Nontraditional pathways to the superintendency : a qualitative interview study

Superintendents have many roles, which include instructional leadership, community engagement, school board management, and advocacy with state and local policymakers. The superintendent also carries out the federal, state, and local accountability policies. These are critically important roles that can have a powerful impact on student achievement. Yet, little was known about career pathways and experiences leading to the superintendency, although researchers suggested that most of what was known about leadership ascendency was almost exclusive to campus-level leadership positions, such as the principal. While the majority of superintendents follow a traditional career path to achieve the position, some school districts sought to address the need for educational reform and superintendent vacancies through the hiring of individuals from outside education thought to possess the knowledge and skills transferrable between industry and education. The purpose of this qualitative interview study was to examine nontraditional-pathway superintendents’ demographic and background characteristics, professional career experiences and training, and ascendency to the superintendency. Eight nontraditional-pathway superintendents were recruited for participating in a series of two interviews per participant. The themes of motivations, job experiences, and education/degrees that the participants had prior to seeking the position of superintendent formed the factors leading to their interest and attainment of the position. Talent development and recruitment was discussed in relation to the identification and hiring processes that occurred in the school districts when there were key officials or individuals that needed to be replaced to effect change or drive further improvements within the districts. Vision was identified by each interview participant as critical to success. Each participant identified the ability to cast and share a vision as instrumental to being able to deploy initiatives and obtain necessary buy-in from their constituents and their leadership teams for systemic change to occur. Community/family was reflective of the sense of connectedness the interview participants felt with the districts they each served. In each of the cases, the superintendents worked to develop collegiality with their districts and communities to draw the community closer and ensure the work was done to their satisfaction. The treatise ends with implications and recommendations.