How successful urban superintendents in California improve student achievement

UnrestrictedDue in large part to the high-stakes accountability measures of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2002, the success and longevity of urban superintendents have become increasingly contingent on their ability to strengthen instruction and increase learning for all students in their districts. This study examined the leadership strategies and practices that successful urban superintendents in California used to improve students achievement in their districts after the passage of NCLB. The study also sought to determine how the leadership functions, strategies, and practices of successful urban superintendents in California differed from those used by their less successful Californian urban superintendent counterparts.; The population of this mixed-methods (quantitative and qualitative) study included 18 Californian urban superintendents who led their school districts from at least February 2004 to the start of this study in fall 2007. All 18 superintendents were sent the Urban Superintendent Leadership Survey Questionnaire, which consisted of 63 questions designed to measure how important each leadership strategy or practice was for their overall approach to improve student achievement in their districts. In addition, the 2 Californian urban superintendents who led their districts to make Adequate Yearly Progress for all 3 years included in the study were interviewed in depth, using the 5 questions on the Superintendent Leadership Interview Protocol.; The research study made several significant findings: 1. Successful urban superintendents in California strongly emphasized the use of 13 leadership functions and 45 leadership strategies and practices to improve student achievement in their districts. 2. Successful and unsuccessful Californian urban superintendents who participated in the study employed roughly the same set of leadership functions, strategies, and practices as they approached improving student achievement in their districts; however, they placed varying emphasis on a significant number of functions, strategies, and practices contained within the leadership set. 3. The 2 successful urban superintendents interviewed for the study recommended 2 first-order leadership strategies -- building superintendent-board relationships and assessing the instructional strengths and weaknesses of the district -- to all newly hired urban superintendents charged with improving student learning