Educational Governance and Administration EDU 548 Chapter X “ The Role of Superintendents”

Educational Governance and Administration

EDU 548Chapter X

“The Role of Superintendents”

By: Kathleen Merchant March 14, 2013

Recap

• The previous chapters discussed briefly the roles of students, teachers, and principals in schools today. • This chapter will examine the role of superintendents in today’s schools.

Statistical Data

• Of the nation’s 13,728 superintendents, only 1,984 of them today are women. While on the other hand 72 percent of all K-12 educators according to the United States Department of Education are women. • In American Association of School Administrators (AASA) latest 10 year analysis of the profession women accounted for 297 of the 2,262 superintendents who responded to the 90- item survey.

The Role of Superintendents • The role of the school superintendent is dynamic and full of life, this role is not constant it is one that continues to be shaped and reshaped. This reshaping is strongly influenced by the social, cultural, political and economic forces.

• Since its inception in the nineteenth century the role of superintendents have changed from that of clerks for powerful boards to that of a professional leader.

• During the last decades of the twentieth century intense changes in the social, political and economic arena continued to shape the role of superintendents. Some of these changes are as follows; supreme court made it illegal to have segregated schools, Vietnam War, Watergate, globalization and the perception that underachieving schools hurt America’s global competiveness.

How these Changes have Enacted Educational Reform

• The standards and accountability movement • NLCB mandates• Teacher empowerment • Parental involvement in the decision making

process• Site base management • And lastly school choice

How Educational reform has Transformed the Role of superintendents

• As a result of these changes, the role of the superintendent required them to have specific skills such as; instructional leadership, communication, political strategy and collaborative. • Over the years the superintendent’s role experienced many changes/stages, bear in mind that these stages did not replace the existing roles and responsibilities. Instead, layers were added ultimately resulting in added responsibilities. • Please remember the key modern elements of the role (a) educator (b)manager and (c) politician

History and Evolution of the Role First Stage: Clerk of the Board of Education

(1820-1850)

• As a result of the constitutional authority education control was to left up to state and local governments. • During this time schools boards in cities and towns launched and led the first school districts in the United States of America. • The first superintendents were appointed by schools boards in Louisville, Kentucky and Buffalo New York. Their jobs at this point were to be clerks of the schools.• These duties were given to them, by state and local governmental boards. In other words, during this era superintendents had authority in directing schools.

History and Evolution of the Role Second Stage: Professional Educator

(1850-1900)

• During this era the job of a superintendent continued to be relatively weak in terms of authority. • School boards began changing their focus in the direction of managing, growing, and evolving schools districts. • As a result of this shift in focus , superintendents became more involved and was granted the responsibility of the instructional programs in schools. • During this era the Department of Superintendence, a section of the National Education Association(NEA) and the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) began efforts to obtain more power for superintendents. Shift from state and local government boards brought about more responsibilities

History and Evolution of the Role Third Stage: Efficient Manager

(1900-1950)

• In the late nineteenth century leaders in the business community became alarmed with the position of the United States as it relates to its competiveness with other nations, especially England and Germany.• They condemned public schools which were already struggling with the influx of migrant children and transition from the once a rural agrarian society to an urban industrial society. Their claim at this point was that schools were inefficient and ineffective. Their mindset was that schools should be run as businesses. • At the turn of the century leading into the first half of the twentieth century superintendents welcomed the efficiency benefits of scientific management. • Superintendents self-images were transformed from that of a scholar to a businessman. Valuing diversity was not a priority during this stage.

History and Evolution of the Role Fourth Stage: Efficient Manager

(1950-Present )• In second half of the twentieth century, there was a modification in in the school system. School systems were transformed into major social, economic and political events as described earlier. • During this time student demographic expanded and as a result of this, so did the personal needs of this population.• In order to meet these needs federal mandates for special education and English language learning proliferated(grew)• District personnel grew, increased in complexity and specialization, which resulted in it becoming less easily managed by superintendents. • Subsequent to World War II, the sorting and selecting mission of factory schools became less occupied. The clarity and consensus about the purpose of schooling no longer existed.

History and Evolution of the Role Fourth Stage: efficient Manager cont.

