Singing the same tune: Principals’ and school board members’ perceptions of the superintendent’s role as instructional leader

Abstract

Understanding the multifaceted roles and responsibilities of the district superintendent as an instructional leader has proved to be a long‐standing and sometimes elusive endeavor. In spite of the consistency of research findings, instructional leadership remains one of the more controversial characteristics associated with the examination of the district superintendent. The findings reported here are part of a larger study on the role and responsibilities of the superintendent as an instructional leader. Specifically, this investigation examined the covariance between school principals’ and school board members’ views of the instructional leadership of the district superintendent. Results from this correlational and regression analysis empirically illustrate a statistically significant relationship between superintendent vision and the factors of organizational mission, program and personnel evaluation, principal decision‐making and school board/community involvement. The findings also suggest that involvement of professional educators and members of the community in formulating instructional programs significantly affects the success of the district leader.

Citation

Petersen, G.J. (2002), "Singing the same tune: Principals’ and school board members’ perceptions of the superintendent’s role as instructional leader", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 40 No. 2, pp. 158-171. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578230210421114