| A positive working relationship between the school board and its superintendent of schools is vital to the successful employment of the superintendent, and also to the successful operation of the school. A more thorough awareness of the professional competencies of public school superintendents that are perceived to be the most desirable for successful employment should serve to enhance dialogue between superintendents and boards of education as well as decrease the level of ambiguity inherent to the position.;The purpose of this investigation was to identify the professional competencies of public school superintendents that are perceived to be the most desirable for successful employment by both Nebraska school board presidents and by school superintendents themselves. A secondary purpose was to determine which, if any, of nine specific competencies resulted in non-renewal of the superintendent's contract when performed unsatisfactorily.;The population selected for this study was comprised of all K-12 public school superintendents and school board presidents in Nebraska. One hundred thirty-six school board presidents (53.76%) and 220 (91.29%) school superintendents responded to the survey.;The respondents were requested to rate the perceived importance of nine professional competencies using a five point Likert-type scale. The perceived ratings were then rank-ordered based upon the composite mean of the ratings of each individual competency. The completed surveys were divided into three equal groups based upon reported student enrollment. The three groups were categorized as small, medium, and large school districts. Responses to survey items were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.;School board presidents ranked school finance, superintendent-board relations, and public relations as the most important competencies for success of the superintendent. School superintendents ranked superintendent-board relations, school finance, and public relations as the most important competencies. Both respondent groups perceived school construction as the least important competency. School board presidents perceived curriculum development to be more important than did superintendents. The perceived importance of curriculum development, school construction, accomplishing goals set by the board and superintendent-board relations were significantly different between school board presidents and superintendents. |
