Print

Brook, Robbe

College of Education and Social Services

2005

Ed. D.

In the current education climate, superintendents are in a critical role to influence student learning. Yet, the role has become so vast and complex; the focus on students could all too easily take a lower-priority. There is a widening chasm between what superintendents do, and what they need to be doing to help their schools meet tomorrow's challenges. Superintendents need to be educational leaders, community leaders, and visionaries if student learning is to become their priority. So, how do superintendents in their role as educational leaders make student learning a primary focus? This dissertation research focused on developing a deeper understanding of how successful superintendents, in their role as educational leaders, create and influence a school districts' culture to focus on student learning and continuous improvement. Specifically, I investigated how the attitudes, behaviors, and strategies employed by successful superintendents support student learning. Through the use of an expert panel, I identified four widely recognized superintendents known for their focus on student learning. Through a qualitative case-study approach, I conducted semi-structured interviews with these superintendents and their colleagues, conducted on-site observations, and reviewed documents in order to gather data related to the research statement. In examining the attitudes, behaviors, and strategies of the participants, what emerged from this research was that these highly effective superintendents made a difference, a broad and vast difference, by influencing the cultures of their district. Through an in-depth analysis, a number of themes emerged and all were found to be inter-related and converged on culture. The findings reveal that these highly effective superintendents influence culture through: Developing a culture of mission, vision, beliefs, and sense of purpose, Developing a culture of high expectations and continuous improvement, Developing a culture of shared leadership and team work, Developing a culture of professional learning communities, Developing a culture of rituals and traditions. The implications of this study are that: (a) if all of these factors matter in creating a culture, then superintendents must learn to prioritize the role to focus on student learning; (b) school boards must be encouraged to hire, evaluate, and nurture superintendents in a manner that facilities the superintendents focusing on student learning; (c) leaders need to build capacity to ensure practices focused on student learning are ingrained in the culture and are sustainable; and (d) these behaviors can be taught and learned, and opportunities for training should be much more broadly available to future and even current superintendents. Implications and recommendations for current and future superintendents, university and college training programs, and policy makers are discussed in response to the findings and the literature. The findings of how these superintendents have cultivated a district-wide culture can provide the foundation for future research on how superintendents and school boards can work together around a common educational vision and align the values and expectations with the community in which they are embedded.