› › Perceived Leadership Practices Of Female Superintendents In North Carolina

Perceived Leadership Practices of Female Superintendents in North Carolina

Author : Deardre J. Gibson

Publisher :

Page : 222 pages

File Size : 46,87 MB

Release : 2009

Category : Women school superintendents

ISBN :

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Book Description

This study investigated the perceived leadership practices of North Carolina women school superintendents during the 2008-2009 school year. The study surveyed the female superintendents who were listed on the roster of N.C. superintendents published by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction for the 2008-2009 school year. Using the Leadership Practices Inventory Self Survey (Kouzes and Posner 1995) and a demographic questionnaire to gather descriptive statistics, the researcher used analysis of variance to assess the perceived leadership practices of female superintendents based on age, administrative experience, and size and structure of their districts. The findings indicated that neither age nor years of administrative experience had any impact on how North Carolina female superintendents perceived their leadership practices. All of the respondents were aged 50 or older and 77% were 55 or older. The respondents' average number of years of administrative experience was eight. The structure of the school district was found to be significant in regards to perceived leadership practices for N.C. female superintendents. District structure was defined as the ratio of central office personnel to the number of school buildings within the district. When the district structure was 1.59 or less, superintendents perceived themselves to utilize the leadership practice of Enabling Others to Act most often. The findings also indicated that the majority of N.C. female superintendents described effective leadership practices as having a shared vision and mission, setting goals, communication and having high expectations. The results of this study were compared to a similar study of female superintendents in four midwestern states conducted by Susan Katz in 2004. The female superintendents in both studies perceived themselves to utilize the leadership practice of Enabling Others to Act most often.



An Examination of North Carolina Public School Superintendents' Perceptions of Women in the Superintendency

Author : Mary A. Hales

Publisher :

Page : 264 pages

File Size : 38,85 MB

Release : 2008

Category : Educational leadership

ISBN :

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Book Description

Historically, women hold the majority of teaching positions in education and comprise 70 percent of all teachers in the United States. Administrators come from the teaching ranks, and men hold most of the positions (Feldman, Jorgensen, and Poling, 1998). Men continue to dominate educational administration, particularly the superintendency (Holloway, 1998, Ryder, 1994). The number of women represented in school superintendency throughout the United States has been minimal. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine North Carolina superintendents' perceptions of women in the role of the superintendency, to determine whether there were differences in superintendents' perceptions of leadership characteristics based on gender, and to determine whether there were differences in superintendents' perceptions of obstacles and barriers to obtaining the position of superintendent. The study employed a quantitative approach to conduct the research. Research (Bjork, 2000; Flora, 2001; Guptil, 2003; Hickey-Gramke, 2007) suggests that the rare female who has made it to the superintendency differ from her male counterpart, in intelligence, education, teaching, experience, work attitudes, and drive. Documentation obtained from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction revealed that as of October 2007, only 25 of the 115 public school superintendents are women. The data in the study also indicates that only seven had ten or more years of experience as a superintendent and that 18 have been in the position for nine years or less. An Examination of the Disparity of Women Leadership in the Superintendency Survey Instrument was administered to each of the superintendents in North Carolina. Based on the findings, the researcher recommends that further research be conducted to: (1) include women superintendents in other states and compared to the findings from this study to determine if the views are similar or different and (2) determine local school board members' perceptions with regards to hiring practices for women.



Women School Superintendents

Author : Susan J. Katz

Publisher :

Page : 35 pages

File Size : 14,68 MB

Release : 2004

Category :

ISBN :

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Book Description

In U.S. public schools a limited number of women have attained the position of superintendent. Consequently, there has been limited research focusing on understanding the position from a woman?s perspective. The purpose of this study was to add to the small body of literature focusing on women?s ideas and beliefs about leading schools. A survey consisting of a measure of perceived leadership practices and questions of demographics was sent to women public school superintendents practicing in four Midwestern states during the academic year, 2000-2001. In addition to the survey, face-to-face interviews were conducted with a small sample of women in the study. The study's framework was based on a model of leadership developed by Kouzes & Posner (1995) and incorporated into The Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) they developed and used in this study. The research questions asked if there were differences in how the women superintendents perceived their leadership practices based on age, years of administrative experience, and size and structure of their districts. Data analysis revealed that there were significant differences in perceived leadership practices according to size of school district. The study also revealed that women have ways to talk about how they have succeeded in their roles as superintendents. Also women in this study viewed relational leadership as a key component of their leadership style. New findings indicated that the women superintendents believed good hiring practices and specific qualities of a leader were essential elements to effective leadership.



