Dr. Gary D. Bates, PhD Dissertation Defense, Dr. William Allan Kritsonis, Dissertation Committee

AN ANALYSIS OFAFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE

PUBLIC SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENCY

A Dissertation DefenseBy Gary D. Bates Committee: William Allan Kritsonis, PhD Ben C. DeSpain, EdD Douglas Hermond, PhD David Herrington, PhD Camille Gibson, PhD PhD Program in Educational LeadershipPrairie View A&M UniversityFebruary 2007

I. Purpose of StudyII. Significance of the StudyIII. Quantitative Research Questions IV. Quantitative Research DesignV. Quantitative Major Findings &

Review of LiteratureVI. Qualitative Research Questions VII. Qualitative Research DesignVIII. Qualitative Major FindingsIX. ConclusionsX. Recommendations

Dissertation Defense Format

Purpose of the Study

The primary purpose of this investigation was to study what factors contributed to an African American becoming a school superintendent and retaining that position.

Purpose of the Study (Cont.)

This study also sought to discern whether African American superintendents perceive race as a barrier in obtaining the superintendency.


A secondary purpose of this study was to discover if there is a difference in perceptions between African American superintendents, superintendents who participated in the 2000 AASA study, and African American superintendents that participated in Williams’ study of 1984.


The third purpose of this study was to create a profile of a successful African American school superintendent to assist potential African American superintendents in their endeavor of becoming a leader in education.

Significance of the Study

This study described aspects of the African American school superintendency from past to present and adds to the limited but growing body of research concerning African American school superintendents.

Quantitative Data

Research Questions

Quantitative1. What are the personal

characteristics of currently employed African American school superintendents?

Research Questions

Quantitative2. Is there a significant

difference in the frequencies of the top five ranked factors that inhibit effectiveness of all superintendents in the 2000 AASA study and the responses of African American superintendents in 2006?

Null HypothesisH01-There will be no

statistically significant difference in the frequencies of the top five ranked factors that inhibit effectiveness of all superintendents in the 2000 AASA study and the responses of African American superintendents in 2006.

Research Questions

Quantitative3. Is there a significant

difference in the frequencies of the factors encountered en route to the superintendency by African American superintendents in the early 1980’s and African American superintendents in 2006?

Null Hypothesis

H02-There will be no statistical significant difference in the frequencies of the factors encountered en route to the superintendency by African American superintendents in early 1980’s and African American superintendents in 2006.

Research Design

Quantitative Instrument

Survey-Three Question Types– Ranking– Likert Type– Descriptive/Explanatory

Research DesignQuantitative Pilot Study - SurveyA pilot study was conducted

using simple random sample of size 30.

The pilot participants were not a part of the actual study.

An item analysis was applied on the data and a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of .84 was obtained.

Research Design Quantitative Survey Target Population

– African American Public School Superintendents

– 50 States

Sample – Simple Random Sample– 61 Participants– Return rate of 37%

Research Design

Descriptive StatisticsDemographics

– Age– Gender– Educational details– Yrs Experience– Career details– Ethnicity of students

Research DesignHypothesis

Stat Method Ind. Variable Dep. Variable

H01Chi-Square significance of

each challengefrequency

H02Chi-Square factors

encountered en route

frequency

Factor for Both Tests: Year of Study

Major Findings Research Question 1

QuantitativeWhat are the personal

characteristics of currently employed African American school superintendents?

• 67.2% (n=41) male and 32.8% (n=20) female • Median age was in the 55–59

group

Major FindingsResearch Question 1

Quantitative• 0% (n=0) bachelors degree 14.8% (n=9) masters degree 16.4% (n=10) working on doctoral coursework 68.8% (n=42) doctorate• Employed as a superintendent -

mean of 5.29 years • 61.1% (n=36) districts lead by the

sample have a majority (over 50%) of black students

Research Question 1 Literature ReviewQuantitative

Williams (1984) found that African American superintendents typically had an African American population slightly over 70% of the total district enrollment.

