Lars G. Bjork

Introduction: Women in the Superintendency--Advances in Research and Theory.

During the past year, Educational Administration Quarterly has received a number of manuscripts on women in the superintendency authored by feminist and critical scholars. The editorial team decide...During the past year, Educational Administration Quarterly has received a number of manuscripts on women in the superintendency authored by feminist and critical scholars. The editorial team decided to organize these manuscripts into a theme issue and augment it with a review of a recent book on women in the superintendency. Although receiving this set of manuscripts was fortuitous, it was not unremarkable given an increase in scholarly work on the superintendency by women. This introduction places these manuscripts within the historical context of feminist scholarship and highlights their contributions to promising lines of future inquiry and discourse on reconceptualizing the superintendency.

The Micropolitics of Educational Change and Reform: Cracking Open the Black Box

The first studies of micropolitics of education were published during the mid-1980s (Ball, 1987; Blase, 1987). Two decades later, a small but significant number of studies have been completed, some of which have centered on the micropolitics of educational change and reform. In 1998, Blase conducted a comprehensive review of the micropolitics of educational change; this chapter highlights primary studies from that review but emphasizes more recent relevant work.

Principles of Reform and Reforming Principal Training: A Theoretical Perspective

This article examines reform debates in educational administration training programs using a theoretical framework derived from Thomas Kuhn s notion of paradigm. Most educational administration training programs in the United States are characterized as hybrid/preparadigm departments, unlikely to undertake fundamental changes. Based on an example of a collaborative school leadership preparation program, it is argued that true restructuring as called for in the American reform debates is most likely in developing or emerging settings. Based on the assumption that fundamental reconceptualization of educational administration training is necessary today, the article derives implications from the theoretical argument for means to actualize the kinds of changes depicted by reformers critical of current training.

Changing Social Context of Education in the United States: social justice and the superintendency

Abstract Macro-level demographic forces are changing the social context of schools and shaping the national debate on school reform in the United States. Critics, however, note the lack of correspondence between the gender and ‘race’ of those who teach and lead public schools. This is particularly the case in the USA, where superintendents, who are appointed by local boards of education to administer district affairs, reflect neither the characteristics of their populations nor school professionals. The United States Census Bureau recently characterised the superintendency (chief executive officers of our over 14,000 local school districts) as the most male-dominated executive position of any profession in the nation. This observation has led scholars and policy makers to speculate that, rather than reflecting changes occurring in the larger society, professional preparation, training and selection processes appear to reproduce, rather than transcend gender and racial inequities. This article examines the nature and direction of social changes in the USA population, characteristics of children in schools, and the gender and racial make-up of school district leaders. Findings from a national study, The 2000 Study of the American School Superintendency: a look at the superintendent of education in the new millennium (Glass et al, 2000) are analysed to identify career paths, as well as factors limiting and advancing careers of women and people of colour in the superintendency. These data, and a discussion of learning theory and mentoring models, provide a template for addressing these problems and achieving social justice

A Summing Up.

I n 1988, Norman Boyan edited the first Handbook of Research on Educa tional Administration. It was a straightforward report to the scholarly community on the output of normal science inquiry in the field over the previous 30 years. This archival work provided a framework that influenced how subsequent empirical work was organized and reported; it also established a benchmark against which such efforts were to be judged. The tripartite organizing framework that Boyan used in the first Handbookemerged from Andrew Halpin’s (1957) recommendations for framing the study of human behavior and consisted of sections relating to the administrator, organizations, and the environment. This framework, however, was supplemented by an addendum or Special Topics section to attend to emerging and nontraditional areas and research methods that did not fit neatly into the larger structure. Although the volume edited by Boyan admittedly left out a number of important areas of research on educational administration and suffered from some unevenness in writing and disconnection among the chapters, it made a significant contribution by capturing the warp and weft of established lines of inquiry in the field. It was not only well regarded for its substantive reviews but also for its critical commentary on work in the field and its observations about promising directions for future research. In editing the first volume, Boyan was successful in avoiding narrow scholarship, revisionist history, and those championing particular ideological preferences of the moment to influence future directions in the study of educational administration. Both Norman Boyan and Don Willower made important observations at the time about the first volume that provide insight into issues related to its successor.

Finnish Superintendents: Leading in a Changing Education Policy Context

Finland’s education system is regarded as one of the most effective in the world. Shared values of the Finnish welfare society continue to influence national education policies that determine how education is organized, governed, and led. Findings from a national study of the superintendency, however, suggest recent demographic and financial changes as well as ideologically driven legislative reforms are radically changing provision of education, stimulating mergers, altering organizational and governance patterns, and changing superintendents’ work. National policies are redefining the role of the superintendent from being a bureaucratic functionary to a member of an executive management team.

Introduction: International Perspectives on Educational Reform and Superintendent Leadership

During the last three decades, the rise of the global economy has launched a wide array of social, economic, and political changes in nations throughout the world and heightened concern about the quality of schools. As nations linked student academic performance to their long-term economic survival, the scope and intensity of educational reform around the globe expanded exponentially (Björk, 2001; Björk, Kowalski, & Young, 2005). Consequently, an international conversation about education reform commenced that centered on the nature and direction of policy initiatives intended to ensure that the next generation of students is literate, numerate, and capable of collaboratively solving increasingly complex problems (Björk & Browne-Ferrigno, 2012). However, efforts to improve learning at the classroom level also set the stage for examining fundamental assumptions about the role of central governments as well as how the devolution of authority to local municipalities may alter the structure, governance, and characteristics of school district leadership (Björk & Gurley, 2005). Recent nationwide studies conducted in the Nordic countries as well as in the United States affirm that educational reforms have influenced changes in the way school districts are organized, governed, and lead that may have profound effects on local control of schools, the nature of accountability, and reconfiguring the role of superintendents. This special issue of Leadership and Policy in Schools is devoted to the work of international scholars who have conducted recent national studies of educational reform and the superintendency in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and the United States. The articles not only capture a collective sense of national commitment to education as a means for advancing social,

The Superintendent and Educational Reform in the United States of America

During the last two decades the intensity and complexity of educational reform in the United States of America have heightened interest among policymakers, practitioners, and professors in large-scale, systemic change. As a consequence, superintendents are being viewed as pivotal actors in the complex algorithm for managing districts and leading policy implementation efforts. The challenges—both perceived and real—have provided grist for national debates on superintendent roles, expectations, and effectiveness as school system leaders. This article presents an analysis of discursive stages in the evolution of the American superintendency in response to external and internal change forces within school systems.

International Comparison of the Influence of Educational Reform on Superintendent Leadership.

During recent decades, the rise of the global economy launched a wide array of social, economic, and political changes in nations throughout the world. Heightened concern about the quality of schools launched what is arguably the most pervasive, intense, and protracted attempts at educational reform in recent history. Examinations of the fundamental assumptions about how schools are organized, governed, and led contributed to shifts in educational policies in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and the United States. Findings from national superintendent studies provide insights into changes in political ideology, devolution of responsibility for education, and the changing nature of superintendents’ leadership.

Parent-school involvement in Nordic countries: a cross-national comparison

Abstract During the past three decades, the rise of the global economy stimulated a wide array of social, economic, and political changes in nations throughout the world. Heightened concern about the quality of schools launched what is arguably one of the most pervasive, intense, and protracted attempts at educational reform in recent history. A discussion of findings from recent nationwide studies of educational reform policies in the Nordic countries (Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark) provides insight into the impact of globalization on changes in national political ideology, educational reform policies, and efforts to enhance parent–school involvement. Findings suggest that decentralization and the devolution of decision-making authority to local schools may have been only marginally successful.