Leading Under Crisis: The Decision-Making Process of Texas School District Superintendents During the COVID-19 Pandemic

• In Event: Research on the Superintendency SIG (#97) Paper Session 2: Trust, Mindset, Response, and Equity

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, superintendents faced significant obstacles due to the crisis’s social and health impacts on staff, students, and families.
The study was an investigation of the correlation between the self-reported leadership practices of leaders of large and small- to medium-sized districts.
Kouzes and Posner’s Leadership Practice Inventory and Hadley et al.’s Crisis Leader Efficacy in Assessing and Deciding scale were the instruments used. Random stratified sampling from 800 Texas school districts produced a sample of 60 participants whose survey responses underwent analysis in SPSS. The study’s findings contribute to the literature on crisis decision-making to equip and leverage leaders’ ability during unpredictable events. Participants’ responses led to designing a crisis decision-making framework suitable to a constantly evolving environment.

Author

• Akua Anyei Obeng, Harris County Department of Education
  Presenting Author