling superintendent positions is caused by exits.Findings revealed a much lower exit rate in Indiana than in other states where similar studies were conducted. There was no evidence of mid career exits (before the age of 50) and less than 30% of the superintendent turnover in the state was actual exits. The study includes recommendations for additional research. / Department of Educational Leadership

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.

Title from title page of PDF (University of Missouri--St. Louis, viewed March 3, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 208-227).

The purpose of the study was to determine the perceptions of Indiana school board presidents and superintendents on recommendations for board governance. A second purpose was to determine the current usage of these recommendations for board governance among Indiana school boards.A questionnaire consisting of 42 Likert-response items was mailed to the superintendent and board president of the 294 public school districts in Indiana. The return rate was 63 percent for board presidents and 82 percent for superintendents.The following conclusions were formulated: (a.) board presidents appear most likely to support recommended changes in school board governance in areas of Planning, Board Development, Collective Bargaining, and Curriculum/Staff Development; (b.) superintendents appear most likely to support recommended changes in school board governance in the areas of Board Development, Collective Bargaining, and Curriculum/Staff Development; (c.) board presidents and superintendents appear most likely to differ in their responses to recommendations for changes in school board governance in the areas of Planning, Personnel, Managing Schools and Budget; (d.) board presidents and superintendents from the same school districts are not likely to differ significantly in their opinions about whether or not their board is currently practicing recommended changes in school board governance.Indiana board presidents nor superintendents agreed with authorizing charter schools, hiring administrative law judges or other qualified third parties to hear appeals on students and staff members' due process rights, or establishing a procedure outside of the school board for hearing and deciding constituent complaints. Nor did they agree the board should grant full authority to the administration to approve individual claims or approve change orders on construction projects less than $1,000,000. / Department of Educational Leadership