(1950-Present )

• In addition, during this period boards of education became more diverse in areas such as racial diversity, gender, and socio –economic makeup and by far less accepting of the power of superintendents. Furthermore, the consensus among competing factors on which educational goals or practices to adopt also became very difficult, which was a result of the increase in ethnic, racial and linguistic diversity among parents and students.

• Public conflicts as a dilemma between equity (the belief in equal education for all students) and excellence(the need for all children to reach high standards grew), at this point superintendents had to exercise their political skills(e.g. finding allies, building coalitions-to be successful).

History and evolution of the role Fourth Stage: efficient Manager cont.

(1950-Present )

• Following the publication of “A Nation at Risk” in 1983 a radial change occurred known as school reform. This reform has taken place within the past twenty years, and is known as the “standards and accountability movement”. This movement has drastically saturated schools and has done so more than any other reform. • During this period America's capability to compete in the global economy and school reform has become a priority for the nation. As a result of this, there has been constant public reprimand of the performances of public schools.

History and Evolution of the Role Fourth Stage: efficient Manager cont.

(1950-Present )• Superintendents and other school base staff can no longer wear the robe of professional power, because the public underlying presumption that they wear that cloak of professionalism and that they possess a particular knowledge and skills is no different than that which is possessed by the general populace.• In reaction to the frightening reports of school failings there is an increasing belief that the business of public education is public territory rather than that of professionals. • Since this is the case superintendents are presently functioning in a school world that has divided the power among the numerous participants in the schooling enterprise. Superintendents can no longer issue orders they must nowpersuade and entice the ones they want to lead.

What is the Superintendent’s Job?

• Principals experience daily job pressures, because of the tremendous responsibilities place on them as it relates to students and teachers, principals cant help to wonder about superintendent’s how does he/she spend their time. The reason noted for this in the text is, superintendents do not have direct contact with either students or teachers.

Superintendents spend a tremendous amount of their time in meetings(small groups/individuals) and their work is often not noticeable to others.

Roles filled by Superintendents • Shapes and articulates vision and values• Develops and manages the system resources(physical, human and financial) is the Chief Operational Officer(COO)• Is the public face of the school system(chief advocate and publicist)• Is the system lightning rod and first individual to get blamed• Is the buffer between the external environment• Manages the system’s relations with all external organizations (PTAs. Unions, and community groups)• Develops and manages all the systems human resources(instructional and non-instructional personnel)

Who Are Today’s Superintendents • According to Hodgkinson and Montenegro “superintendents are “invisible CEOs” they also criticize the fact that little attention is paid to such a group in public education who are very important as it relates to the quality of schools” (as cited in Fowler, Kelleher, McCarthy & Sergiovanni 2009, p. 211).

• American Association of School Administrators (2007) study revealed “superintendents are aging with the average age of a superintendent 54.5, which is the oldest medium age in any study of this century”(p. 211). The study also noted that individuals are entering the superintendents role later on in their professional career. As a result of this, the time spent in this profession will plummet . • During the period of 1970 and 2000 the average tenure -ship of superintendents did not show much of a change which ranged from 5.7 to 7 years(Bjork, Keedy, Gurley, 203, as cited in Bjork, Glass & Brunner, 2005, p.35 and Fowler, Kelleher, McCarthy & Sergiovanni, 2009, p. 211).

Who Are Today’s Superintendents cont. • Urban superintendents have clearly different demographic traits. These superintendents are often caught in the crossfire because of the political battles among controversial board members and other local politicians. • Fowler, Kelleher, McCarthy & Sergiovanni(2009) reported the following “in 2006 by Council of Great City Schools (CGCS) noted “the average tenure-ship of the sixty-five (65) member district who responded fifty-nine(59 ) was up from that of 2003(2.8 years to 3.1 years)” (P. 211). • The length of a superintendents tenure-ship does matter , because leadership unsteadiness disrupts ongoing progress and all the effort made. It also causes distraction from ongoing activities and instruction to the direction of analyzing political shifts.

