Superintendent Turnover and Student Achievement: A Two-State Analysis

• In Event: Sunday Roundtable Session 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Advancing New Knowledge About the Causes and Consequences of Employee Turnover in K–12 Education Settings (Table 28)

Abstract

Increased public scrutiny has thrust school superintendents into the spotlight, possibly exacerbating their turnover. To better understand how superintendent turnover impacts student achievement, we collected data on school superintendent turnover in Florida and Texas from the 2009-10 to 2017-18. We conducted an event study difference-in-differences analysis to examine the dynamic relationship between superintendent turnover and reading and mathematics achievement. Student achievement drops in the year after a superintendent turns over and only recovers to pre-turnover levels several years after turnover. Superintendent turnover is most detrimental in urban school districts, districts enrolling more students, and districts with more concentrated student poverty, though these negative relationships can be partially explained by instability in the district that led to the superintendent’s departure.

Authors

• Christopher Redding, University of Florida

• Steven Michael Carlo, Monmouth University