Browsing by Subject "Superintendent"
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Item Analysis of the Distributed Leadership Model in Public Education: A Mixed Methods Study(2011-05) Molina, Ricardo; Klinker, JoAnn F.; Hartmeister, Fred; Price, Margaret A.This research analyzed the Distributed Leadership Model (DLM) application in four public schools. The research problem links up to three research questions. The premise of the research lies on the assumption that the DLM when applied in concert with other leadership may provide educational leaders and researchers with pathways for enhancing leadership problem solving and decision making, and student performance. The DLM from MIT contains four interrelated competencies, three lenses, and a component for individual generated change. This research analyzed the DLM’s application to principals, assistant principals, and teacher leaders that coalesce into distributed leadership praxes. Via a mixed methods and the embedded design, the quantitative data supported the qualitative data. The findings revealed that the DLM potentially is a conceptual tool to assess a school’s propensity for distributed leadership. Additionally, a possible benefit of the DLM is enhancing the leadership capacity of public school leaders.Item Closing the achievement gap : a case study examining the role of the superintendent executive team in improving African American and Hispanic student performance in a Texas school district(2015-05) López, Ricardo, Ed. D.; Sharpe, Edwin Reese; Olivárez, Rubén; Palmer, Deborah; Ovando, Martha N; Zolkoski, MichaelThe challenge of district-wide reform to accelerate the reduction of achievement gaps is a point of emphasis in the American public school system. Today’s superintendents are expected to focus on enhancing district-wide instruction at both national and state levels, in order to close achievement gaps, particularly for African American and Hispanic students. Superintendent success in creating and sustaining effective instructional frameworks has been the subject of few studies since high stakes testing was introduced in the 1990s. Similarly, research has also focused on district efforts to close achievement gaps (O’Doherty, 2007) and others have examined the role of the superintendent in reducing achievement gaps (Harris, 2014) illustrate the challenges of district-wide reform and introduction of systems, strategies, and tactics these teams use to further narrow achievement disparities with African American and Hispanic students. However, those studies primarily focused on the role and responsibilities of the superintendent’s instructional team and the superintendent’s successful efforts in reducing achievement gaps with diverse youth. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the specific role of the superintendent and this leader’s instructional leadership systems, strategies, and tactics, which might have contributed to the reducing of achievement gaps with African American and Hispanic students. Findings of the study suggest that the superintendent plays a critical role as instructional leader, along with the district leadership team. Findings indicate that the superintendent creates a program evaluation and a student centered belief system, in addition to strategically build relationships and plan and set goals. Finally, the study suggests that the superintendent employs specific tactics such as being visible and accessible, building trust, sharing accountability, and sustaining a culture of high expectations with the intent of ensuring academic success for all students.Item Distributive Leadership and Student Achievement: A Case Study(2011-12) Baiza, Randy D.; Klinker, JoAnn F.; Duemer, Lee S.; Valle, FernandoThe purpose of this case study was to investigate the interactions between leaders who practice distributive leadership and followers within a school which leads to the development of routines and tools that reinforce student achievement. Education is widely held to be essential for the survival and success of individuals and countries in the emerging global market. National leaders of all stripes place education at the center of their policy agendas. Agreement is also evident about the contributions of leadership in the implementation of virtually all initiatives aimed at improving student learning and school quality. It is therefore difficult to imagine a focus for research with greater social justification than educational leadership. Although distributive leadership is widely thought to be a powerful force for school effectiveness, this belief needs to be justified by empirical evidence. This qualitative study focused on one Texas public secondary school with a majority minority student composition,which received a Blue Ribbon designation. Principal leadership behaviors, campus improvement team perceptions with regard to distributed leadership ideals served as a primary focus. More specifically, the purpose of this case study was to explore in depth relationships exhibited in an exemplary, Blue Ribbon school as identified by the Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS), that enable or constrain distributed leadership ideals central to this study. Capturing essential features such as the character of the leader, leadership styles,followers and values that define curricular goals and the contextual rituals or processes used to communicate continuous improvement towards student success provided additional understanding. Multiple sources of information provided a detailed in-depth picture, including observations, interviews, documents and reports which served as criteria for data collection. The implications of this study's findings are significant. This case study adds further evidence to support research on distributive leadership and its relationship to student achievement. The research participants in particular the school district superintendent, and the school principal did not simply delegate tasks but practiced governance over the school's social and situational contexts. Through the sharing of intellect and opinion, acknowledging and maximizing expertise, teachers were called on to share their expertise in instruction as well as utilize opportunities or time, to dialogue, to share insights regarding students and the curriculum. Working together to improve instruction created shared roles pulling their expertise and initiative directed toward increasing student achievement.Item District fiscal leadership and school