A national study of public school superintendents' perceptions of the relevancy of the competencies and related skills outlined in the "Guidelines for the Preparation of School Administrators"

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the importance of the competencies and related skills contained in the AASA "Guidelines for the Preparation of School Administrators" to practicing public school superintendents. The population included practicing public school superintendents across the United States, while the sample included 351 superintendents from small, medium, and large school districts. Two hundred and forty six superintendents provided useable responses to the survey instrument that was developed for this study. Descriptive data were analyzed through the use of frequency distributions. Analysis of variance was used to determine the statistical relationships among selected variables to the competencies and related skills contained in the AASA "Guidelines for the Preparation of School Administrators." All data were analyzed using the programs from the Statistical Analysis System (SAS) on the "Wylbur" system at Texas A&M University. The perceptions of the respondents revealed that few significant differences existed among superintendents from small, medium, and large school districts. Significantly different means were detected among the responses from female-male superintendents and superintendents with different ethnic backgrounds to seven of the 50 research variables that were tested for analysis of variance. There were no items that the superintendents felt should be removed from the guidelines. Suggested additions to the guidelines included providing more emphasis on public relations skills and more practical course work. One suggestion indicated that there were too many guidelines. Additional studies might explore the feasibility of assessing the perceptions of building administrators to the relevancy of the guidelines to their roles as building administrators; and a study could be undertaken which would analyze the differences between the perceptions of school superintendents and professors of educational administration as to the importance of the "Guidelines for the Preparation of School Administrators."