The superintendent, as the district educational leader, has responsibility toward the board of education and instructional staff. The latter function is encouraged and monitored by superintendents who use inservice programs, central office instructional and curriculum specialists, teacher committees, principals, and consultants to identify and effect needed instructional improvement. Superintendents often complain about lack of time to improve their districts' instructional programs. The study reported in this paper attempted to identify superintendents' reasons for feeling hindered or prevented from finding time for instructional improvement. An unrestricted random sample of 120 school districts was drawn from the Ohio Directory of Public Schools. A 15-item questionnaire asking superintendents to rank possible impediments was mailed; 105 were returned, and 94 were analyzed. Two major, time-consuming obstacles were disclosed: (1) dealing with teachers' associations and (2) keeping the board happy. None of the other reasons generated more than a 11.7 percent response. Some participants' observations are included as being especially perceptive, along with a sample questionnaire. While more comprehensive research data is needed, this study clearly indicates two major impediments to superintendents' instructional leadership effectiveness. (MLH)