Three Contemporary Dilemmas for Rural Superintendents

The school district is the fundamental administrative unit of schooling in the United States and the superintendent the lead official. The nature and the challenges of this position, however, vary across the landscape. Because most superintendents lead rural districts, the challenges facing those di...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Peabody journal of education 2014-10, Vol.89 (5), p.619-638
Main Authors: Howley, Aimee, Howley, Craig B., Rhodes, Megan Eliason, Yahn, Jacqueline J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Administrator Responsibility
Administrator Role
Barriers
Consolidated Schools
Contemporary problems
Coordination
Cultural Differences
Cultural Pluralism
Economic Impact
Educational Administration
Elementary Secondary Education
Ethnic Diversity
Fuels
Governance
Hydraulic fracturing
Land
Landscape
Leadership
Moral Values
Multiculturalism & pluralism
Natural gas
Natural Resources
Performance Factors
Role Models
Rural Areas
Rural Schools
Rural Urban Differences
School Community Relationship
School Districts
School superintendents
Schools
Social Change
Superintendents
Threat
Threats
United States
United States of America
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The school district is the fundamental administrative unit of schooling in the United States and the superintendent the lead official. The nature and the challenges of this position, however, vary across the landscape. Because most superintendents lead rural districts, the challenges facing those districts are the ones that typically bedevil the superintendency overall (perhaps a surprising thought to many readers). From this vantage, we theorize such challenges overall, and illustrate the theory with three episodes: (1) the continuing threats of school and district consolidation; (2) the arrival of ethnic diversity in previously all-White rural places; and (3) the leasing of school lands for mining, with a focus on hydraulic fracturing ("fracking").
ISSN:0161-956X
1532-7930
DOI:10.1080/0161956X.2014.956556