Who Are Today’s Superintendents cont. • In another study conducted by AASA in 2007 revealed this fact “most superintendents are white males” (p. 211). • Although, this may be the case the number of female superintendents from 6.2 percent in 1992 to 21.7 percent in 2007. • Even though the data shows a increase in the number of woman superintendents, females still remain underrepresented in the role of a superintendent. While on the other hand, women account for sixty-five percent of teachers and forty-three percent account for principals. United States Department of Labor statistics noted that the superintendency is a dominated by males.

Who Are Today’s Superintendents cont.

• According to the text because of the powerful not transparent sexism in today’s society women superintendents often view themselves in a double blinded situation

• E.g. everything she does to develop her assertiveness risks her femininity in the viewpoint of others. In addition ,everything she does to be in alignment with what is expected of a woman in terms of communication undercuts her impression of competence that she makes.

• In others words, women superintendents find themselves in a no-win situation even though the evidence shows that women outnumber men in terms of impersonal relationships, one of key elements needed to be a successful superintendent.

How Superintendents see their Jobs

• As a result of the national attention on the underperformance of public schools, public confidence eroded, therefore; placing heighten demands for improvement. During this same time the jobs of superintendents have evolved and become more complex than in the past with intense focus on improving student learning. • Smylie cited “with these changes comes “increased potential for role ambiguity, conflict, fragmentation, stress, increased risk of failure, diminished sense reward” (as cited in Fowler, Kelleher, McCarthy & Sergiovanni 2009, p. 212). • AASA in 2007 reported these findings fifty-nine percent of superintendents feel that NCLB has had a “negative impact”.

How Superintendents see their Jobs cont.• The Public Agenda’s Reality Check 2006 report made this comment “superintendents today have a “positive almost buoyant outlook”(as cited in Fowler, Kelleher, McCarthy & Sergiovanni 2009, p. 213). They think that the present school systems are not just good but in fact excellent and ninety-three percent of them reported that schools today are providing a better education to children when compared to when they were students themselves. • On the other hand, superintendents from minority, lower-income schools districts have a significantly less positive viewpoint. These superintendents when compared to those from mainly white, higher income schools, perceive a alarming drop out problem and they also feel that a vast number of students go through the school system without learning.

How Superintendents see their Jobs cont.• Fuller et al., also found that “urban superintendents have a pessimistic perspective” (as cited in Fowler, Kelleher, McCarthy & Sergiovanni 2009 p. 215). Many of the one hundred superintendents from the nation’s largest urban district felt that their jobs are undoable.• Some of the conditions that these superintendents experience is; board instability, patronage politics, lack of authority over crucial hiring decisions. • Although superintendents voice positive feelings some of them express strong frustrations with the red tape and its constraints and implications that new laws and regulations may impose on school governance.

Leadership Challenges

• Recent educational reforms have created new leadership challenges for superintendents. In the past superintendents enacted three roles; educator, manager and politician. Each one of these received a different emphasis in different eras. • As a result of the complexities and challenges, superintendents are required to enact these three roles(educator, manager and politician)concurrently moving among them as necessary.

Leadership ChallengesImpact of NCLB on Instructional Leadership

• Today NCLB the most powerful intrusion of federal power into the business of public schools in American history has had a major impact on how superintendents perform their roles particularly regarding instructional leadership. • During the 1980’s at the commencement of the accountability movement, Blumberg’s study (1985) found “superintendents focused less on instructional leadership and more on managerial an political aspects” (p. 215). However, since then there has been a shift in focus instead of ensuring the health and vitality of school organizations the focus now is on greater leadership to enact change. • According to the text “Superintendents today describe themselves as having a “laser like focus”” on student outcomes”(p. 215). (e.g. academic proficiency and narrowing the achievement gap). This has pushed them to place more weight on strategies of data-driven instructional decision making(also sharing these results(data) with the public).

Leadership Challenges cont.(Teachers of Teachers)

• Instructional leadership necessitates superintendents to become “teachers of teachers”, which is a crucial component to the success of superintendents. Johnson stated “ teaching mission is critically important to superintendents success) (as cited in Fowler, Kelleher, McCarthy & Sergiovanni 2009 p. 215). • Through this role superintendents encourage others to do the following; lead with them, assist with shaping the educational vision, take a principled stands on important issues, accept responsibility for problem solving and connecting colleagues in the process of finding better approaches to schooling.• All in all, the act of “teachers of teachers “will affect student learning.

