Superintendents on Student Achievement
Report: Superintendents
on Student Achievement
Authors:J. Timothy Waters, Ed.D. & Robert J. Marzano, Ph.D.
Date: September 2006
Results from an extensive analysis conducted the Mid-continent Research for
Education and Learning (McREL) of research on the effect of superintendents
on student achievement concludes that effective district leaders can have
a significant, positive influence on student achievement. McREL, is a Denver-based
education research organization that has conducted several large examinations
of research examining the impact of schools, leaders, and teachers on student
achievement. The latest study, titled School District Leadership that Works:
The Effect of Superintendent Leadership on Student Achievement identified
27 research reports conducted since 1970 that examined -- using quantitative,
rigorous methods -- the influence of school district leaders on student performance.
Altogether, these studies involved 2,714 districts and the achievement scores
of 3.4 million students. Using a sophisticated research technique called a
meta-analysis, McREL combined data from separate studies into a single sample,
creating what McREL believes to be the largest-ever quantitative examination
of research on superintendents. The study produced four major findings.
- Finding 1: District-level leadership matters
- Finding 2: Effective superintendents focus their efforts on creating goal-oriented
districts.
- Finding 3: Superintendent tenure is positively correlated with student
achievement.
- Finding 4: An unexpected and perplexing finding -- effective superintendents
appear to provide school leaders with "defined autonomy."
Researchers concluded from this finding that effective superintendents provide
principals with "defined autonomy." That is, they set clear, non-negotiable
goals for learning and instruction, yet provide school leadership teams with
the responsibility and authority for determining how to meet those goals.
More details are on the web
site.
