Career Patterns of American Superintendents

Abstract

Stemming from a nationwide survey of superintendents (Glass, Björk, & Brunner, 2000), this article dispels the myth that there is a crisis facing the American school superintendency. Though we note a slight increase in the median age of superintendents, most chief school executives are satisfied in their current positions and tend to stay longer and retire later than they did a decade ago. Further evidence suggests that career patterns and characteristics of women and people of color in the superintendency tend to differ from those of their White, male counterparts and that the underrepresentation of these populations within the field continues to be of concern. Recommendations for policy development, based upon empirically identified challenges in the field, rather than unfounded myths of crisis, are included.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education. (1988). School leadership preparation: A preface to action. Washington, DC: Author.

American Association of School Administrators (AASA). (1983). Perspectives on racial minority women school administrators. Alexandria, VA: Author.

American Association of School Administrators (AASA). (1993). Women and racial minority representation in school administration. Alexandria, VA: Author.

Angus

(1987). The retirement plans of Michigan school administrators. Anne Arbor, MI: Bureau of Accreditation and School Improvement Studies, University of Michigan.

Björk

L. G.

(1993). Effective schools—effective superintendents: The emerging instructional leadership role. Journal of School Leadership, 3, 246–259.

Björk

L. G.

(1996). Educational reform in changing contexts of families and communities: Leading school-interagency collaboration. In Lane

, & Richardson

(Eds.), The school safety handbook: Taking action for student and staff protection (pp. 253–275). Lancaster, PA: Technomic Publishing.

Björk

L. G.

(2000). Personal characteristics. In Glass

T. E.

, Björk

, & Brunner

C. C.

(Eds.), The study of the American school superintendency 2000: A look at the superintendent of education in the new millennium (pp. 15–30). Arlington, VA: American Association of School Administrators.

Blount

J. M.

(1998). Destined to rule the schools: Women and the superintendency, 1873–1995. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Brockett

(1996). Boards find fewer superintendent candidates. School Board News, 16(10), 1.

10.

Brunner

C. C.

(2000). Female superintendents. In Glass

T. E.

, Björk

, & Brunner

C. C.

(Eds.), The study of the American school superintendency 2000: A look at the superintendent of education in the new millennium (pp. 77–125). Arlington, VA: American Association of School Administrators.

11.

Brunner

C. C.

, Grogan

, & Björk

(2002). Shifts in the discourse defining the superintendency: Historical and current foundations of the position. In Murphy

(Ed.), The educational leadership challenge: Redefining leadership for the 21st century: Ninety-ninth yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education (pp. 211–238). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

12.

Carlson

R. O.

(1972). School superintendents: Careers and performance. Columbus, OH: Merrill.

13.

Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy. (1986). A nation prepared: Teachers for the 21st century. Washington, DC: Author.

14.

Collier

(1987). Identification of skills perceived by Texas superintendents as necessary for successful job performance. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Austin: University of Texas.

15.

Cooper

B. S.

, Fusarelli

L. D.

, & Carella

V. A.

(2000). Career crisis in the superintendency? The results of a national survey. Arlington VA: American Association of School Administrators.

16.

Cunningham

, & Hentges

(1982). The American school superintendency 1982: A summary report. Arlington, VA: American Association of School Administrators.

17.

Dalton

, & Thompson

(1986). Novations: Strategies for career management. Glenview, IL: Scott Foresman.

18.

Daresh

J. C.

, & Playko

M. A.

(1992, April). Aspiring administrators’ perceptions of the superintendency as a viable career choice. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco.

19.

Eller

E. B.

(1963). An analysis of personal and professional characteristics of Tennessee public school superintendents, 1940–1960. Dissertation Abstracts International, 23, 3199.

20.

Glass

T. E.

(1989). Survey of Illinois superintendents. Springfield, IL: Illinois Association of School Administrators.

21.

Glass

T. E.

(1992). The study of the American school superintendency: America's education leaders in a time of reform. Arlington, VA: American Association of School Administrators.

22.