Leadership Challenges cont.Authoritative but Collaborative Leadership

• It is important for superintendents to be teachers who motivate, persuade, listen and many other ways collaborate with teachers and principals. • Johnson “describes heroic leaders as those who clarify problems, create order, inspire confidence, and make things right”(as cited in Fowler, Kelleher, McCarthy & Sergiovanni 2009 p. p. 216). • She also proposed the fact that this type of representation is unrealistic for several reasons (e.g. limitations on the positional power of today’s superintendents and also that heroic leadership is not enough to inspire in others the sustained commitment to activate successful change ).

Leadership Challenges cont.Authoritative but Collaborative Leadership

• Elmore also sees heroic leadership as a fable, he also mentioned “there are only few “larger than life” leaders in society and that “few visionary” leaders have effect on the dominant institutional patterns of American education” (as cited in Fowler, Kelleher, McCarthy & Sergiovanni 2009, p.

p. 216). • He also advocated that the main reason individuals desire for heroic school leaders comes from the belief that the core of teaching and learning is indefinable meaning it is; magical mystical and artistic and is not reducible to normal formulation, organization or management.

Leadership Challenges cont.Authoritative but Collaborative Leadership

• Elmore believes that heroic leaders protect teachers from heavy examination and control.• From this standpoint leaders will only influence the school organization through personality traits and not their competence in the possession and execution of leadership skills.

Leadership Challenges cont.Whose reform Agenda is it?

• In the multifaceted and nuanced world of authoritative but collaborative leadership, today’s superintendents fight with the dilemma of control verses collaboration. • At the time of vision setting if the superintendents views take over he/she will run the risk of others not taking ownership or work to endorse the vision. • On the other hand, if he/she is too lax when it relates to influencing and shaping the vision, that superintendent will definitely run the risk of it becoming diluted or constricted and not tell others what the future of the school will be like.

Leadership Challenges cont.Standing up to Countervailing Social Political and Cultural Forces

• One other emerging leadership challenge is standing up to prevailing social, political and cultural forces that are adversely affecting the broad purpose of education in a democratic society.

• A key purpose of education is to instill in the young traditional social and democratic values(e.g. equity, justice, value of hard work and tolerance). • Since society expects public schools to stand for and teach these value, the superintendent then becomes chief promoter “moral steward” (p. 217). • Although this is the case many of these values run against many other powerful forces that superintendent must grapple with such as; student disengagement, poverty, and conflicts between individual achievement and the common good.

Leadership Challenges cont.Student Disengagement

• Numerous research studies provide powerful evidence of how pervasive student disengagement is as it relates to learning.• The text made this comment” a powerful and anti-intellectualism runs through global postindustrial societies, especially visible today in popular culture, which glorifies the physical and social attributes of its heroes but not their intellectual prowess”(p. 218). • As a matter of fact very few seem motivated educationally and those that do well, do so because they want the qualifications/credentials that enable them to be successful.

Leadership Challenges cont.Pervasive Impacts of Poverty

• Fowler, Kelleher, McCarthy & Sergiovanni( 2009) noted "children are the group in our society most likely to be living in poverty-by some estimates, 20 percent of school- age children”(p. 218). • Research has demonstrated that poverty can adversely affect children's’ development in the following areas; physical, emotional personal and intellectual. • What can schools to help children from impoverished families?• (a) schools can assist students with the necessary resources to enable them to achieve high levels of academic success• (b)schools will have to invest largely into the healthcare and supplementary educational programs.

Leadership Challenges cont.Pervasive Impacts of Poverty

• Several superintendents today are trying to address this societal problem that is definitely affecting their leadership roles.

• Superintendents will have to establish coordinated efforts with other community agencies to assist them with this epidemic.

