An Impossible Job? The View from the Urban Superintendent's Chair.

Based on a survey of superintendents from 100 of the nation's largest urban and ex-urban districts and on interviews with 40 large-district superintendents, this study finds that a majority of urban school superintendents believe that their ability to implement reform in order to raise academic achievement is frustrated by district governance. The study highlights problems facing urban school superintendents, including challenges to authority from school boards, teacher unions, and central office staff; political pressure from competing power centers; and inadequate job preparation and unrealistic expectations. In order to allow superintendents to make significant improvement in student performance, the study recommends the following changes: the duties and responsibilities of school boards must be reshaped; superintendents must have the authority to hire, fire, and reassign central office staff and school principals; superintendents must have more authority over district funds and enjoy greater autonomy managing federal, state, and categorical (single-program) funding; preand in-service training should be overhauled to focus on leadership and public management skills in addition to education theory; and recruitment efforts should focus on finding candidates with high-level political, managerial, and leadership skills. The appendices present the research methodology and survey instrument. (SM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Center on Reinventing Public Education U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) (Y<iis document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. 0 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. ° Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY lel UrA_ zi-A1 I Al; oy-1 rD ON. -E OU S 4 ell INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) An Impossible lob? The View from the Urban Superintendent's Chair Funded by The Wallace Foundaticir Howard L. Fuller Christine Campbell Mary Beth Cello James Harvey John immerwahr Abigail Winger DEET COPY AVARIA 17,