effectiveness in small, rural Texas schools(Texas Tech University, 2009-08) Mendiola, Brenda B.Prior school effectiveness research has failed to examine sufficiently the multidimensional nature of District Fiscal Leadership (DFL) and its relationship to School Effectiveness (SE). Studies instead have focused narrowly on the examination of school resources as input variables in relation to student achievement, thus ignoring the decision-making role of the district fiscal leader. This study explores the possible empirical linkages between DFL and SE. This study investigated empirical linkages between DFL and SE through initial development of a literature-grounded District Fiscal Leadership-School Effectiveness (DFL-SE) model. The DFL-SE model was used as a basis for the development of a new District Fiscal Leadership Inventory (DFLI), as none presently exists. The DFLI measures administrator perceptions of their own resource management and leadership practices. The preliminary DFLI was developed, piloted, and refined in order to conduct the initial investigation of the research questions in the study. The DFLI was administered to superintendents of Texas school districts classified as small and rural according to the Texas Education Agency. To investigate bivariate and multivariate relationships between DFL and SE, multiple DFL dimension/subscales served as an independent variable set in the study. The dependent variable set included three indices of school effectiveness - Index of Perceived Organizational Effectiveness (IPOE), Holding Power (HP) as indicated by student attendance and dropout rate, and Student Academic Achievement (SAA) as measured by student performance on the math and English Language Arts (ELA) Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) tests in small, rural Texas school districts.Item Implications of HB5 at the high school level(2015-12) Schur, Andria McAdoo; Olivárez, Rubén; Sharpe, Edwin Reese; Wiltshire, Lyn; Bayard, Robert; Blasingame, NatalieThe historical, education accountability system has continued to evolve at both the state and federal level over the last 50 years in a pursuit to provide quality education for all students regardless of race, gender, or socioeconomic status. With the most recent policy adoption of Texas House Bill 5 (HB5) for high school graduation requirements in 2012, policymakers were focused on moving to the next qualifying level of producing college and career ready graduates. The enactment of this policy sets expectations not only from an assessment accountability aspect, as seen historically, but also expands to include procedural steps for school improvement. This action research case study used data from three Title I high school campuses within one of the largest urban districts in the state of Texas to provide insight from populations most impacted by HB5. Through a pragmatic mixed-methods research, the findings highlighted the implications of the HB5 policy at the high school campus level and the emerging outcomes. The quantitative research underwent trend analysis to identify how HB5 has impacted college readiness as measured by SAT composite scores and graduation rates among first-time test takers. In addition, the qualitative method was utilized to determine how HB5 impacted three principals at the high school level in guiding their schools’ organizational structures, on-going planning and decision-making processes, and human resource changes. The quantitative data revealed a slight decline in SAT composite scores after the transition to the new accountability system. Also, a gap in first-time test taker passing percentage rates and graduation rates from the TAKS exit test system to the new EOC accountability system appeared. The qualitative data from the principals revealed the three dominating themes of communication, focus, and relationships. The additional driving themes included change and responsibility. The final emerging theme was conflict between financial support and campus need at all three campuses. Implications and recommendations are provided.Item Latina superintendents in Texas: A case study of career paths, influences, and motivation(2012-08) Portillo, Laura; Mendez-Morse, Sylvia; Klinker, JoAnn F.; Valle, FernandoABSTRACT Latina Superintendents are few in number in the education world. Although there has been an overall increase in the number of female superintendents in the last two decades, the number of Latina superintendents who hold a doctorate degree is not as high as those of other females in Texas. Many studies on Latina superintendents in school districts are relatively unexamined because of such small numbers of superintendents in the field. This study was conducted to find some answers regarding the Latina superintendent and her career path and barriers, family influences, motivations, and aspirations in seeking and obtaining the superintendent position. The study focused on the experiences of three Latina superintendents in Texas who hold a doctorate degree and found some characteristics and attributes they had in common. The central research question to this study was: What are the factors that facilitated Latinas' attainment of the superintendency in Texas? The sub questions to this study were: a) What are the career paths and barriers of Latina superintendents in Texas? b)What are the commonalities and differences in their career paths that contributed to or impeded their seeking and attaining the superintendency? c) How did their aspirations and motivations contribute to seeking and attaining the superintendency? d) How did the family influence contribute to seeking and attaining the superintendency? e) How has holding a doctorate improved the attainment of the superintendency? This study allowed the researcher and will allow others to increase their interest in the area of female superintendents in a school district and will enable researchers to provide others with answers that might help Latina leaders. This study will help researchers find answers to several questions pertaining to existing female superintendents and how they attained and have retained this leadership position. Most of the literature gears towards male superintendents and the attainment and experiences in this position. The superintendent position remains a male dominant position and therefore it is demonstrated through the lack of literature towards female superintendents and their experiences. The study is a qualitative methodology and the data collected