Synopses & Reviews
Quandaries of the Small-District Superintendency teaches superintendents and superintendents-in-training how to develop critical frameworks for thinking through and addressing the problems and practices superintendents encounter daily. Focused on the particular needs of superintendents of districts of fewer than ten thousand students, the chapters invite students to examine the everyday practices of school leaders from different perspectives and to form a detailed and practical understanding of administration and leadership. The book draws equally on education administration and management practices and on social and educational theory, with the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium standards for school leadership framing the whole in order to address all key aspects of superintendency. A thought-provoking consideration of the unsolvable quandaries every small-district superintendent faces, Quandaries of the Small-District Superintendency is a valuable touchstone for the issues that will be faced by current and future leaders alike.
Review
Review
"A majority of the nation's school systems serve less than 1,400 students and operate with limited human resources. Commonly, this reality has not received adequate attention in the profession's literature. For this reason,
Quandaries of the Small-District Superintendency is a unique and important contribution to the knowledge base, one that examines problems of practice through the eyes of small district superintendents." - Theodore J. Kowalski, Professor and the Kuntz Family Endowed Chair, University of Dayton, USA
"Quandaries of the Small-District Superintendency promises to be an excellent teaching tool for those preparing for district-level (or even school-level) leadership roles. The text effectively marries the experiential realities of sitting district leaders with current national standards and expectations for effective educational leaders, and with relevant theoretical perspectives of academicians. This integration provides rich teaching and learning opportunities for those aspiring to demanding and organizationally complex educational leadership roles." - Diana Pounder, Dean of the College of Education, University of Central Arkansas, USA
"This book offers valuable insights into the changing landscape of small district superintendents and validates the need to reestablish familiarity with their work. It is an important resource for university faculty and students as well as new and experienced administrators who will routinely face these issues. I recommend it enthusiastically." - Lars G. Björk, Professor of Educational Leadership Studies, University of Kentucky, USA
Synopsis
Focused on the particular needs of superintendents of districts of fewer than ten thousand students, the chapters teach students critical frameworks for thinking through and addressing the problems and practices superintendents encounter daily, allowing them to form a detailed and practical understanding of administration and leadership.
About the Author
Gary Ivory is Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Administration at New Mexico State University, USA. He has taught in grades 5 through 8 and at the community college level and has been a university department head and coordinator of research, testing, and evaluation in a district of 50,000 students. He is co-editor of Snapshots of School Leadership in the 21st Century (2012).
Adrienne E. Hyle is Professor and Chair of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Texas at Arlington, USA. She co-author of From Girls in Their Elements to Women in Science: Rethinking Socialization through Memory-Work (2003), Dissecting the Mundane: International Perspectives on Memory-Work (2008), and Women at the Top: What Women University and College Presidents Say About Effective Leadership (2008), as well as multiple book chapters and over 30 peer-reviewed journal articles.
Rhonda McClellan is Associate Professor of the Interdisciplinary PhD in Leadership program at The University of Central Arkansas, USA.
Michele Acker-Hocevar is Professor and Coordinator of the Doctoral and Graduate programs in Education at Washington State University, USA. She is co-editor of the Journal of Research on Leadership Education (JRLE).