310 K-12 LEADERSHIP PRACTICES
SKILLS AND TRAITS ESSENTIAL FOR SUPERINTENDENT SUCCESS
The superintendents in our study identified four skills they stated as necessary to be an
effective superintendent: (a) being a good manager, (b) possessing good people skills, (c)
creating a vision, and (d) being decisive. Carswell and Emmy also identified good
relationships with the board of education as a key to success. Persistence and perseverance
were also identified as essential. The participants’ responses are consistent with the existing
literature on effective traditional superintendents.
Non-Traditional Superintendents and Student Achievement
Does the appointment of non-traditional superintendents improve student achievement?
The answer to this question is more difficult to answer than it might appear. One problem is
the high turnover rate of urban superintendents. Without long-term data it is difficult to gauge
superintendent effectiveness. The average tenure for traditionally prepared superintendents in
large urban systems is only 2.75 years (CCGS, 2003). Tenure for participants in this study
ranged from only a few months to almost seven years. The superintendents with the longest
tenure (Allison and Dallas) work in districts under mayoral control and attributed their
longevity to mayoral support. However, even in the districts with longer superintendent
tenure, student test scores remained fairly stagnant and relatively low. Worse, graduation rates
in the districts generally declined (with the notable exception of the Johnson School District).
CONCLUSION
Often when school boards hire non-traditional superintendents, they are looking for a
maverick or a “highly effective medicine man” (Cronin & Usdan, 2003, p. 177)—someone to
come in from the outside and shake up the system. However, research to date has not
confirmed that non-traditional superintendents are any more unconventional than their
traditionally trained peers (Public Agenda, 2003). In fact, data from our study indicate that
non-traditional superintendents identify the same skill sets as prerequisites to traditional ??
superintendent success. Possibly, selection committees operate with a bias against anyone
with extremely radical ideas. Thus, the non-traditional superintendents may not be as
unconventional as their backgrounds may make them appear (Public Agenda, 2003). Most
often, the conventions they embrace are “a technocrat’s convention that systems and
‘systemic’ thinking can solve problems” (Public Agenda, 2003, p. 51).
When school boards or mayors seek out non-traditional superintendents, it is often in an
attempt to find a heroic leader who can salvage a failing system. Data from our study indicate
that non-traditional superintendents may not be the saviors their employers were seeking. Any
improvements they may make might not stem from the fact that these individuals are
education outsiders, but rather that they have the interpersonal qualities, political acumen, and
leadership skills required to lead a school district and work with a school board or mayor.
Successful school leaders are able to bring often-divided boards, communities, parents, and
staff together around a core vision of school improvement (Stanford, 1999). Superintendents
unwilling or unable to read the organizational culture of the school system and surrounding
community accurately, and unwilling to invest time cultivating relationships with key