focused primarily through the interviews of three (3) existing Latina Superintendents in Texas who hold a doctorate degree as well as open-ended questions were developed and emailed to the participants to gather information. The audio-taped interviews enabled the researcher to capture precise details and information given by participants. The findings of the study developed five (5) themes that contributed to the attainment of the highest position in public education. The themes are as follows: • strong family influence • exceptional teachers • they had mentors • doctorate • none aspired to be a superintendent early in their careerItem Leadership actions and structures superintendents believe to enhance superintendent longevity : a qualitative study(2014-05) Russell, Susanna Vaulx; Somers, Patricia (Patricia A.)The modern American superintendency faces many challenges, including a national concern that there is a demonstrated shortage of qualified school superintendents in the United States. Reported superintendent tenure ranges from 2.5-4.8 years. Various research and anecdotal data identify and illustrate the complex factors influencing superintendent tenure, and in turn, organizational stability and student achievement. In Texas, superintendents identify strained relationships with the school board president, superintendent/school board communication and relations, and the inability to accomplish goals with the board as significant factors in their length of tenure. Superintendent success in creating and sustaining effective working relationships with his or her boards of trustees and various stakeholder groups is predictive of his or her longevity. Superintendents must successfully navigate interactions with their boards of trustees, as well as internal and external special interest groups, and the greater voting community. Studies abound, regarding causal factors in truncated superintendent tenure, as well as the intrinsic challenges of effectively managing the myriad functions of the superintendency. Those studies primarily focus on interactions with the school board, or describe failed superintendencies from a postmortem perspective. However, the research literature lacks qualitative studies that focus attention on successful superintendent leadership strategies, which have contributed to increased superintendent tenure, and have resulted in increased organizational stability and higher levels of student achievement.Item Perceived superintendents' leadership and student performance in Region V Education Service Center: a cohort study(Texas A&M University, 2007-09-17) Brent, Fred MartinThe intent of this study was to measure the perceived superintendents?????? leadership practices in relation to student performance on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) in Region V Education Service Center, Texas. This is one of four cohort studies conducted in Region V that assessed the relationship between student performance and leadership practices. The study compared selected District Education Improvement Committee (DEIC) members and superintendent perceptions of superintendent leadership practices as measured by the Kouzes and Posner (2003) Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI). The study was also designed to determine if selected demographic variables impact the perceived leadership practices of the two identified groups. The research procedures included an analysis of the responses from superintendents and selected DEIC members to the Leadership Practices Inventory assessment of five identified leadership practices, Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act. and Encourage the Heart. Twenty-eight of the possible 30 school districts participated in this study. Student performance data for each district were obtained from the Texas Education Agency Academic Excellence Indicator System. The results of this study indicate that neither a linear relationship nor a statisti-cally significant relationship exists between student performance, as measured by the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), and leadership practices as per-ceived by selected DEIC committee members and superintendents. While the total LPI scores for the five identified leadership practices revealed no statistical signifi-cance; further statistical analysis revealed significance for two domains, Inspire a Shared Vision and Challenge the Process. The study also indicates that participating superintendents commonly perceived themselves higher in regard to leadership practices than did their observers (DEIC members); however, statistical significance for superintendent ratings was only realized in three of the five leadership practices: Model the Way, Challenge the Process, and Enable Others to Act. The frequency of use for each practice as ranked by superintendents and their observers indicate that Model the Way and Inspire a Shared Vision are practiced more frequently than Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Heart.Item Perceptions of special education directors of the superintendent’s role in special education leadership : voices from the field(2016-05) Sormani, Robert Edward; Olivarez, Ruben; Ovando, Martha; Flores, Steve; Pazey, Barbara; Sharpe, EdwinSchool district leaders who have been well-prepared can positively impact student achievement in their school districts. In the area of special education, however, some superintendents appear to be less well-prepared for their role. Perhaps as a result, studies investigating superintendents’ roles and responsibilities in special education have revealed a focus primarily on the areas of budgeting and legal compliance when working with special education directors. While the responsibilities of the superintendent may be established in the eyes of the superintendent (Chaffin, 2013; Cope, 2002; Porter, 1999; Volpe, 2006), what is not well known is what special education directors perceive as the role of the superintendent in regards to special education (Volpe, 2006; Thompson & O’Brian, 2007). This study focused on the perceptions of special education directors on the role of superintendents in special education and the relationship between special education directors and superintendents. The study serves as an explorative qualitative study using grounded theory (Corbin & Strauss, 2015). Data was collected through interviews of special education directors and a review of publicly accessible documents. Participants were selected from