Comprehensive and detailed research and data about some of the most powerful players in K-12 education were nearly nonexistent five years ago.
There was little knowledge about superintendent demographics by state, what made these leaders successful in their jobs, how often they left their positions and why, and the effect of superintendent turnover on student achievement.
Information about district leaders鈥� average tenure, demographics, and previous professional experience had generally been , analyses of individual states, or research about only the country鈥檚 largest districts. The National Center for Education Statistics collected information about teacher and principal characteristics and turnover, but little on superintendents.
Now, largely thanks to a handful of researchers who are trying to fill that void, state administrator associations and leadership preparation and support groups have information they can act on. They have data on superintendents in their states to make more informed decisions about how to advocate on their behalf. They have information to help them develop more meaningful mentorship programs for new superintendents. They have insights so they can work to set women and other underrepresented groups up for success in a field traditionally dominated by white males.
鈥淎t the core, there are certain things that the research can help us develop in terms of tools or training or things like that to allow us to better prepare superintendents,鈥� said , an associate professor of educational leadership and policy at the University of Texas at Austin who has spearheaded much of the new research about superintendents.
Martha Salazar-Zamora, president of the Texas Association of School Administrators and the superintendent in Tomball, near Houston, had long been looking for information on what superintendents need from their school boards and communities so they鈥檇 be more likely to stay in their jobs long-term and buck the national trend of leaders leaving after five to six years.
Increasingly, those kinds of insights from superintendents writ large are now available.
鈥淣ow, probably more than ever, we鈥檒l have to look to the research that we have to show how successful leaders have stayed in the seat鈥攏ot just how they got a job, but how they and why they kept the job,鈥� Salazar-Zamora said.
State administrator organizations partner with researchers for help
In Texas, the administrator association is using new data on the state鈥檚 district leaders to make informed decisions on what professional development new and tenured superintendents need, how to develop a strong and diverse pipeline of future superintendents, and even training that school board members may find useful.
Those insights stem with the Texas Association of School Administrators that used state and national data to analyze trends in the between the 2010-11 and 2023-24 school years.
Data show Texas has made strides in addressing gender disparities in districts鈥� top roles (the percentage of women in the superintendency has increased more than 10 percentage points in the past 15 years to about 25 percent). But the percentage of female superintendents still lags behind the national figure of 28 percent.
So, the Texas administrator association can celebrate its progress but also use data about Texas and other states to determine 鈥渉ow to help people get the job鈥攁nd get them into the right job,鈥� Salazar-Zamora said.
鈥淲e鈥檝e used the research to help prepare people鈥攆rom resume building to interview practice and so on鈥攁nd then also to determine which districts might be a good fit, because not all districts are the same or have the same issues or dynamics,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 important and can help with the longevity of people in the positions, which benefits everyone because what the research also shows is that you have greater success as a district when you don鈥檛 continuously have leadership changes.鈥�
Like Texas, Ohio鈥檚 administrators organization has used better research in recent years.
The Buckeye Association of School Administrators worked with researchers to develop a report specific to Ohio superintendents, diving deep via a widespread survey into the leaders鈥� experiences and needs. The association has used the findings to improve its mentorship programs for new superintendents.
Ohio鈥檚 report showed men and women in the superintendency received different types of mentorship in the association鈥檚 structured programs that pair new leaders with more experienced counterparts. The survey showed men were more likely than women to receive mentorship on community engagement, finance and budgeting, school board relations, policy and law, and organization and time management. But women reported wanting to receive more mentorship on many of those topics, particularly finance and budgeting and navigating politics, according to the report.
The report also explored superintendents鈥� biggest barriers to attending the organization鈥檚 statewide conference and other professional development opportunities, so the association could make those opportunities more widely available.
More coordinated efforts to research district leaders are emerging
Much of the new and existing research about superintendents鈥攊ncluding the reports developed for state administrator associations鈥攃an be traced back to White, the professor in Texas. She鈥檚 also the daughter of a longtime school board member, and a former school board member herself.
When she went to college at the University of Michigan, there were courses she couldn鈥檛 take and majors she couldn鈥檛 pursue because she didn鈥檛 take the prerequisite classes in high school鈥攖hey weren鈥檛 available at her school, she said.
鈥淚 realized then that there were decisions made鈥攁nd they did the best they could with what they had鈥攂ut they were very influential and impactful,鈥� White said. 鈥淚t really impacted me and that was one of the big moments where I was like, 鈥極h, these decisions [district leaders] make really matter.鈥�
Later, she worked as a policy analyst for Michigan鈥檚 state administrator association and again witnessed firsthand the impact of seemingly small decisions on things like school funding formulas and seclusion and restraint policies.
In 2019, White created a database with information about every superintendent in the country as part of a research project and reached out to every one to administer a survey. No similar database existed previously.
The undertaking opened White鈥檚 eyes to the lack of organized, comprehensive information on the people leading the nation鈥檚 approximately 13,000 public school districts. Changing that has been a focus of her work ever since. In fact, she鈥檚 and develop even more datasets about school district leaders.
The goal: Make data robust and accessible enough that aspiring superintendents and those already in the seats feel seen and supported.
Data and research can also help address the longstanding trend and concerns about high superintendent turnover by providing more complete information about it: discrepancies in salary, gender, and race; what superintendents need to feel supported in and prepared for their jobs; and how community politics affect leaders.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of power in being able to use data to pair with personal stories to help yourself and others better understand your life experiences,鈥� White said. 鈥�...There鈥檚 value in their experiences being documented and cared about, and that people can see themselves in the data.鈥�
