ABSTRACT
This entry highlights research on the superintendency – the top leadership position in public school districts. Beginning with an historical overview of the duties and responsibilities of superintendents, the entry locates their role within the organizational structure of schooling. The dynamics of gender and race/ethnicity in the superintendency are explored, followed by a detailed discussion of superintendent turnover and longevity, which are hot button topics of interest to professional organizations, practitioners, policymakers, and researchers. Turnover is complex and situated within several voluntary (pull) factors and involuntary (push) factors. Related to turnover and longevity (or tenure in the position) are issues of whether school boards should hire personnel from within the district to become superintendent (insiders), hire from outside the system (outsiders), hire an interim superintendent, or hire someone lacking an educational background as a teacher, principal, or district administrator as superintendent (non-traditional superintendents); each type of superintendent brings strengths and weaknesses to the position. The entry concludes by addressing the bigger question of whether superintendents really matter at all – their impact on student achievement.
