The Role of the School Superintendent

0:01 Hey, good afternoon. This is Dr. Lashonta, your host for The Road to an Effective Classroom Environment. This is our 25th episode, 25th episode since I began this journey, April 3rd of 2018. I have come before you with different topics and how all types of individuals and systems can impact the classroom environment. And so this is season seven, episode number two, and I'm just excited to have you listening to me this afternoon. It's a beautiful day here. I hope you're enjoying your beautiful day.

0:40 It's Memorial Weekend. And so, with that being said, I want to pay homage to the servicemen and women who have fallen in battle during wars, um, even during times of us not being in war and losing their lives while they were defending our country or in their roles as servicemen and women. And so I want to pay homage to those individuals and also want to be able to lift up prayers because family members who have lost anyone while their family members have been in a branch of the arms service, they still hold on to those memories of that individual, and sometimes they're still grieving and dealing with pain.

1:23 And so I just want you to know that we do value the work of these individuals, and we truly want to say that we thank you. We thank you for allowing them to serve our country, and so we have individuals that are stationed not just in the U.S. but stationed across the world, and those individuals that have given their lives so that we may have and continue to have our freedoms, we thank you for that. And so, our topic for today, we're just going to go ahead and jump into it. Our topic is going to deal with the role of the school superintendent and how that role affects the classroom environment.

2:11 So we've talked about different individuals, we've talked about principals, assistant principals, the classroom teachers, we've talked about classified staff, we've talked about different other um certified staff members, and we haven't had a candid discussion about the superintendent. And so this topic I kind of uh kind of dropped in my lap as I'm on a three-day weekend. I've had an opportunity to read different articles in which there are many superintendents across the country who are retiring, and districts are hiring individuals.

2:48 Some districts they've had superintendents that have been placed for been in place for five years or 10 years. Um, some have been longer, and no matter how long you're in that role, there is that change that happens, and people have to adjust to whatever that change is going to be because everyone's different, different mindset, different characteristics as they're coming into that role. And so again, the topic kind of dropped in my lap, and I said, Well, let's look at this. This is in a very important role.

3:21 When we look at the superintendent, he or she is kind of like a King Charles. Some districts, the superintendent may just be like a King Charles and is a figurehead, and the working arms and legs of the district reside with those individuals that serve up under him or her. And then you have those superintendents that may uh be highly involved in every way, shape, or form. But even with that being said, we want to look at what are those, uh what are the roles of the superintendent expectations? We're kind of gonna talk about the roles, we're gonna talk about what type of certification or experience that the individual must have, and we're gonna briefly look at four main areas of focus.

4:10 Once the individual is in office, what is it that he or she is doing? And then the final thing, we're gonna talk about the impact that individual that superintendent would have on the classroom environment. So that's where we are. That is our topic for today. And so when we look at the role of the superintendent, if I had to sum it up in one sentence, the superintendent leads the district by setting the vision, ensuring high-quality teaching and learning is taking place, managing resources wisely, and building trust among all stakeholders to support student success.

4:51 That is a one-line sentence of stating exactly what the superintendent is doing. So we're gonna break it down a little bit further and looking at some of the core roles of the superintendent. We'll touch on these um core roles, but we'll also look at these in another episode because I feel the need to do a follow-up and do a deeper dive into certain topics because there are certain things that are kind of um near and dear to me, and so uh we'll look at those in um a second episode for this topic, all right.

5:31 One of the core roles of a superintendent is providing educational leadership, that means setting the vision for the district, setting the goals for the district, and just looking at some sample vision statements from some other uh from other districts that I was looking at, and um just from some of those articles and just some research that I've been doing lately lately. One vision from one particular district states that they educate, empower, and enable all students to achieve personal excellence in a global society.

6:12 Another vision statement is educating our students for the challenges of today and tomorrow. Another one would be educational excellence together, very brief, but still very powerful. So, in a leadership role, we expect the superintendent to be that driving force behind um that vision for the district and the mission. How are we going to get this done? Setting those goals, doing strategic planning. Strategic planning is a process in itself that requires you to um dissect what are the areas of weakness as well as the areas of greatness in the district, and just putting together you know strategic plans in order to help the district to grow and to develop and to prosper in in every possible area.

7:06 Another role would be, and I've taught I've touched on strategic planning, that would be a second role, uh, making sure those long-term plans are in place, personnel management, the hiring, um, supervising, evaluating um leadership. So the superintendent is in a position in which he or she is a leader, the overarching leader for that district, but making sure that those who are working up under him or her in a leadership capacity is carrying out the vision and carrying out what has been given to them by the superintendent.

7:46 Also, another role would be preparing and managing this the district's budget. Now, can you imagine being responsible for making sure millions of dollars that you are receiving in from taxpayers, from their property taxes, different revenues, um, other funding sources, being responsible for making sure that you have a budget that does not um uh go in the red, and making sure that you are equitable in the way that you divvy out those funds to the uh various uh schools. So that's a big responsibility is that financial oversight and uh managing the budget, making sure that there are sound financial practices that are in place, and then advocating for resources, knowing that if you have to go to your uh local government, your state government, or even getting federal funding, that you are rallying for resources for your district.

8:54 Another role is to be an effective communicator when it comes to building partnerships and talking with the public, when you're speaking with parents, when you're speaking with community members, building relationships, building trust because people are more willing to listen to you if they feel that they can trust you. And sometimes that trust means seeing you in action because actions speak loudly. You can say anything, you can verbalize anything, but making sure that you follow through with what you say you're gonna do that builds trust.

9:33 And then overseeing other aspects of the district, facilities, buildings, whether or not you should build new schools, which ones, which new schools should be built, transportation, nutrition, safety, technology, and this is just a very small list of things, but that deals with the operational uh portion of the role of the superintendent, and then last but not least, making sure the district is in good standings legally, listening to the school board and this and the school attorney, the school board attorney, and making sure that whoever has been appointed that they're giving you sound legal advice and that you are following all of the laws and regulations that have uh been given to you to follow.

10:22 So those are just seven core roles of the superintendency. We will look and do a deeper dive in another episode, but I wanted to at least give you that little bit of what the role of the superintendent is. And so, what does it take to be one? Very good question. What does it take to be a super a school superintendent? Most of these individuals, the bare requirements. I'm gonna give you just the bare minimum requirements because we're gonna start with the basics, and then I'll talk a little bit about some other, um, some other requirements.

11:01 Just on the education level, the minimum that most states uh require is a master's degree, believe it or not. Now, you do have, or some states will say in their um advertisement for a new superintendent that they would prefer someone with a doctorate, uh, whether it's a PhD or if they have um their um doctor of education, um EDD, they're looking for someone with a doctorate and they'll put that in their advertisement. Um, when it comes to certification, you are even if you have your doctorate, if you don't have that piece where you have a superintendent um certification, and that could be embedded within your doctorate.

11:49 If you have a doctorate of education, it may already be embedded or an educational leadership um doctorate, then these courses, which are usually five or six courses, that specifically focus on the roles of um the superintendent, and so most states do require that certification, making sure also that you are a licensed administrator, uh, licensed to be a principal, and if you have a license to be a principal, then you know assistant principal falls up under that. So if you're an assistant principal, then you nine times out of ten you have that license to be a principal, which is an administrator.

12:32 So when we're and then when we look at professional experience, some at a minimum, many districts require that you've had at least three to five years in the classroom teaching. So I just did a comparison of two states. I looked at South Carolina and I looked at Virginia. South Carolina, the minimum is three years, Virginia is five years. Um, so that three to five is pretty much the running number for most of our states, and so your experience should be at different levels. Whether you were in the classroom teaching, they do look to see that you've had some experience leading a building as a principal, maybe even being an assistant superintendent, or uh being a um an ED, executive directors, different districts, they have different terminologies for those members who work at the district level in districts that have superintendent, and if they have assistant superintendents or associate superintendents, then those are um typically the names of those uh those positions that fall right under the superintendent.

13:44 Then you have some districts that have they don't go the that route, they have executive director, and those are the ones that are immediately under the superintendent, um, but they operate in the same role, and then of course, you we want to make sure that the individual has a clean background, right? So background checks are done on educators, and then even going into finding out if there's anything in that person's professional background and sometimes personal that could be a uh a tarnish look for the individual.

14:20 You don't want someone who's been um um who has uh been convicted of serious crimes, uh dealing with drugs or um sex trafficking, trafficking, um, all those different types of things. So you want someone who can pass those checks professionally as well as personally, and um is um in good standings when it comes to their ethics, and then someone that's continuing to be educated. So just because you reach um per se the top, you are still growing professionally. If you're in education, there is not a day that goes by that you are not learning something every day.

14:58 So, someone who's still willing to continue to remain, um, have their certificate, stay in good standing, and to also continue to grow professionally. And we've talked about that in some other episodes, just how professional development is very important, professional learning is important when it comes down to keeping yourself relevant in your field. So those are just some of the the uh requirements as far as an individual who is wanting to go into that um that role and what you need for uh for certification and what types of experiences that districts are looking at.

15:36 So the four main areas of focus that once the once he or she is in that role as a superintendent, they're focusing on being that instructional leader, being that individual who is building the um helping to build relationships in the community with parents, business partners. Also, that individual is um responsible for the budget and finance, and then lastly, that human resources piece, hiring, firing, evaluating, and um overseeing those items. So those are usually the four main areas: instructional leader, uh, building relationships in the community, um, finance and budget, and then human resources.

