Volume 4 - Issue 1 - DBU Journal of K-12 Educational Research - Page 21

Journal of K-12 Educational Research 19 Introduction Quality school leaders have the most influence on student learning, second only to teacher quality therefore, schools must have good leaders to raise student achievement (NGA Center for Best Practices [NGA], 2008, p. 1). In school districts, the key leader is the superintendent, whether that be a traditional or nontraditional superintendent. Baxter (2007) defined a traditional superintendent as an educator who came up through the ranks at a traditional school district and took the top position as a natural progression of his or her career (p. 86). Morawski (2017) defined a nontraditional superintendent as a professional who has no experience in schools or who has only non- campus administrative experience (p. 1). None of the 44 states and the District of Columbia that have public charter schools, require their charter school superintendents to be traditionally certified (Education Commission of the States, 2018, pp. 1-9). Since all Texas public charter schools need highly effective leaders, the current study examined effective ways to prepare and train superintendents for the unique role (Anthony, 2012, para. 16). Background of the Study Public charter schools are publicly funded schools of choice that are governed by a private organization under a contract with an authorizer (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2018, para. 2). They are tuition-free public schools that offer elementary and or secondary education to students (McFarland et al., 2018, p. 340). The creation of public charter schools took place in 1991 to bring innovation and reform to K-12 education with the promise of increased student academic achievement in exchange for autonomy (Kahlenberg & Potter, 2014, pp. 4-5). Albert Shanker, the visionary behind the creation of charter schools, believed that public charter schools could be successful by giving teachers a greater voice and by integrating schools both racially and economically (as cited in Kahlenberg & Potter, 2014, pp. 8-9). Problem and Purpose In the current study, the researcher examined traditional and nontraditional superintendent preparation paths to see which path produced effective charter school superintendents. The specific problem addressed by the current study was that public charter schools need quality leaders to make sure their school personnel deliver the academic success promised. However, there is a definite disagreement about the best superintendent preparation path to achieve this goal. The purpose of the current study was to examine the leadership preparation paths of current public charter school superintendents in the state of Texas and determine their impact on student achievement. Different superintendent preparation path variables were studied to determine which variables have a positive impact on the achievement data of public charter school students. Literature Review Available research shows that public schools need highly effective leaders to help them navigate multifaceted conflicting demands (Hodgkinson & Montenegro, 1999, p. 9; McCloud, 1999, p. 5). Due to current superintendent job demands that make the superintendent position one of the Journal of K-12 Educational Research 2020, VOL. 4, ISSUE 1 www.dbu.edu/doctoral/edd THE IMPACT OF PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT PREPARATION PATHS ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT Brenton Paul deRenn White, EdD