Contemporary reform initiatives in public education have included concerns with large scale, systemic reform in which the superintendent was a pivotal player. Yet much of the research attention is focused on the principalship or on state-level policymaking. This volume attempts to correct this lack of attention on the superintendency by stimulating conversations about new ways to conceive of the role. The empirical and conceptual analyses reported in this book are outcomes of the UCEA Joint Program Center for the Study of the Superintendency. The chapters report on studies that focus on the issues of recruitment, diversity, district/community relations, power and politics, and transformation. This annual review is designed to provide a forum for empirical and conceptual investigations of organizational behaviour in schools and school districts, as well as their institutional environments. Specifically, the review attempts to inform educational management and policy by integrating perspectives from sociology, psychology, economics, political science, and management.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: changing perspectives in the New Superintendency. Of Candidates, Pools and Preparation: The disappearing superintendent applicant - the invitation to apply goes unanswered, W. Keane, D. Moore; Preparing the next generation of superintendents - integrating professional and experiential knowledge, L.G. Bjork; Gender differences in superintendents' perceptions of professional preparation programmes, C. Iselt et al. Of Women and People of Colour: Women and men in the superintendency - a case of a promising research alliance, M. Tallerico, R. O'Connell; Hispanic females' school leadership - cases of super-intending, F.I. Ortiz; A superintendent's approach to coalition building - working with diversity to garner support for educational initiatives, M. Grogan, M. Blackmon; Dangerous intersection - a meta-ethnographic study of gender, power, and politics in the public school superintendency, L. Skrla et al. Of School Boards and Communities: Motivations for school board membership - implications for decision making, M. Mountford, C.C. Brunner; Community and control in the superintendency, R. Dunn; A new political balance between superintendent and board - clarifying purpose and generating knowledge, M. Shibles et al; The future of local school governance - implications for board members and superintendents, T. Kowalski. Of Power, Politics, and Policy: Institutional barriers to educational reform - a superintendents's role in district decentralization, L. Bjork; Legislative change and the superintendency in British Columbia, Canada, G. Kelsey, D. Lupini. Of Soul and Transformation: The New Superintendency as guardian of justice and care, P. First; Souling the New Superintendency - individual souls healing the soul of the world, J. Perkins.