Superintendent Longevity and its Relationship to Student Performance

Abstract

Researchers have recently focused attention on the impact of district level leadership on student achievement. Superintendents are at the heart of that discussion as they are district leaders and thus held accountable for the performance of the school district. Superintendent longevity has been an issue for many years and even though researchers have studied and identified the importance of leadership in the sustainability of school improvement efforts, the tenure of superintendents has not changed (Fullan, 2002). Understanding the impact of superintendent longevity is important to develop a better understanding of how to improve student performance. This study focused on Iowa superintendent longevity and the relationship it has to student performance in reading, mathematics, and science. Understanding that many factors impact student achievement, district enrollment and socioeconomic status were identified as additional variables to include in this study. Sequential hierarchical regression analyses indicated that superintendent longevity was not a predictor of student performance in reading, mathematics and science. District enrollment was a predictor of student performance in mathematics and science, while socioeconomic status was a significant predictor of reading mathematics and science achievement.