SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS & JOB SATISFACTION.   Term Paper ID:28597 Click to get this paper

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Paper Abstract: Discusses specific critical issues & problems; relationship to traditional measures of job satisfaction. Paper Introduction: Job Satisfaction and Superintendency in Schools Introduction In exploring the literature on job satisfaction for school superintendents, there was little available in the literature. Instead, the focus seemed to be on how school superintendents and school administrators needed to satisfy everyone else, including all their major constituencies of students, teachers, staff, and community members. This might be a clue about the state of job satisfaction of school superintendents. Indeed, there is considerable evidence that it is a high-risk job, with large cities having difficulty filling the position, and tenures of school superintendents often being short, fraught with controversy, and the source of legal battles and civil settlements. The intention in the following pages is to look at some of t Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. While part of their desire to servemay be the need for salary, or the quest to feel participants in meaningfulwork again, it is also obvious that many of them love the work, thrived onthe challenge, and were able to deal with the obvious disadvantages.Conclusion: It seems like the most appropriate title for this section would be"the embattled school superintendent." Although there are stories ofindividuals retiring after thirty years of service in the same district andposition, it seems as though that is more the story of the past than of thepresent and the near future. The reasons are many, of course, but for the most part, the problemis the unremitting pressure and conflict that school superintendents livewith. There are alsoincreasing moves to pull superintendents from the ranks of otherprofessions, such as the military. Another typewas investigative, with good job fits including biologist and newsreporter. Beck himself indicated that several things clearly worked againstanything like job satisfaction. SeattleTimes, October 27, 1997, B3. He had become a major campaign issue during the election, duringwhich candidates on one ticket had promised to get rid of him if elected.This, presumably, was seen as solving some of the problems of the schooldistrict which were blamed on the superintendent's personality andallegedly abrasive style (Clayton, 1997). Battle Ground dumps school superintendent.Columbian, December 1 , 1997. Employees value work that allows them to use their skills,but do not value challenging work that is beyond their skill level or whichis not supported by management or resources. According to Robbins (1996), job satisfaction is essentially ageneral attitude that employees take toward their job. Gortner, H.F., Mahler, J. This internal breakdownleads to a public stance that opens the superintendent to dissatisfactionfrom all sides. Clayton, R.S. Perhaps it would be interesting to explore the interaction betweenHolland's typology of person-occupation fit and those superintendents whothrive on the mental challenge of the school superintendent positiondespite its many negative aspects. Centrality, too, seems to play a part in both job satisfaction anddissatisfaction for school superintendents. (1992). In other words, these jobsatisfaction measures are interrelated. The American SchoolSuperintendent: Leading in an Age of Pressure. (1989). The job satisfaction literature tends to indicate that high jobsatisfaction is related to increased morale, decreased absenteeism andturnover and improved employee relations. Holland, J.L. U.S. She indicated that while administrators,including school superintendents, have been excited by the ideas of variousthinkers like Peter Senge and the reform agenda, their constituencies havenot. Organizational behavior. Thus, individuals can become overloaded withtasks and information, lowering both performance and satisfaction.Job Satisfaction in School Superintendent positions: The current situation regarding school superintendent satisfaction iswell-illustrated, I think, by a report in U.S. For example, if an individual isprovided with a mentally challenging job that eliminates boredom, but isnot given equitable rewards or supportive working conditions, this leads tofrustration, dissatisfaction, and failure. Educational Leadership, 55(1), 1 6. Forexample, in Holland's (1985) typology, a teacher is labeled as the socialtype, while the manager is labeled as the conventional type. How jobsatisfaction and job performance are and are not linked. This seems an almostimpossible task. (2 ). Carter, G.R. Katzell, R.A., thompson, D.E. While this might seem like an extreme situation, unfortunately it isnot. They are identified with theirdistricts, schools, and programs to such an extent that any failures orproblems within the district are frequently attributed to thesuperintendent, whether fairly or unfairly. There are many reasons for this lack of educational leadership. These rewards are not limited to salary, but can include such things asthe way employees are treated and valued by management, and the degree towhich the company takes their input into consideration. Ain (2 ) reported on that, too, noting that oneman said that even though the school superintendency is a heartache kind ofjob, he enjoyed the challenge. (1997). Some of the major variableswhich determine job satisfaction include such things as mentallychallenging work, equitable rewards, good working conditions, supportivemanagers and supportive colleagues (Katzell et al., 1992). For example, Holland (1985) developed what he termed apersonality-job fit theory which he felt underlay job satisfaction. In looking at the issue of mentally challenging work, this is