Superintendents' perceptions of their role in the process of increasing school effectiveness

This study was designed to explore Illinois unit school district superintendents' perceptions of their actual role and ideal role in the process of increasing school effectiveness and the relationship among these two perceived roles and six demographic variables.;The data for this study were collected through the use of a survey developed by the researcher based upon selected effective schools literature and selected literature on role theory. The sample of this study included all unit school district superintendents in the State of Illinois with the exception of the Superintendent of the City of Chicago District ;Based upon the findings of this study, the following conclusions were formulated: (1) Illinois unit school district superintendents desire ideally to spend more time focusing on increasing school effectiveness. Since more hours are not likely to be added to each day, there appears a need for Illinois unit school district superintendents to reassess the manner in which they currently spend their time. (2) Illinois unit school district superintendents desire ideally to have their written job descriptions and the expectations of their boards of education to focus more specifically on the superintendent's role in the process of increasing school effectiveness. (3) Illinois unit school district superintendents desire ideally to spend more time interacting with building principals, school board members, teachers, non-certified staff, students, parents of students, and the general community specifically regarding increasing school effectiveness with the various publics they deal with. (4) District size and the number of attendance centers were significant demographic variables relative to the number of hours spent by superintendents on increasing school effectiveness. Superintendents from districts with a greater number of students and attendance centers were found to spend more time relative to increasing school effectiveness.