Previous research offers insights about characteristics of successful
superintendents and provides generic lists of attributes (Collins, 2005 and Schleuning,
2003). However, little is known about specific characteristics of Hispanic male
superintendents who have been successful in ascending to a superintendent position
(Padilla, 2003, Garza, 2003 and Rueda, 2002). Given the current need to select
superintendents who reflect the current population changes, further inquiry of the
personal and professional attributes from a board presidents’ perspective is needed with a
specific focus on male Hispanics who have been selected to serve as superintendent. The
purpose of the study is to identify attributes (characteristics) that Texas school board
presidents believe are important when having selected a Hispanic male superintendent.
The study investigated four research questions: (a) the perceptions of Texas
public school board presidents regarding the most important personal attributes when
having selected a Hispanic male superintendent; (b) the perceptions of Texas public school board presidents regarding the most important professional attributes when having
selected a Hispanic male superintendent; (c) the size (student enrollment) of a school
district affect the perception of school board presidents regarding the important attributes;
and (d) geographic location affect the perception of school board presidents regarding the
important attributes?
The study followed a quantitative research paradigm. A descriptive research
design approach was used. Thus, a survey was used as instrumentation to collect data
(Schleuning, 2003). Texas public school board presidents’ who were serving, and who
selected and hired Hispanic male superintendents for 2008-2009 school year were
surveyed. Data was analyzed: using descriptive statistics including means and standard
deviations, one-way analyses and analyses of variance.
Findings revealed that Texas public school board presidents regarding the most
important personal attributes when having selected a Hispanic male superintendent are;
level of education, previous experience in school administration, and years of experience
in education. The most important professional attributes are; honest/fair standards,
personal integrity, and visionary leadership. Findings also suggest that enrollment size
and geographic location does not affect the perception of school board presidents when
selecting a Hispanic male superintendent. / text
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UTEXAS/oai:repositories.lib.utexas.edu:2152/ETD-UT-2010-05-817 |
| Date | 30 January 2012 |
| Creators | Cervantes, Jose Alfredo |
| Source Sets | University of Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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