An Analysis of the Screening Process of Superintendent Candidates in Northern Illinois
Newell, William Charles
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/69199
Description
Title
An Analysis of the Screening Process of Superintendent Candidates in Northern Illinois
Author(s)
Newell, William Charles
Issue Date
1988
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Thurston, Paul W.
Department of Study
Education
Discipline
Education
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ed.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Education, Administration
Abstract
The study compared the selection recommendations of individuals representing Illinois Association of School Boards consultative services, with recommendations made by individual local board of education members. Using candidates reflecting different management styles in a simulation of the superintendent selection process, the central question studied was whether the choices made by local school board members differed in a statistically significant manner from the choices of individuals representing the Illinois Association of School Boards consultative services.
The theoretical framework of the study was drawn from the social systems theory work done by Getzels and Guba and the leader behavior framework developed by Blake and Mouton. Using Blake and Mouton's Managerial Grid, a simulation was developed of the selection process with a set of paper credentials developed for each of the five management styles presented on the grid.
The resulting set of credentials were mailed to 31 consultants who had served on IASB selection committees as well as 40 school board members whose districts were involved in superintendent selection during the same time period.
A review of the literature revealed that in studying the role of consultants there was a tendency for consultants to identify and select individuals who were strong leaders, were goal oriented and were "career bound" in orientation. School board members were contrasting in their needs for an individual who could work with all elements of a community and would be more "place bound" in orientations. As a result of this study of the literature, the major hypothesis formulated was that given an array of candidates for the superintendency, the local board members and professional consultants will select different sets of superintendents' credentials.
Statistical analysis of the responses did not indicate support for the three sub-hypotheses at the.05 level of statistical significance. Therefore, the major hypothesis of the study was not supported by the findings, but significant data was collected to provide the basis for further study of the process.
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