| Based on an analysis of educational leadership theory literature and the results of three focus group interviews of superintendents, it is unclear that much has changed, regarding challenges and dilemmas, for the school superintendent during the past 80 years. Dilemmas facing superintendents are not simply a result of a skill gap between what they have learned in formal and informal preparation programs and the knowledge and skills needed on the job. Rather, dilemmas exist as a result of assumptions surrounding leadership effectiveness, which are in part derived from leadership approaches adopted from other fields and in part based on board members' views about how to lead schools.;Focus group interviews were conducted among 15 urban superintendents from three distinct regions in metropolitan New York. This study found that there are four basic challenges superintendents faced during their first few years: learning about the history, culture, and politics of the district; learning to juggle the demands of the job and their personal lives; learning to negotiate or renegotiate changed relationships within the district; and learning to cope with information. External policy changes in the New York City school governance structure, mandates for accountability and standards, and increased state and federal involvement in school districts affect superintendents' assumptions of "effectiveness" and "leadership." To navigate these changes, superintendents valued the importance of learning from each other---as students, colleagues, or mentors---and appreciated preparation and support experiences that included it.;Educational leadership theory was used to examine five common threads that appear throughout the findings: (1) role; (2) context; (3) politics; (4) effectiveness; and (5) family life. This examination revealed that the field of educational leadership has essentially remained stuck in a structural-functionalist perspective and leadership theory is not adequately explaining the superintendency.;Educational leadership theory must advance in order to provide a framework from which school leaders can successfully address these challenges. A more broadly defined theory of effective leadership would inform superintendents' work and how they are prepared. |
