Role of the superintendent in selected areas of decision-making and the superintendent's use of effective communication techniques

The primary purpose of this study is to determine how Texas school superintendents and school board presidents, served by the Region XII Education Service Center, view the role of the superintendent in the eleven selected areas of school board decision-making, which are codified in Chapter 11 of the Texas Education Code. The duties of a superintendent are delineated in Policy BJA (LEGAL) and BJA (LOCAL) and are directly correlated to the eleven selected areas. The second purpose of this study is to determine how Texas school superintendents and school board presidents view the level of the effectiveness of ten selected communication techniques used by superintendents in cooperation with their school boards.; The investigator interviewed fifty-six (56) school superintendents and school board presidents in Central Texas. Districts were assigned numbers in a random manner and the responses were compiled and tallied.; Six conclusions are drawn from the findings of this study. (1) There is a meaningful difference among superintendents on their roles in the ten selected areas of the decision-making process. (2) There is a meaningful difference among school board presidents on the role of the superintendents in the ten selected areas of decision-making process. (3) There is a high level of compatibility among the rating responses of the Texas school superintendents and school board presidents to financial support, student discipline, athletics, facilities planning, curriculum, budget, and textbook selection. There is not a high level of compatibility among the rating responses of the Texas school superintendents and school board presidents to personnel, school board membership, and instructional accountability. (4) There is a meaningful difference among the rating responses of the Texas school superintendents for the level of effectiveness of the ten selected communication techniques. (5) There is a meaningful difference among the rating responses of the Texas school board presidents for the level of the effectiveness of the ten selected communication techniques. (6) There is a high level of compatibility among the responses of the Texas school superintendents and school board presidents for the level of effectiveness of the ten selected communication techniques.