The role of school superintendents in Texas as perceived by the superintendent and the president of the school board

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine school board presidents' perception of the function of school superintendents and how these perceptions compared to those of the school superintendent. The study also determined if selected characteristics of the superintendent, board president or school district had any affect on the role of the superintendent. Three tools were used in the survey. The first was Fast's Superintendents' Behavior Questionnaire (SBQ). This instrument consisted of 37 questions and a seven point rating scale. It covered the areas of Instructional Leadership, Curriculum, Staff Personnel Administration, Financial Administration, School Plant, Business Management, Public Relations, Administrative Structure and General Planning. The second tool was a personal data sheet that requested information such as age, length of time in district, amount of professional preparation and amount of contact time between the superintendent or board president during the month. The third tool was the Texas Public School Directory which furnished information that pertained to the school district. The study was limited to those independent school districts in the state of Texas that had an average daily attendance between 300 and 3,000. This population totaled 587 school districts. Every superintendent and board president in this population was sent the appropriate data sheet and questionnaire. There was an 84% return from superintendents, a 62% return from board presidents and a total of 52% return of matched pairs..