Superintendent Leadership Effectiveness in the Context of School District Power Structures

Hickerson, Lea Paige

Superintendent Leadership Effectiveness in the Context of School District Power Structures

Publique Deposited

The purpose of this qualitative narrative phenomenological study was to discover how the structure of power in a school district led Missouri superintendents’ leadership styles and feelings of effectiveness in their roles as district leaders. There were four power structures (Dominated, Factional, Sanctioning, Status Congruent) used to categorize and analyze the school districts and their superintendents. There was one central research question that guided the study: How do superintendents feel about their leadership effectiveness in the context of district power structures? The gap this study aimed to fill was regarding school leadership effectiveness with consideration to transformational versus transactional leadership (Burns, 1978) within the frame of existent power structures in Missouri school districts. Considering the experiences and expertise of Missouri superintendents and aligning it with their self-described leadership successes and frustrations provided a scope through which to narrow the information and declare a most and least effective power structure for Missouri school leaders. This study established that ultimate power and autonomy do not make leaders feel most effective in their roles; leaders thrive in collaborative environments in which trust can be built and maintained through the course of time and with changes to internal and external stakeholders.

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