Public School Superintendent Sagacity: A Foundation for Financial Leadership
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32674/jsard.v7i1.3364Keywords:
Superintendents, Financial Leadership, Loose/Tight Coupling, Financial Decision-Making, educational financeAbstract
In an era of accountability, competition for student enrollment, and the necessity to balance district budgets, district leaders are seeking to thrive despite these legitimate stressors. Among the responsibilities of a superintendent, financial leadership balanced with instructional leadership is critical to the success of a school district and the leader. This study sought to explore how superintendents construct their financial leadership savvy and develop financial sagacity in a context where they are under stressful and ever-changing conditions. Findings from this study indicate that superintendents rely primarily on professional networks to inform their decision making and that there is a significant relationship between job experience and stress related to school finances. Researchers also identified implications for superintendents related to level of stress, the importance of professional networks and mentoring, and the essence of creative strategies aligned to financial decision making for superintendents.
Downloads
References
Abshier, W. C., Harris, S., & Hopson, M. (2011). Superintendent perspectives of financial survival strategies in small school districts. The Rural Educator, 32(3). https://doi.org/10.35608/ruraled.v32i3.424
Bird, J. J. (2011). Dollars and sense: A budget-building framework of transparency for superintendent leadership. Management in Education, 25(4), 156-162. https://doi.org/10.1177/0892020611418143
Boyland, L. (2013). Principals’ perceptions of the superintendency: A five-state study. Planning and Changing, 44(1-2), 87-110. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1145864
Finnan, L. A., & McCord, R. S. (2015). 2014 AASA Superintendents salary & benefits study: Non-member version. AASA. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED596103
Glass, T. E., Bjork, L., & Brunner, C. C. (2000). The study of the American school superintendency 2000. A look at the superintendent of education in the new millennium. AASA. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED440475.pdf
Hautala, T., Helander, J., & Korhonen, V. (2018), Loose and tight coupling in educational organizations – An integrative literature review. Journal of Educational Administration, 56(2). https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-03-2017-0027
Hawk, N., & Martin, B. (2011). Understanding and reducing stress in the superintendency. Educational Management Administration and Leadership, 39(3), 364-389. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143210394000
Hutchings, G. C., Jr. & Brown, J. L. (2021). The current work of the American superintendent. in C. H. Tienken (ed.), The American Superintendent (pp. 39-49). Rowman & Littlefield.
Jenkins, C. (2007). Considering the community: How one rural superintendent perceives community values and their effect on decision making. Rural Educator, 28(3), 2832. https://doi.org/10.35608/ruraled.v28i3.476
Jones, P. A. (2018). The influence of charter school competition on public school district revenues across the US. Journal of Education Finance, 43(4), 327-359.
Kamler, E. (2009). Decade of difference (1995-2005): An examination of the superintendent search consultants’ process on Long Island. Educational Administration Quarterly, 45(1), 115-144. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X08327547
Klocko, B. A., Justis, R. J., & Kirby, E. A. (2019). Leadership tenacity and public-school superintendents. Journal of Leadership Education, 18(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.12806/v18/I1/R1
Leithwood, K., & Jantzi, D. (2008). Linking leadership to student learning: The contributions of leader efficacy. Educational Administration Quarterly, 44, 496-528. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X08321501
Maxwell, G. M., Locke, L. A., & Scheurich, J. J. (2014). The rural social justice leader: An exploratory profile in resilience. Journal of School Leadership, 24, 482-508. https://doi.org/10.1177/105268461402400304
Miller, T. W., & Miller, J. M. (2001) Educational leadership in the new millennium: A vision for 2020, International Journal of Leadership in Education, 4(2), 181-189. http://doi.org/10.1080/13603120120806
Norberg, K., & Johansson, O. (2007). Ethical dilemmas of Swedish school leaders. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 35(2), 277-294. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143207075393
Shapiro, J. P., & Gross, S. J. (2013). Ethical educational leadership in turbulent times: (Re)Solving moral dilemmas. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203825389
Trevino, D., Braley, R. T., Brown, M. S., & Slate, J. R. (2008). Challenges of the public-school superintendency: Differences by tenure and district location. Florida Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, 1(2), 98-109. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ902993
Tripses, J., Hunt, J. W., & Watkins, S. G. (2013). Voices of superintendents: Give us relevant and challenging preparation for a tough job. AASA Journal of Scholarship & Practice, 10(3), 3-14. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1013581
Weick, K. (1976). Educational organizations as loosely coupled systems. Administrative Science Quarterly, 21(1), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.2307/2391875
Wells, C. M. (2013). Educational leaders describe a job too big for one: Stress reduction in the midst of leading. AASA Journal of Scholarship & Practice, 10(3), 32-45. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1013583
Xia, J., Shen, J., & Sun, J. (2019). Tight, loose, or decoupling? A national study of the decision-making power relationship between district central offices and school principals. Educational Administration Quarterly, 56(3), 396–434. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X19851174
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Journal of School Administration Research and Development
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
All published articles are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 Unported License.
.png)