not asimple matter. Book review. This situation illustrates some of the problems related to jobsatisfaction for school superintendents. In histheory, the better the match between the individual's personality and theirjob, the more likely they are to be satisfied with their jobs and the lesslikely they are to voluntarily leave their positions. Wildavsky, B. The school superintendent sets the tone for the district,supports specific philosophies and policies, and may back programs that apercentage of citizens in the district find offensive or simply tooexpensive. (1997). Englewood Cliffs, NJ:Prentice Hall. In terms ofvocational fit, this does not seem to be the major issue, although theremay be instances in which teachers move up the ladder into superintendentpositions which are not an appropriate personality fit for them. New YorkTimes, June 18, p. 13. For example, oneschool superintendent, Daniel Domenech, lasted one day as chancellor of theNew York City public schools before Rudolph Giuliani insisted that theschool board force him to resign (Wildavsky, 2 ). Robbins indicatedthat this is based primarily as the worker's view of the difference betweenthe amount of rewards they receive and the amount that they should receive. They noted that of the total of 5 superintendents whoentered the program, only two remained on their jobs after the five-yearprogram had ended. Thus, their is a basic discrepancy between what the interest groupswant from the schools and what the school superintendents believe isnecessary for the schools to be successful and the students to thrive. In the meantime, the students are caught in themiddle, with high expectations, conflicting demands, and increasingly shortresources. Robbins, S.P. Given all the problems, why would anyone want to be a schoolsuperintendent anyway? and Nicholson, J.B. This leads to dissatisfaction onboth sides: the public becomes dissatisfied because its multiple agendasare not being addressed completely and the school superintendents' becomedissatisfied because they see that the agendas set before them are notgoing to allow them to incorporate their visions of the new directions thatschools must take to be successful in the future. Meek, A. News and World Report(Wildavsky, 2 ) which indicated that big cities are having an incrediblydifficult time finding qualified candidates who are willing to fill theirpositions. He noted that he did not ask for a largersettlement, nor legally contest the settlement offer because he did notwant to work for someone who did not want him. Desperately seeking superintendents: bigcities have trouble filling top school slots. New & World Report,128(3), 25. The School Superintendent of the Oregon public schools reaffirmedthat in a statement that Oregon voters are expecting the impossible fromschools, teachers, and administrators by demanding excellence in all wayswithout providing neither support nor resources. Making vocational choices: A theory ofvocational personalities and work environments. He wanted to work where hewas wanted. It seems like an all-around losing proposition. Furthermore, unlike teachers, they cannot acquire tenure andthey are easily fired. Job Satisfaction and Superintendency in Schools Introduction In exploring the literature on job satisfaction for schoolsuperintendents, there was little available in the literature. As Carter and Cunningham (1997) noted,the school superintendent must walk an incredibly thin line, the tightrope,among many different interest and pressure groups. For him, it was an awesome, demanding job,but that was a positive thing, not a negative. Thus, school superintendents may find their job tenure short,and often serve as lightning rods for community controversies. Job Satisfaction A brief introduction to the job satisfaction literature might behelpful. Thesuperintendent is under considerable stress, often placed in a no-winsituation in communities that have more than one faction. However, thereare conditions to this, too. For example, the school superintendent in Battle Ground, Washington(its actual name) was fired less than a month after a new school board waselected. In terms of the usual measures of job satisfaction, a sizablepercentage of school superintendent positions do not measure up. In other words, they have beenexpected to be too much for too many people and know everything. If schoolsuperintendents are seen as more in the managerial role, this may beincongruent for an individual beginning as a teacher. If the schoolsuperintendent is seen as a public relations specialist, which is certainlya major aspect of the role, this requires an "enterprising" type. NY: Lexington Books. It takes a remarkable person to stick with the situation, with verylittle reward, either in support from constituencies or in salaries (incomparison to responsibilities). Oftentimes, Carter and Cunningham (1997) indicate, thesuperintendency breaks down from the inside, as the superintendent is nolonger able to manage the multiple pressures. Whilethat is certainly a less pressured place, it is also clear that the work ismeaningful and that mental challenge, even without the clear support ofconstituencies can still provide high levels of job satisfaction to certainpeople. