A recent study suggests that superintendents might not be as crucial to school districts as previously assumed.
The Brookings Institute study examined school districts in Florida and North Carolina, with more than 2 millions students per year, between 2000 and 2009, and discovered that maybe district superintendents aren’t as important as they first appear to be.
The study concluded that superintendents are a small facet in a much larger district performance, and that few stayed in a district longer than four years.
Among the institute’s chief findings are that superintendencies are typically short-term jobs lasting three to four years, that student achievement does not improve with superintendent longevity, and that new superintendents are not necessarily correlated with student achievement.
The two largest factors in a student’s success, the study found, were the student’s teachers and learning environment.
According to the study, students rarely see an increase in achievement with a new superintendent because the leader plays a role so far removed from the student’s work. In the grand scheme of things, superintendents in the states studied accounted for .3 percent of student differences.
This isn’t to say that superintendents aren’t an important part of the district, but it may be that their role is changing. According to study author Matt Chingos, consolidation has increased the amount of distance between a superintendent and his school district. Where once a superintendent presided over one or two elementary, middle and high schools, many districts contain 10 elementary schools and multiple middle and high schools.
“Does there appear to be any empirical association in student achievement? We didn’t see that,” Chingos said. “What matters is the school you go to and the teacher in the front of the classroom.”
Chingos clarified that the study looked at the superintendent’s role in regards to student achievement, and not to the district as a whole.
“You can think of two different questions: do superintendents matter a lot for student achievement, or could they matter for student achievement?”
“If I’m thinking of a district hiring a superintendent, don’t think about getting a visionary who’s going to shoot out the lights, look for someone who’s a good manager,” said Chingos.
District spokesman Chris Loftis agreed with Chingos’ statement that the superintendent’s role had changed.
“We certainly concur that teachers and principals play a critical role in student success, as well as the school environment,” Loftis said. “But teachers and principals have a platform for success that is ably led, strategically focused and accountable. To us, that is the main role of the superintendent.”
Loftis stressed that within a large district like Kent, the superintendent is a package of assets that include political and managerial roles related to helping boost performance. They act as a force multiplier, giving brass knuckles to the fist of school districts.
“This is a $350 million enterprise,” Loftis said. “When it comes down to it you have to have one person who makes strategic decisions, who is leading that charge and is implementing the board’s direction and the board’s strategies.”
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