AN ANALYSIS OF A BLACK SUPERINTENDENT\u27S LEADERSHIP STYLE IN AN URBAN SCHOOL DISTRICT

Statement of the research problem. This study seeks to determine the relationship of a black superintendent\u27s (the researcher\u27s) leadership style in the urban school district of Paterson, New Jersey, during the priod to 1976-1982, and the increase in student achievement. The feeling of educators and laymen alike is that our large urban educational centers need dynamic, effective black leadership and leadership is the most important component of a superintendent\u27s job. The researcher examined a previous study to determine those variables that described the role and role expectations of black school superintendents and the relative importance the superintendents placed on eleven school-related problems. The researcher identified five of these school-related problems: instructional program relevance, accountability, student use and abuse of drugs, student discipline, and community relations to influence student achievement, in the city of Paterson, New Jersey. Purpose. The basic hypothesis central to this study was that the leadership style of the black superintendent will significantly improve student achievement. The researcher presents the reader an analysis of a black superintendent\u27s leadership style in relation to five school-related problems which he identifies as being of immediate importance to the Paterson School District. The five school-related problems were discussed using the following three perspectives: the person, the structure and the skills. The study was limited to the urban public school district of Paterson, New Jersey, and the specific questions of the study were: (1) What is the relationship between principal and teachers\u27 atitude and student achievement? (2) How are administrative attitudes and behavior affected by the leadership style of the black superintendent? (3) What are the major dimensions of the black superintendent\u27s job as determined by the special operating conditions and constraints of his leadership style? Findings and conclusions. The main hypothesis of the study, that the leadership style of the black superintendent will significantly improve student achievement in the Paterson School System, was substantiated qualitatively. The hypothesis, is tenable within the limitations imposed by the researcher\u27s hypothesis, the design of the study, the nature of the facts elected by it, and due to the evidence available