The Changing Role of the Superintendency in Restructuring Districts in Kentucky¹

1. Support for this research was provided by the National Center for Educational Leadership (NCEL) under U.S. Department of Education Contract No. R 117C8005. The views in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of either the sponsoring institution or the Universities in the NCEL Consortium ‐ The University of Chicago, Harvard University, and Vanderbilt University

ABSTRACT

Since the mid‐1980s, major efforts to reform education throughout the world have been unfolding under the banner of school restructuring. Central to this agenda for reform are alterations in the roles of all educational stakeholders. While a good deal of conceptual work, and some empirical analyses, have been devoted to the topic of role changes for teachers, administrators, parents, community members, and students at the school level, considerably less is known about the effects of restructuring on the role of central office administrators.

By analyzing the perceptions of 74 chief executive officers about how restructuring is shaping the superintendency in Kentucky, the study reported herein helps address this gap in the knowledge base. Three themes emerge from the analysis: (1) an enhanced role for superintendents in developing community; (2) a redefinition of the type of leadership needed to administer empowered schools; and (3) a mighty struggle to help individual schools deal with the process of systemic change.

1. Support for this research was provided by the National Center for Educational Leadership (NCEL) under U.S. Department of Education Contract No. R 117C8005. The views in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of either the sponsoring institution or the Universities in the NCEL Consortium ‐ The University of Chicago, Harvard University, and Vanderbilt University

Notes

1. Support for this research was provided by the National Center for Educational Leadership (NCEL) under U.S. Department of Education Contract No. R 117C8005. The views in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of either the sponsoring institution or the Universities in the NCEL Consortium ‐ The University of Chicago, Harvard University, and Vanderbilt University