currently-practicing special education directors in public school districts who have served in that capacity for at least two years. Major findings of this study suggest that self-perception of the role of special education directors is broader than what is revealed in current literature. The findings also support a number of roles for the superintendent in special education beyond finance and legal compliance and that special education directors perceive their relationship with the superintendent as both indirect and informal.Item Perceptions of Texas public school superintendents and legislators regarding strategies utilized by superintendents to influence the development of educational policies(2013-05) Bonewald, Gregory Jason; Olivárez, RubénThe purpose of this study was to identify perceptions of superintendents and legislators regarding strategies utilized by superintendents to influence the development of educational policies. The study was guided by the following three research questions: 1) How do Texas superintendents perceive they influence state legislators in the development of educational policies? 2) How do Texas legislators perceive Texas superintendents influence state legislators in the development of educational policies? 3) What commonalities and differences exist between the perceptions of Texas superintendents and legislators in regard to how superintendents influence state legislators in the development of educational policies? A qualitative methodology and a grounded theory approach were utilized in this study (Corbin & Strauss, 2008). Data was collected via in-depth interviews with three purposely selected Texas public school superintendents and three Texas legislators. The data were coded and analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding techniques (Patton, 2002). This method of data analysis allowed for themes to emerge from the data and for the identification of a single overarching theme by which all other themes were connected. This study's findings uncovered that superintendents influence the development of educational policies at the state level by interacting with legislators and their staff members, by participating as members of professional organizations, and by enlisting local stakeholders. Ingrained in each of these processes for influencing policy development is the overarching theme that superintendents must build and foster relationships to influence the development of educational policies. Based on a thorough examination of the data gathered in this study, implications for practice were offered and recommendations for consideration of future studies that build upon this research were provided. This study is one of the only research endeavors ever conducted to examine the strategies utilized by superintendents to influence the development of educational policies. It is the only study of its kind known to the researcher that utilizes qualitative methodology. The richness of the data provided by the participants of this study adds significant value to the knowledge base regarding the political role of the public school superintendent to influence policy development.Item Promising practices in superintendent evaluation : a case study of Texas School districts in Education Service Center Region 4(2012-12) Sandoval, Monica Martinez; Olivárez, Rubén; Cantu, Norma V; de los Santos, Miguel; Garza, Elizabeth P; Sharpe, Edwin RThe primary purpose of this study was to examine the current practice of the superintendent’s evaluation process in three public school districts in Texas. This study collected information about current criteria used, the process as described by superintendents and school board presidents, and their perceptions regarding the effectiveness of the instrument used to measure the performance of the superintendent. A qualitative case study research approach was used to provide the researcher with rich, in-depth, relevant data. The researcher conducted multiple interviews of three superintendents and school board presidents in public school districts in Education Service Region IV of Texas. Additional data was gathered through documents and a reflective journal. There were six themes that emerged from data collected regarding superintendent evaluation: timing, rating, alignment, relationships, performance-based evaluation, and local control. The participating district modified and adjusted criteria and the process to align with the district context to more closely measure the school districts goals and priorities. The perspectives of superintendents and school board members offer insight into the process and struggles that each has with the overwhelming nature of the job of measuring the performance of the superintendent.Item Superintendent entry plans : do leadership strategies for organizational stability matter?(2014-05) Villerot, Annette Maria; Olivárez, RubénThe public school superintendent has been studied since the early 1800s. Throughout history, the role of the superintendent has evolved into an increasingly challenging role. Between 1860 and 1960, school boards categorically selected superintendents who met a predetermined set of characteristics. White middle-aged males dominated the field. During the 1960s and 1970s, superintendents sought advanced degrees and preparation programs. Mentorships became integral components of the preparation programs that were designed to prepare prospective superintendents to meet the increasing demands of the job. During recent history, superintendents have been plagued by a multitude of academic, societal, and political challenges that are threatening the position of the school superintendent. Increased turnover rate and a declining interest in the field, compounded with the issues of financial management, staff recruitment, instructional leadership, communication, school governance, and strategic planning, are affecting the organizational stability of school districts. Upon entry, the superintendent must balance decision-making responsibilities with leadership strategies regarding the multidimensional functions of the school district. The literature is rich with studies regarding these compounded challenges within the organization of the school district, and research demonstrates that superintendent longevity is linked to organizational sustainability. However, the research literature lacks qualitative research studies focusing on superintendent entry plans, associated superintendent sustainability, and organizational stability.