Selecting the Superintendent: a case study of school board decision-making during a superintendent selection process

• In Event: Factors Influencing the Selection of Superintendents and Decision-Making Practices

Abstract

In selecting the district’s superintendent, school board members make one of the most consequential decisions about the direction and spending of the district. Yet little is known about the decision-making processes school board members use in selecting a superintendent. Drawing on Mazzoni’s (1991) arena mode, this case study investigates how power is leveraged during a superintendent search process in a suburban school district. In short, this analysis illustrates how for-profit search firms can limit the power and access of school boards and community members to meaningfully participate in the important and political process of selecting a superintendent.

Author

• Pamela Catherine Callahan, University of Maryland