In 2000, the average respondent had served an average of 8.75 years as superintendent according to the American Association of School Administrators 2000 study (Glass et al. 2000). Williams (1984) found that Black superintendents served an average of 5.8 years.


• Superintendents that held a doctorate degree comprised 45% of all superintendents (Glass et al. 2000).

• In 1984, Williams (1984) found that 62.7% of African American superintendents held a doctorate degree.

• 2000 study, Glass reported that the median age group was 51-55 (Glass et al. 2000).

• Williams (1984) found that the median age group was 45-49.


The 2000 American Association of School Administrators study reported that male superintendents comprised 86.8% of the respondents while 13.2% were female (Glass et al. 2000).

Williams (1984) found in 1984 that 88.5% of his respondents were male while 11.5% were female.


QuantitativeIs there a statistically significant

difference in the frequencies of the top five ranked factors that inhibit effectiveness of all superintendents in the 2000 AASA study and the responses of African American superintendents in 2006?


H01 There will be no statistically significant difference between

the frequencies of the top five ranked factors that inhibited

effectiveness between all superintendents in the 2000 AASA study and the responses of African American superintendents in 2006.


QuantitativeRespondents were asked to rank

18 factors that inhibit effectiveness in order of importance.

After completing a Chi Square it was found that the null hypothesis was rejected based on an alpha of p ≤ .05.


QuantitativeThe top five ranked factors in 2006

were:1. Accountability/Creditability2. Compliance with State and

Federal Mandates3. Assessing Education Outcomes4. Financing Schools5. Teacher Recruitment/Selection


QuantitativeIs there a statistically

significant difference between the frequencies of the factors encountered en route to the superintendency by African American superintendents in early 1980’s and African American superintendents in 2006?


H02 There will be no statistically significant difference between the frequencies of the factors encountered en route to the superintendency by African American superintendents in the early 1980’s and African American superintendents in 2006.


QuantitativeAfrican American public school

superintendents were given a list of 16 factors encountered en route to the superintendency to rate on a Likert-type scale from

1 – 4 (1 meaning none to 4 meaning great).

These frequencies were compared with the 1984 data.


QuantitativeEight out of sixteen of the

identified factors encountered en route to the superintendency had a significance of p<.05, thus rejecting H02.


QuantitativeIn 13 out 16 cases, the

percentages of the factors affecting them decreased.

The findings show that the feelings of the African American superintendents have changed significantly from 1984.

Qualitative Data

Research Questions

Qualitative1. What are the problems in

leading a school district identified by African American school superintendents? Is race a factor?

Research Questions

Qualitative2. What are the barriers to

career advancement for African Americans in the superintendency?

Research Questions

Qualitative3. What qualities or

characteristics are vital to the success of an African American school superintendent?

Research Design – Qualitative

Interviews Target Population

– African American Public School Superintendents

– 50 States

Sample – Simple Random Sample– 28 Participants

Research Design - Qualitative

Interviews Pilot Study The interview questions and

guided conversation approach was piloted to establish that the questions were clearly worded and for the interviewer to practice the techniques of the interview process. A pilot study was conducted using 5 African American superintendents.

Research Design

Interview – Qualitative 1. What would you define as

the challenges public school superintendents face, particularly the ones of African American descent? In your opinion do all superintendents face these issues? In your opinion do you believe that race plays a major role in these issues?

Research DesignInterview – Qualitative 2. What qualities or

characteristics do you think a successful African American superintendent should possess? Would you say that these traits are needed by all superintendents? What traits would be most important for African American superintendents?

Research DesignInterview – Qualitative 3. Describe the type of

networking that occurs in your state that assists in the advancement of superintendents? Does this network assist African American superintendents? Do you believe that there is a need for an upward mobility network to assist African Americans in becoming superintendents?