The purpose of this study was to develop guidelines for small school divisions in Virginia to use in preparing an orientation program which would meet the needs of the new school board members. These guidelines addressed state and local concerns which had been identified through the review of literature and a questionnaire which was completed by superintendents and school board members from small school divisions in Virginia. The questionnaire was distributed to all superintendents and school board members from school divisions with fewer than five thousand students. The contents of the guidelines were determined by those items which were identified as being essential by 50 percent or more of at least one of the respondent groups. The results from this study indicated that school board members and superintendents do agree on the majority of items that were essential to an orientation program for new school board members. Thirty-eight of the sixty-nine items were regarded as essential by both respondent groups. There were eight areas in which the superintendents and school board members disagreed. These areas were also included in the guidelines. As a result of this study a set of curriculum guidelines was developed which would assist small Virginia school divisions in preparing an orientation program for new school board members. The ultimate aim of these guidelines was to improve the effectiveness of the new school board member. / Ed. D.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: School administrative clerks are a category of educational worker that is normally overlooked by those doing research on schools. These workers are also ubiquitously underappreciated in school discourses. There is a lack of research on the identities and practices of administrative clerks which is the specific focus of this thesis. This thesis aims to address this knowledge gap in the literature. Therefore the research questions addressed in this thesis were: (1) how are school administrative clerks’ identities and practices constituted? (2) what are school administrative clerks contributions to the functioning of schools? The research questions were answered by conducting a qualitative study that involved interviewing and observing three purposively chosen school administrative clerks as well as conducting document analysis of policy documents. The analysis of the data was written up in four articles, each employing theoretical frameworks apposite for the analysis that it pursued. The articles variously addressed the way in which school administrative clerks’ identities and practices are negotiated. They provided insight into their professional contributions in their worksites. This is a thesis by articles. It consists of six chapters. The introductory wraparound chapter is followed by four articles, which constitute the four middle chapters of the thesis. These four academic articles have been published in, or submitted for publication to, different journals. Chapter six is the conclusion chapter. The insights gained from the four articles were that the administrative clerks’ identities and practices were constituted by their exercise of agency. They enacted what I regarded as a form of ‘subordinated agency’. The first article suggests that their reflexive agency resulted in spatial practices that made a contribution to their schools’ management and teaching practices. The second article suggests that administrative clerks’ rhetorical agency was established through their careful and tactful negotiation of rhetorical spaces in order to exercise their voice. They accomplished this through their resistance to the rhetorical norms of the school. The third article argues that they enacted an ethical agency which was instantiated through their quest for self-transformation which led to professional practices that had considerable positive consequences for the school. The fourth article posits that their accumulation of information and relational resources translated into a form of participatory capital that laid the foundation for their agency. It is through the deployment of their participatory capital that they exercised their agency to fashion unique professional identities. The conclusion of the thesis is that agency plays a significant role in the way that school administrative clerks’ identities, practices and their contribution to their school spaces are instantiated. School administrative clerks’ identities and practices are constituted by the subordinated agency that they are able to marshal within the professional spaces of their work environments. It is this subordinated agency that propels the administrative clerks’ daily creative boundary crossings between their school management practices on the one hand and their broader educational practices on the other hand. The study thus presents an analysis of their incisive professional contribution in spite of their putative subordinated status. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Skool administratiewe klerke is 'n groep opvoedkundige werkers wat normaalweg oor die hoof gesien word wanneer navorsing in skole gedoen word. Hierdie groep word ook duidelik onder verteenwoordig in diskoerse oor skole. Daar is 'n gebrek aan navorsing oor die identiteite en praktyke van administratiewe klerke. Laasgenoemde is die spesifieke fokus van hierdie tesis. Hierdie tesis poog om hierdie leemte in die literatuur aan te spreek deur die volgende navorsingsvrae aan te spreek: (1) hoe word skool administratiewe klerke se identiteit en praktyke gekonstrueer? (2) wat is die skool administratiewe klerke se bydrae tot die funksionering van skole? ’n Kwalitatiewe studie is gebruik om die navorsingsprobleem aan te spreek. Dit het die vorm van dokumente analise sowel as onderhoude en waarnemings van drie administratiewe klerke aangeneem. Elk van hierdie artikels spreek die skool se administratiewe klerk se identiteit en praktyke aan deur van ’n verskillende teoretiese raamwerk gebruik te maak. Hierdeur is insig verkry in hul professionele bydrae in hul onderskeie werksomgewings. Hierdie is 'n tesis deur artikel publikasie, wat uit ses hoofstukke bestaan. Die inleidende hoofstuk word gevolg deur vier hoofstukke, elk in die vorm van ’n artikel. Hierdie vier akademiese artikels is reeds gepubliseer of voorgelê vir publikasie in verskillende joernale. Die gevolgtrekking word in hoofstuk ses aangebied. Die vier artikels het na vore gebring dat skole se administratiewe klerke se identiteite en praktyke gekonstitueer word deur die uitoefening van hulle agentuur. Daar is bevind dat hulle ’n ondergeskikte agentuur uitoefen. Die eerste artikel benadruk dat hul agentuur die resultaat is van hulle refleksiewe ruimtelike praktyke. Die tweede artikel benadruk dat administratiewe klerke se retoriese agentuur voorgebring word deur hulle retoriese ruimtes, waarin hulle hulself laat geld deur versigtige en taktvolle optrede. Laasgenoemde word vermag deur hul dialektiese weerstand teen ruimtelike norme. Die derde artikel suggereer dat administratiewe klerke 'n etiese agentuur verkry deur hulle soeke na self-transformasie. Ek wil aanvoer dat laasgenoemde aanleiding gee tot professionele praktyke wat ‘n beduidende positiewe uitwerking op die skool het. Die vierde artikel dui daarop dat hul versameling van inligting en beskikbare bronne die grondslag lê vir hul agentskap. Dit is deur middel van die ontplooiing van hul deelnemende kapitaal dat administratiewe klerke by skole hulle agentskap so uitoefen dat dit meewerk in die vorming van hul unieke professionele identiteite. Die gevolgtrekking van hierdie proefskrif is dat agentskap 'n beduidende rol speel in die wyse waarop die identiteite en praktyke van ondergeskiktes soos administratiewe klerke in skoolruimtes gevorm word. Skool administratiewe klerke se identiteit en praktyke word gekonstitueer deur die ondergeskikte agentskap wat hulle in die professionele ruimte van hulle werksomgewing versamel. Dit is hierdie ondergeskikte agentskap wat dit vir die administratiewe klerke moontlik maak om daagliks die grense tussen skool bestuurspraktyke aan die een kant en hulle breër opvoedkundige praktyke aan die ander kant te oorbrug. Hierdie tesis bied 'n analise van die waardevolle professionele bydrae van skool administratiewe klerke, ten spyte van hulle ondergeskikte status.