16:26 Those are the four main areas that the superintendent is operating in and working and working in when he or she goes into office. Now, there are of course other things that are embedded within those, um, and then there are some other things that superintendents are responsible for that we um may not always see in print or we may not see written out in a certification program. But one thing that I wanted to uh focus on is character and personality. So uh cap. No cap. Someone who has no cap, and what that means is no character and no personality, you may be in a world of trouble in this particular office because what I have found in my 50 years of living is that in anything that you're doing, you want to make sure that you are able to talk to any anyone, being able to be friendly and cordial, and making sure that you are authentic in how you receive someone.

17:37 Your personality has to be one that is welcoming. Now, you may not always be seen as someone who's approachable because sometimes we're human, we will look at an individual and think, Oh, I can't talk to that person. But then if you give yourself a chance and you go over, introduce yourself, you will be able to tell whether or not this is someone who is of good character. So I so having no cap is is not a good thing in the role of the superintendent because you must have character, you must have a personality that is one that is welcoming when you are working with the public.

18:19 You have to almost be a people person, you cannot be someone who says, Oh, I I'm a loner, because in that role, you can't be a loner, you are surrounded by people all the time when you are in the workplace. So, character and personality, we may not always see that in the curriculum when you're looking for a program to join. If you want to add that license, we you may not see that in print. And I think of all the research that I've done so far, I've only found maybe two or three programs that talk about that human connection and just talk about what the character of an individual in that role.

19:02 So just keep that in mind. As if you're in a district who has just hired a new superintendent, give yourself the opportunity to learn that individual. Again, the actions of that person will speak volumes because you can be told anything from sunup to sundown, but you have to see the actions. That person may be saying the narrative and writing the narrative, but you need to see that narrative worked out by the individual. If what he or she says is what's gonna happen, hold the person to the fire, hold them accountable.

19:42 Um, and so big question as we are coming close to um the ending of our of this episode, and so the last thing that we want to look at, the big question, so what is the superintendent's impact on the classroom environment? And simply put, everything because as we said, the superintendent is that driving force behind what happens in that district, and so if you have someone in place who does not see the value in making sure that students read by the third grade, or doesn't see any value in career and technology education, or someone who does not see the value in sports, or someone who does not see the value in students getting a nutritious meal when they are in that school building each day, and that it's zero cost to those who come from impoverished families.

20:46 If you have a superintendent that cannot see the reasoning behind all of those different things that I just said, then that could be an uh that could be a problem, and it could impact what goes on in your building, it could impact the funding that you may receive or the funding in general that the district is receiving. So the impact the superintendent, even though the superintendent is not the classroom teacher, and we know from research that the classroom teacher is the individual who has the most impact directly with student achievement, the superintendent is not in that classroom, but he is or she is in that classroom.

21:35 Whenever that teacher walks in, that teacher is fulfilling the vision and the mission that is set for that district. And so if the vision is off, or if the decisions that the superintendent is off, then that can impact just what is coming out of the mouth of that teacher. Now we know that we all have choice, we know that as individuals, we go in and we when we go into the classroom, we teach those standards, but many times we're teaching things that are not even in the textbook, we're teaching things that are life skills for those students, and a superintendent who supports every role in that district and shows that support, you're gonna see the impact in that classroom, the impact on test scores, the impact on social well-being, the impact on mental health, the impact will be positive and you will see a change happen that will be phenomenal.

22:40 So, what is the impact of the superintendent on classroom environment? The impact is everything. If you are in a district in which you are returning back for the next school year and you're gonna have a new person in place as your superintendent, take that opportunity, take the opportunity now over the summer to get as much as you can, know as much as you can about the individual, listen to the mission, listen to the vision, listen to what the individual has to say, and then come fall, let's see what he or she does, and let's see how the superintendent can have a positive impact on the classroom environment.

23:26 That is all I have for you today. And again, like I said, this episode, I feel like there is a second one that needs to take place in talking about this role, and it I may come back before you next week with that one. But want to make sure that I get as much information as I can and do a little bit more research and give you some more facts and figures about superintendents in the United States, and and uh we may even dive into looking at what does it look like in other countries, that person who is um over the school system.

24:01 So um, this is all that we have for today. We talked about the role of the superintendent and how that role affects the classroom environment. I am so happy that this is episode number 25 and that it was about this particular topic. I hope you have a great memorial weekend. Please keep the reason for this holiday in mind, and please keep that in the forefront as you go on with your celebrations. Thank you once again for listening to this episode and being a part of my podcast family. Thank you for listening to The Road to an Effective Classroom Environment.

24:43 I am your host, Dr. Lashanta. Until next time, have a great day.