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole PublishingCompany. Another measure of job satisfaction that seems particularly relevantto the school superintendent position is the relationship betweencentrality, leadership, and satisfaction. There are, as theauthors put it, conflicting expectations, multiple political agendas, andvarying ideas. The result is drastic declines in thenumber of applicants for each school superintendent position, along withsuch roles as high school principals and department chairpersons. SF: Jossey-Bass. Instead,the focus seemed to be on how school superintendents and schooladministrators needed to satisfy everyone else, including all their majorconstituencies of students, teachers, staff, and community members. Voters vote for toughstandards, but then do not provide the support through the legislature orthrough levies to make the job possible. In many of these reportedincidents, school superintendents have clearly been central, but havesuffered from overload of task expectation, creating dissatisfaction ontheir parts or the part of the community. References Ain, S. Indeed, there is considerable evidence that it is a high-risk job, with large cities having difficulty filling the position, andtenures of school superintendents often being short, fraught withcontroversy, and the source of legal battles and civil settlements. (1997). and Guzzo, R.A. Inno way is everyone on the same page here. Yet, the mental challenge of the job seems to be attractive enough tomany of these individuals to create a level of job satisfaction that bringsthem back even in retirement to serve as interim superintendents. In Beck's case, publicperceptions of the district were perceived by school board members to havedeclined during his tenure. Thus, they preferred to buy out his contractfor $16 , , rather than retain him in office (Clayton, 1997). Clearly, this is the casefor many of the retired superintendents who have come back to serve asinterims or temporary superintendents. Sometimes this is successful, as withJohn Stanford in Seattle, but in other instances, the individual isinadequate to the requirements of the job. There are so many problems and stresses associated with the jobthat a labor shortage has been created at the top level. Instead, they set up all involvedfor failure (Oregon Schools chief, 1997). Theintention in the following pages is to look at some of the general issuesof job satisfaction and then look more specifically at the state of theschool superintendency in relationship to traditional measures of jobsatisfaction. This view of the situation is support by a report by Stewart Ain(2 ) who noted that school superintendents in general are at a premium,with many systems served by interim superintendents or superintendents whohave come out of retirement in order to fill needed roles. School superintendents at a premium. This is ahuge sum for a small school district and shows not only the politicalnature of the school superintendency, but its important symbolic naturewithin the community. In a broader overview of the school superintendent situation,Cunningham and Carter (1997 engaged in a five-year Danforth FoundationSchool Administration Fellowship Program that included 48 other schoolsuperintendents. and Cunningham, W.G. However, he said that it was unlikely that he would apply foranother school superintendent position because of the stress of the job.He also noted that he had feared for his life in the position, havingreceived anonymous threats in recent years (Clayton, 1997). (1996). Oregon Schools chief says voters ask the impossible. The school superintendent must move through this minefieldwithout creating major enemies and distrust. At that moment, the pressure builds for the superintendentto leave and the usual response is ending of that tenure throughresignation, firing, or moving on to a different position. In other words, those who are leaders and have the mostaccess to information are likely to be the most satisfied. Organizationtheory - A public perspective. In looking at the measures of job satisfaction discussed in the firstsection, there seems to be mentally challenging work available to schoolsuperintendents, but not necessarily equitable rewards, supportive workingconditions, or supportive colleagues (and communities). (2 ). They becomesymbols, and often scapegoats, replaced when communities or school boardscannot come to agreement about district policy or direction. In Cranny, Smith,and Stone (Eds.) job satisfaction. In her commentary on the Carter and Cunningham (1997) book, Meeknoted yet another problem. (1985). In some ways,it seems like the school superintendent must remain a moving target,changing districts early enough to avoid being fired, and while stillremaining a desirable commodity to another district. The position of school superintendent is not a neutral one, but anideological one. There are still other considerations that lead to improved jobsatisfaction. Thismight be a clue about the state of job satisfaction of schoolsuperintendents. Yet another problem, apparently, is the education cutbacks of the199 s, which left an insufficiency of mid-life teachers looking to move upthe ladder into administration. For example, helabeled one type of personality as realistic, with congruent occupationsinvolving physical activities that use skill, strength, and coordination.Thus, good job fits would be mechanic, farmer, or carpenter. According to Gortner et al.(1989), centrality in communication and task networks are linked to jobsatisfaction. This is indicative ofthe politics at all levels, not just in the big cities. Forexample, Ain (2 ) quoted one woman as noting that a lot of people do notwant to go into the central administrative positions because they actuallyare paid less than teachers, but have much more responsibility andpressure. Everyone, including the assistant superintendents,have access to tenure and job security, but the top person in leadership. Englewood Cliffs,NJ: Prentice Hall. Thus,some of the dissatisfaction expressed by superintendents or by theirconstituencies may represent incongruities between personality type,personality characteristics, and the occupation itself. Instead, school superintendents are expectedto maintain, or improve, the image of the district, maintain, or improve,the performance of students, serve as the symbol of excellence, bring allfactions together, and take the fall if anything goes wrong. (1997). 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