Superintendency turnover: a national survey of the perceptions and expectations of school board members

Abstract

The major purpose of this study was to study the perceptions and expectations of school board members regarding turnover in the superintendency of the public school systems. Data were gathered regarding the frequency of superintendency turnover and compared to board turnover. The study sought to collect data concerning board satisfaction with the superintendent, priority issues the board expected the superintendent to address, the kind of experience board members preferred in their superintendent, the ideal length of superintendency tenure, and at what point school board members think that a superintendent's contract should be terminated. These data were then crosstabbed with selected demographic variables.

Descriptive research methodology was utilized in this study. A nationwide sample of school board members was identified from a list of 53,247 board members provided by the National School Boards Association. The study was completed using a stratified random sampling technique by state. Of the 94,716 board members in the population, 11,992 or 12.6% were surveyed. The response rate was 18%. The study was sponsored by The American School Board Journal, published by the National School Boards Association, the national professional organization for school board members in the United States.