Researchers have found a statistically significant and positive relationship between district-level leadership and student achievement when the superintendent, central office staff, and school board members do the work most highly correlated with positively impacting student outcomes. In addition, positive correlations that have been found between the length of superintendent service and student achievement seem to confirm the value of leadership stability within schools. The reality is that the average tenure of a School Superintendent is 2 years, whereas the average tenure of the CEO’s at Dell, GE, Fed Ex, and Microsoft was found to be 24 years! According to the research (Waters & McNulty, 2006), school board members need to hire a superintendent who has the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to carry out the appropriate leadership responsibilities focused on improving teaching and learning. Successful boards were the ones found to support the collaboratively developed district goals for achievement and instruction. Lastly, according to the research, to increase the likelihood for district success school boards need to support district- and school-level leadership in ways that increase, rather than decrease, stability.
How does this research make sense based on your professional experience?
How does this research make sense based on your professional experience?
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