Abstract
The structural factors behind turnover in superintendents of education fall into four categories:“school district characteristics,” “school board characteristics,” “superintendent qualities,” and“superintendent job performance ability.” The combination of factors in each of these categories (for instance, stress, conflict, prestige, compensation, talent, children’s test results, etc.) have led superintendents themselves to decide to separate from the position, or resulted in separation by a school board’s decision not to renew the contract.
Incumbent superintendents of education, especially newly appointed superintendents, have been given opportunities for professional development in an effort to secure the superintendent’s career, strengthen their
leadership ability, promote their role in the community, and effect improvements in the district. Normally, in
conjunction with the system of licensing renewal and advancement for superintendents of education, university
credits and state/district-organized workshops are coordinated with these. In Kentucky, the systematic structuring of the induction program has been praised as a groundbreaking experiment. Another distinctive feature is that newly appointed superintendents perform self-evaluations based on the state’s own seven criteria of effectiveness focused on leadership, for which provide evidence of their own performance.
