Superintendents' Leadership Behaviors for DIBELS Implementation: A Comparative Case Study of Principals' and Superintendents' Perceptions

Current school reforms under No Child Left Behind (NCLB, 2001) call for effective leadership from federal and state levels and across the school district from the superintendent to the school level to improve student learning. Part of the complexity of NCLB is greater superintendent accountability for increased student learning, which necessitates new conceptions of superintendent leadership behaviors.An unexplored area of educational research involves elementary principals' and superintendents' perceptions of superintendents' leadership behaviors and perceptions of superintendents' leadership behaviors for Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) implementation. Additionally, an unexplored area of educational research is the comparison of elementary principals' perceptions of superintendent leadership behaviors with superintendents' self-reported leadership behaviors. The purpose of this study was to examine principals' and superintendents' perceptions of superintendents' leadership behaviors for DIBELS implementation.This mixed methods comparative case study used Q-methodology, and principals' and superintendents' interviews. Field observations and document analysis enriched the descriptions and understandings of superintendent leadership in this study.Findings indicated superintendents set defensible directions and influenced principals to implement DIBELS. Superintendents provided a leadership support network for principals comprised of mid-level district administrators. The relationships in this network, coupled with supports and resources in the network, gave principals access to social capital for DIBELS implementation