The purpose of this sequential exploratory mixed-method study was to discover the factors that lead to a school board hiring a non-traditional superintendent qualified through a Commission Qualification Letter over a superintendent qualified through a traditional Letter of Eligibility in Pennsylvania. The researcher used surveys and interviews to…

Rural school districts, educating just over 25% of all public school students across the country, play an important role in the nation's educational landscape. At the heart of the success of rural school districts are the superintendents who run these rural and often small districts. Superintendents of rural schools throughout the United States,…

The number of deaths caused by the use of heroin or prescription pain killers nationwide has increased annually over the past decade with some of the most rapid growth occurring in the nation's most rural areas. This qualitative study examines the responses of districts and superintendents to this growing health crisis in twelve rural school…

The state of Pennsylvania comprises 500 school districts. Each district is required to have a superintendent of schools. Now, more than ever, the work portfolio of U.S. school superintendents is increasingly diverse. In an occupation enjoying very little security, having fewer benefits than similar jobs in the private sector, and facing increased…

Since the early 1980s, educational policy has increasingly been focused on improving student performance (Conley, 2003, Murphy, 1990). School governance in general, and school boards in particular, have often been viewed as either the means of implementing needed reforms or as roadblocks in their way (Boyd, 2003; Delagardelle, M.; 2008; Howell,…

The intent of this study was to identify and examine the policies and practices of Pennsylvania School Boards, and identify what relationship these might have to patterns of district-level student performance. This study utilized a sequential mixed-methods approach in collecting data. First, quantitative data were secured using surveys sent to a…

This book demonstrates through case studies and expert analyses the impressive educational gains children can make when the best educational research, policy, and practice are aligned. This volume is a valuable resource to aspiring leaders, educational researchers, and current practitioners and a must-read for anyone who cares about the public…

Examines the perceptions of superintendents and school board members in Pennsylvania with regard to state academic standards and standardized test. Finds that superintendents and school board members differ in their knowledge of standards, the ideological position they take on testing, and the degree to which they believe testing has been…

A composite guidebook covers the collective wisdom and teachings of local school governance. From goal-setting to policy making to board-superintendent relations, this publication places in one complete resource information available to the new and the veteran school board member. Although specifically directed to Pennsylvania board members, the…

A commission charged with examining the process of Pennsylvania school board policy making as it relates to the roles of the board and the superintendent expresses a number of concerns and makes recommendations. Broad areas identified as needing continuous attention by boards and superintendents are the appraisal of goals and objectives, inservice…

This study examines local, ongoing inservice practices and programs for school board members in Pennsylvania in order to devise a program that local districts can adapt or adopt in response to their own needs. Following a brief introduction, a summary describes how data for the study were gathered by means of a series of interviews and…

Perceptions of school superintendents and school board members regarding their respective roles in school governance were studied with 175 superintendents and 226 school board members. Significant differences were found in role perceptions of superintendents and school board members; both groups believed they should have more authority relative to…

The political nature of educational governance has been established in other papers dealing with school board elections in states not having partisan election of school board members. The research reported in this paper was conducted in Pennsylvania, a state in which candidates for the school board must declare their party and run on a partisan…

This research study was designed to build grounded theory about the challenges faced by rural superintendents. Participating rural superintendents identified five areas that presented a challenge but that also applied to superintendents in other settings: school law, finance, personnel, government mandates, and district or board policies. Further,…

Individual members of state legislatures wield the greatest influence in state level policy formation. This was one of the findings of a study that identified the power and influence context of state-level policymaking. Data were gathered from six states (Arizona, California, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Illinois) using an instrument…