Glass

T. E.

(2000). Professional experience. In Glass

T. E.

, Björk

, & Brunner

C. C.

(Eds.), The study of the American school superintendency 2000: A look at the superintendent of education in the new millennium (pp. 33–52). Arlington, VA: American Association of School Administrators.

23.

Glass

, & Björk

(2003). The superintendent shortage: Findings from research on school board presidents. Journal of School Leadership, 13(3), 264–287.

24.

Glass

T. E.

, Björk

, & Brunner

C. C.

(2000). The study of the American superintendency 2000: A look at the superintendent of education in the new millennium. Arlington, VA: American Association of School Administrators.

25.

Hodgkinson

, & Montenegro

(1999). The U.S. school superintendent: The invisible CEO. Washington, DC: Institute for Educational Leadership.

26.

Holmes Group. (1986). Tomorrow's teachers. East Lansing, MI: Author.

27.

Johnson

S. M.

(1996). Leading to change: The challenge of the new superintendency. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

28.

Jones

, & Montenegro

(1990). Women and minorities in school administration. Arlington, VA: American Association of School Administrators.

29.

Kirst

(1994). A changing context means school board reform. Phi Delta Kappan, 75, 78–81.

30.

Knezevich

S. J.

(1971). The American school superintendent: An AASA research study. Arlington, VA: American Association of School Administrators.

31.

Kowalski

T. J.

(1995). Keeper of the flame: Contemporary urban superintendents. Thousand Oakes, CA: Corwin.

32.

Kowalski

T. J.

(1999). The school superintendent: Theory, practice, and cases. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

33.

Levinson

D. J.

, Dorrow

C. N.

, Klein

E. B.

, Levinson

M. H.

, & McKee

(1978). The seasons of a man's life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

34.

Lunenberg

, & Ornstein

(1991). Educational administration: Concepts and practices. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing.

35.

March

J. C.

, & March

J. G.

(1977). Almost random careers: The Wisconsin school superintendency, 1940–1972. Administrative Science Quarterly, 22, 377–409.

36.

Marshall

(1979). Career socialization of women in school administration. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Santa Barbara.

37.

McCarthy

(1999). The evolution of educational leadership preparation programs. In Murphy

, & Louis

K. S.

(Eds.), Handbook of research on educational administration (2nd ed., pp. 119–139). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

38.

Miklos

(1988). Administrator selection, career patterns, succession, and socialization. In Boyan

(Ed.), Handbook of research on educational administration (pp. 53–76). New York: Longman.

39.

Murphy

(1995). Structuring in Kentucky: The changing role of the superintendent and the district office. In Leithwood

(Ed.), Effective school district leadership: Transforming politics into education (pp. 117–133). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

40.

National School Boards Association. (1990). Education vital signs. Alexandria, VA: Author.

41.

Ortiz

F. I.

(1982). Career patterns in education: Women, men and minorities in public school administration. New York: Praeger.

42.

Ortiz

F. I.

(1998, April). Who controls succession in the superintendency? A minority perspective. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association: San Diego.

43.

Paddock

(1978). Careers in educational administration: Are women the exception? Eugene OR: University of Oregon Center for Educational Policy and Management. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 149 468)

44.

Rawlins

(1964). A career pattern study of secondary principals in Los Angeles city schools. Dissertation Abstracts International, 25, 3365.

45.

Rist

(1991, December). Race, politics, and policies rip into the urban superintendency. Executive Educator, 12(12), 12–14.

46.

Shakeshaft

(1999). The struggle to create a more gender-inclusive profession. In Murphy

, & Louis

K. S.

(Eds.), Handbook of research on educational administration. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

47.

Skrla

(1999, April). Femininity/masculinity: Hegemonic normalizations in the public school superintendency. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 438 602)

48.

Super

D. E.

(1957). The psychology of careers. New York: Harper.

49.

Super

D. E.

(1984). Career and life development. In Brown

, & Brooks

(Eds.), Career choice and development (pp. 211–232). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

50.

Tallerico

(2000). Gaining access to the superintendency: Headhunting, gender, and color. Educational Administration Quarterly, 36(1), 18–43.