<p> The ISLLC standard 6 of 2008 and ELCC standard 6 of 2011 both indicate that a district-level leader should be influential in state-level education legislation and policy-making. There was little scientific research that showed evidence as to how superintendents were adapting to this requirement, although anecdotal and journalistic writings were available. This study sought to fill that gap. </p><p> This study was of all public school superintendents in the state of Illinois. The study used mixed-methods, and utilized a sequential explanatory design. The quantitative portion of the study was completed via an online survey, and the qualitative portion of the study was complete with face-to-face interviews of randomly selected superintendents. 201 Illinois public school superintendents completed the online survey, and 6 superintendents were randomly selected for interviews. </p><p> The study identified 7 key findings regarding Illinois public school superintendents and their efforts to be influential in state-level education legislation and policy-making: they utilized professional organizations most extensively in their efforts to contact and influence legislators; their perceptions of effectiveness were significantly increase when there was a close personal or proximal association with a legislator; their perceptions of effectiveness were significantly increased in accordance with the number of prior administrative positions held; their perceptions of effectiveness were significantly increased with relation to a particular school district configuration; their perceptions of effectiveness were significantly increased with relation to their affiliations with particular educational organizations; they identified only one coherent impediment to being influential, that of graduate coursework preparation; and they had a reasonable knowledge of the legislative process, although that did not affect their perceptions of success in being influential. By applying these key findings, Illinois public school superintendents can make themselves more influential in state-level education legislation and policy-making.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:3689161 |
| Date | 07 May 2015 |
| Creators | Oakley, Daniel Lee |
| Publisher | Western Illinois University |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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