0.3 Preparing and training superintendents for the mission of  (Page 15/23)

Large private sector organizations with multimillion dollar budgets hire professional management at senior,middle, and lower levels. Managers in the private sector are typically trained prior to employment. In school districts,management personnel often receive basic management training after initial hiring. Private sector organizations far outspend schooldistricts in providing professional development training for managers at all levels.

More than 70% of superintendents are former secondary school principals (Glass, Bjork,&Brunner, 2000). This role usually affords a limited opportunity to participate inthe development of district revenue plans, manage cash accounts, plan budgets, manage facilities, purchase materials, and supervisepersonnel management activities.

Middle school and elementary principals supervising fewer students, teachers, staff, and less complexprograms typically have less opportunity to perform managerial functions similar to those in the central office.

In districts using forms of site based management, principals may be responsible for a myriad of(oftentimes inadequately supported) management functions separate from contact from“connecting”district central office management roles. Site based management models may even restrict principalknowledge of important central office management functions (Lunenberg&Ornstein, 2000).

Principals in large districts may spend a whole career never developing more than a superficial knowledge ofdistrict financial and operation management. This is not likely to occur in small districts. In very small districts, principals aretypically required to be lead managers for selected district-wide management functions.

Initial training for current superintendents to perform and supervise district level management activitiesideally begins during the initial assistant principal level and continues to principal and central office experience. Most newsuperintendents today possess central office experience prior to the superintendency. There should be a seamless path ofprofessional development in management training, abilities, and experiences. Today, educational administration training andpreparation is conceptually disjointed between building and central office levels.

In the last decade, a majority of new superintendents have come from the ranks of central officeadministrators than in past decades (Glass, Bjork,&Brunner, 2000; Glass, 2002). This change in traditional career path offersopportunities for future superintendents to begin articulated training for district executive management while serving in bothbuilding and central office administrative roles.

Current Paths of Preparation

Along with current discrepancies in superintendent preparation, certification requirements vary fromstate to state. In the past certification requirements have“driven”content of superintendent preparation. Certification or licensing codes generally require university coursework and passinga written exam. In about 30 states, the certification or licensure code is closely or loosely based on 6 standards developed for a“generic”K-12 principal position (Council of Chief State School Officers, 1996).