Handbook for Achieving Gender Equity Through Education

Author : Susan S. Klein

Publisher : Routledge

Page : 763 pages

File Size : 14,99 MB

Release : 2014-05-22

Category : Education

ISBN : 1317639618

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Book Description

First published in 1985, the Handbook for Achieving Gender Equity Through Education quickly established itself as the essential reference work concerning gender equity in education. This new, expanded edition provides a 20-year retrospective of the field, one that has the great advantage of documenting U.S. national data on the gains and losses in the efforts to advance gender equality through policies such as Title IX, the landmark federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education, equity programs and research. Key features include: Expertise – Like its predecessor, over 200 expert authors and reviewers provide accurate, consensus, research-based information on the nature of gender equity challenges and what is needed to meet them at all levels of education. Content Area Focus – The analysis of gender equity within specific curriculum areas has been expanded from 6 to 10 chapters including mathematics, science, and engineering. Global/Diversity Focus – Global gender equity is addressed in a separate chapter as well as in numerous other chapters. The expanded section on gender equity strategies for diverse populations contains seven chapters on African Americans, Latina/os, Asian and Pacific Island Americans, American Indians, gifted students, students with disabilities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students. Action Oriented – All chapters contain practical recommendations for making education activities and outcomes more gender equitable. A final chapter consolidates individual chapter recommendations for educators, policymakers, and researchers to achieve gender equity in and through education. New Material – Expanded from 25 to 31 chapters, this new edition includes: *more emphasis on male gender equity and on sexuality issues; *special within population gender equity challenges (race, ability and disability, etc); *coeducation and single sex education; *increased use of rigorous research strategies such as meta-analysis showing more sex similarities and fewer sex differences and of evaluations of implementation programs; *technology and gender equity is now treated in three chapters; *women’s and gender studies; *communication skills relating to English, bilingual, and foreign language learning; and *history and implementation of Title IX and other federal and state policies. Since there is so much misleading information about gender equity and education, this Handbook will be essential for anyone who wants accurate, research-based information on controversial gender equity issues—journalists, policy makers, teachers, Title IX coordinators, equity trainers, women’s and gender study faculty, students, and parents.







Superintendent Perceptions of District Leadership for Improved Student Achievement

Author : Dennis J. Sawyer

Publisher :

Page : 145 pages

File Size : 22,41 MB

Release : 2010

Category : Academic achievement

ISBN :

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Book Description

The purpose of this study is to focus on how North Carolina superintendents perceive the importance and employ the self-assessed practices of the five McREL district-level leadership responsibilities linked to student achievement as they relate to the superintendents' years of experience and the size of the school system. One of the leading studies of the superintendent's professional practice was the Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) comprehensive study of the superintendency, which was released in a 2006 report. Waters and Marzano (2006) generate four major findings. These findings are: (1) District-level leadership matters, (2) Effective superintendents focus their efforts on creating goal-oriented districts, (3) Superintendent tenure is positively correlated with student achievement, and (4) Defined autonomy. Finding 2, effective superintendents focus their efforts on creating goal-oriented districts, generated five district-level leadership responsibilities related to setting and keeping districts focused on teaching and learning goals which have a statistically significant correlation with average student academic achievement. They are: (1) collaborative goal-setting, (2) non-negotiable goals for achievement and instruction, (3) board alignment with and support of district goals, (4) monitoring achievement and instructional goals, (5) use of resources to support the goals for instruction. The five responsibilities from Finding 2 served as the basis for the survey questions. Data gained from superintendent self assessment survey responses included superintendents' ratings of the importance of the leadership responsibilities along with their perceptions of how often they employ these practices. Responses were examined for similarities and differences with respect to length of service and school system size. McREL found that effective superintendents focus their efforts on creating goal oriented districts. This finding was significant enough from their meta-analysis of 27 studies related to effective school leaders that it emerged as one of four overall findings. This study found North Carolina superintendents share McREL's view that creating goal-oriented districts is important. Similarly, superintendents most often perceive that they practice the 5 responsibilities that McREL articulates as the practices relative to this finding. This study suggests McREL designed a potential blueprint for improving district-level achievement and North Carolina superintendents perceive they are employing the responsibilities that the McREL research identified as being important to student achievement.





African-American Women Superintendents

Author : Shelly Geneen Goines-Harris

Publisher :

Page : 280 pages

File Size : 21,90 MB

Release : 2020

Category : African American women educators

ISBN :

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Book Description

This research study was designed to add to the existing but limited literature that explores perceived barriers and challenges African-American women superintendents experienced while ascending and serving in the superintendency. According to the literature, African-American women are underrepresented in the role of public school superintendents. This study examined the impact of gender and racial discrimination on African-American women superintendent aspirants and those currently serving in the role. This study surveyed and interviewed African-American women superintendents serving in public school districts in North Carolina and South Carolina, examining their perceptions of barriers and challenges experienced while ascending and serving in the superintendency. Race and gender were the two identified themes found in the analysis of survey and interview data. This study determined that race and gender have an impact on African-American women public school superintendents while ascending and serving in the role. All subthemes supported racial and gender biases. Choice of dress, working in a male-dominated field, isolation and exclusion from “good old boy networks,” dispelling the belief that African-American women do not make good administrators, and the lack of acceptance by male and non-African-American administrators and staff were all subthemes of the impact of race and gender. The findings of this study will serve to better prepare African-American women who aspire to and serve in the superintendency when faced with barriers and challenges rooted in racial and gender biases. The findings can be used to better inform school boards, hiring personnel, educational leadership programs, and public school districts of the barriers and challenges African-American women public school superintendents experience and how race and gender impact them in the role of superintendent.