Research DesignInterview – Qualitative 4. What is the ethnic

breakdown of your district? If the majority population is African American, is working in this district your choice? If you had the choice of working in a district comprised of a majority African American population or a more diverse population which would you choose? Why?

Research DesignInterview – Qualitative 5. What advice were you

given as a first year superintendent that helped you the most?

Research DesignInterview – Qualitative 6. What advice would you

give a first year superintendent?

Research Design

Data Analysis – Qualitative• Emergent category

designation • Peer Debriefing• Triangulation

Research Design

Emergent category designation involves taking the data and sorting them into categories of ideas. This allows themes of ideas to exist intuitively based on the data given. Qualitative data coded accordingly to common themes were analyzed for recurring and emergent themes.


QualitativeWhat are the problems in leading a

school district identified by African American school superintendents? Is race a factor?


QualitativeEmergent themes regarding the

challenges facing public school superintendents, particularly the ones of African American descent were funding, accountability, achievement gaps, low social economic status, low perception, and challenging districts.


QualitativeA majority of African American

superintendents thought that race plays a role but it takes a backseat to the role of the economic status of their students.

Major Findings Research Question 5QualitativeWhat are the barriers to career

advancement for African Americans in the superintendency?


QualitativeOne major barrier to career

advancement is considered to be the lack of upward mobility associations for superintendents in general but especially for African American public school superintendents.


QualitativeThe main barrier for many African

American public school superintendents was the lack of available districts to which they felt were open for them to apply.


QualitativeWhat qualities or characteristics

are vital to the success of an African American superintendent?


QualitativeEmergent themes regarding

qualities or characteristics that a successful African American superintendent should possess were integrity, curriculum and instruction, communication, politics, working with people, personable, financial knowledge, leadership, statistics/research, and passion.

Recommendations

• A formal organization be established in each state to assist African Americans specifically in the pursuit of the superintendency.

• A formal organization be established nationally by district demographics for all superintendents to gain multiple perspectives on educational and social issues.

Recommendations• For African Americans in the

pursuit of the superintendency, create relationships with other African American administrators and possibly find a mentor that is currently an African American superintendent.

Recommendations

• For African Americans in the pursuit of the superintendency it is suggested that additional educational training should be pursued in the areas of public speaking, governance, and written communication.

Recommendations for Further Study• A national study to compare

African American superintendents with similar size districts to determine if the perceptions of challenges and barriers are similar.

Recommendations for Further Study

• A national study to compare African American superintendents by national geographic regions to determine if the perceptions of challenges and barriers are similar.

Recommendations for Further Study• A national study of both

African American superintendents and their school boards using surveys and interviews to determine the perceptions of the expectations of an African American superintendent.


• A national longevity study over a period of five to ten years, tracking the number of African American superintendents and the mobility of African American superintendents to verify that the actual number of African American superintendent is growing or declining.


• A national study of African American ex/retired superintendents to determine their reasons for vacating the superintendency.

Conclusions

• Aspiring African American superintendents must possess great communication skills both written and oral, high morals, the ability to influence individuals, and they must be well versed in all aspects of running a school district.

Conclusions

• A great significance in change of perceptions of African American superintendents between 1984 and now was found using a Chi Square. Superintendents currently feel that discrimination does not play a major role in the daily operations of leading a school district.

Conclusions

• The major challenge faced was not their race, but that a majority of their districts contained a high percentage of low socioeconomic students.

• The perceptions among African American superintendents is that their race prevents them from being selected for a majority of available superintendent positions.

Conclusions

• African American superintendents in 2006 had different perceptions than the superintendents surveyed in 2000 and African American superintendents surveyed in 1984.

AN ANALYSIS OFAFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE

PUBLIC SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENCY

Gary D. BatesPrairie View A&M UniversityFebruary 2007

Dr. Gary D. Bates, PhD Dissertation Defense, Dr. William Allan Kritsonis, Dissertation Committee

Education

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