Leadership Challenges cont.the Common Good, Not Just Individual Success

• It was customary for schools in the past to focus on rewarding those children who were from higher economic families by rewarding and motivating them with more rigorous curriculum, the best teachers, and smaller class sizes. • Students who did better in their early school years would get access to more progressively more knowledge, while on the hand, students who failed were denied access to any of the additives offered to the more economically advantage students. • These types approaches can be identifies as “thin democracy”, “view of the purpose of schooling that is, one that puts the freedom to pursue individual accomplishment above the concern for the common good and that allows successful students to be rewarded with access to more an better resources and opportunities” (p. 219).

Leadership Challenges cont.the Common Good, Not Just Individual Success

• NLCB has changed the primary goal from individual success to ensuring that all students achieve academically.

• The new approach should be “thick democracy” "view of schooling that is one that puts the common good and inclusiveness above the pursuit of individual success and that demands that the apparently less successful get all the help they need-including access to more and better resources and opportunity” (p. 219).

As this shifts takes and it becomes more crucial to close the achievement gap superintendents are task with the challenge to explain, justify and build the necessary support to attain the goalinvolved in the “thick democracy”.

Leadership Challenges cont.Skepticism about Educational Change

• In addition to the other leadership challenges there is also the challenge of overcoming deep-seated uncertainty about the possibilities as to whether or not educational change will occur. Superintendents enter the job expecting to make a change and very few of them enter the role of superintendent with the mindset that they will maintain the status quo. • The task of bringing about change can be quite a daunting one, because of years of school restructuring activities characterized by blaming, failed promises, and lack of follow through and superintendents turnover makes staff very doubtful about another initiative.

Leadership Challenges cont.Leading through Managing

• An additional leadership challenge is the integration of leadership and management. Although most literature tend to separates them both. Johnson argues “that the separation of the separation of leadership and management is a social construct that is misleading and inaccurate” (as cited in Fowler, Kelleher, McCarthy & Sergiovanni 2009, p. 219).

• In other words, superintendents who are successful at their jobs perform both roles concurrently.

Leadership Challenges cont.Authentic Personal Relationship

• Establishing personal credibility, winning the trust, respect and confidence of staff members is a significant leadership challenge. • Those superintendents who are transformational leaders(authority) tend make effective use of personal authority by utilizing their expert social attractiveness, interpersonal skills and charisma.• Positional authority must have been sufficient in the past to enact educational change, however; that is no longer the case today. • Who the superintendent is as a person tends to matter more, and his/her ability rest heavily in part on their moral beliefs, their undying commitment to the educational process and the main purposes of their jobs.

Leadership Challenges cont.Hardwired Political Tension

• According to the Bjork & Gurkey “politics is an enduring characteristics of public schooling it is inherently corrupt” (as cited in Fowler, Kelleher, McCarthy & Sergiovanni 2009, p. 221). Most often individuals look at politics as an unsavory activity. However, in relation to superintendents they must possess strong political skills to assist with garnering political support for policies and programs. • Political savvy is particularly important in the superintendents relationship with the board of education, which is consistent with the innovative emphasis on collaborative leadership.

Leadership Challenges cont.

Balance between Control and Autonomy

• An added leadership challenge for superintendents today is administering an organizational paradox, which is definitely affirming the culture and climate of the school an still bring about change. They must do so with caution while respecting the culture and climate of the organization. • To effectively manage this paradox superintendents must find the right balance between the controlling decisions far from the classroom and allowing teachers and principals to make decisions that are close to the point of instruction.

Leadership Challenges cont.Leader as Learner

• The last leadership challenge and perhaps the most demanding for the personality and temperament for the superintendent involves learning and growth.

• As a result of NLCB and other related polices schools are now committed to bring all students to high levels of achievement. Getting there necessitates schools to make fundamental and far reaching changes in how schools operate today. Heifitz(2006) describes this ambitious goals as adaptive challenge “one that requires new thinking and understanding and a break with how schools operate in the past, as well as new norms and new work practices” (p. 225).

This type of change challenge demands that superintendents becomfortable not knowing all the answers and that they must comprehend that still would be effective leaders if they lead withquestions rather than answers.

Conclusion

• In closing superintendents today must focus on what is important for schools, student success, teachers, communities and all other stakeholders. Superintendents must remember that a successful school system must be flexible and that the decision making process ought to be extended to all those involved.