Superintendent and School Board Member Turnover: Political Versus Apolitical Turnover as a Critical Variable in the Application of the Dissatisfaction Theory

Alsbury, Thomas L.

doi:10.1177/0013161x03257141

Cited by 32 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 11 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…While some governance theories suggest a weak or absent link between the public and their local school governance, Alsbury (2003) found that, on average, 30% of Washington State school board members turned over in every election, with 25% of that turnover caused by defeat or politically motivated resignation and retirement. Over the eight-year study, representing three school board elections, school board member turnover occurred in 97% of the school districts, with 70% of the districts experiencing three or more school board changes representing a change in the voting majority.…”

Section: School Governance Theoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An extensive literature review indicates that nearly every organizational governance study evaluating the dissatisfaction theory, from 1966 to the present, has justified the use of all school board member retirement and resignation as equivalent to incumbent school board member defeat. However, Alsbury (2003) noted the importance of distinguishing the reasons for school board turnover in studies of the dissatisfaction theory. Alsbury (2003) argued that school board turnover not resulting from community discord is outside the theoretical frameworks of the dissatisfaction theory and normally would not lead to the changes in superintendent turnover as predicted by the theory.…”

Section: Defining School Board Turnovermentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

School Board Member and Superintendent Turnover and the Influence on Student Achievement: An Application of the Dissatisfaction Theory

Alsbury

2008

Leadership and Policy in Schools

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

District-level leadership often has been perceived as irrelevant to educational reform. This study compared district political and apolitical board and superintendent turnover to student performance change on the state criterion-referenced test. Results included student test score decline as board turnover increased, particularly in smaller districts and when delineating politically motivated board turnover. Also, student test scores declined in small, rural districts where there was no superintendent change over the course of the eight-year study. Conclusions included support for the dissatisfaction theory, which predicts that politically motivated board and superintendent turnover may influence student performance.

show abstract

Section: School Governance Theoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Defining School Board Turnovermentioning

confidence: 99%

School Board Member and Superintendent Turnover and the Influence on Student Achievement: An Application of the Dissatisfaction Theory

Alsbury

2008

Leadership and Policy in Schools

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Alsbury (2003) examined board members and superintendent turnover links using data from 176 school districts. He listed evidence that supported the use of dissatisfaction theory, a governance tool, and highlighted the importance between political versus apolitical distinctions.…”

Section: Purpose and Research Goalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making the Case for Arizona School Board Training

Eadens¹,

Clement²,

Schwanenberger³

et al. 2016

IRHE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Some school boards suffer from deep-seated problems (Hess, 2010) and one of the danger signs is too little professional development (Dervarics & O'Brien, 2011). Unfortunately, extreme minimal requirements to be certified as a board member such as only being a registered voter and a resident (ASBA, 2015; TASB, 2015; CABE, 2015; GSBA, 2015; & NYSSBA, 2015) coupled with the need for highly specialized skill sets (Rice et al., 2000) leaves a large gap. Lee and Eadens (2014) found this disconnect between minimal board legal qualifications and the multifaceted skills needed to be effective board members creates a highly compelling argument for comprehensive targeted board training and evaluation. This quantitative study compared Arizona districts' grades, the dependent variable, with state sponsored board trainings, the independent variable, during the 2014 school year. Crosstabulation aimed at finding differences greater than chance alone, indicated that districts who did not send board members to trainings, earned less A's and B's, were essentially less (high-performing) than expected and they earned more D's and F's (low-performing) than expected. In contrast, districts who sent more individuals to more trainings earned more A's and B's, (were more high-performing) than expected and they earned less D's and F's (were less low-performing) than expected. Additionally, districts attending more trainings overall had 1) a higher grade mean, 2) benefited by their grades dropping less on average, 3) had a higher average grade percentage, 4) dropped less on average grade percentage, and 5) overall dropped less on average as measured by state letter-grade systems than those districts that opted against sending board members to trainings. The results of this study are insightful, compelling, and highlights the importance of school board preparation and continuing professional development. Findings add to the body of knowledge related to professional development, training, and evaluation of school boards.

show abstract

“…Pasar por alto este aspecto relacional puede limitar nuestra comprensión de una gobernanza exitosa en el distrito escolar y lo que se necesita para acabar esta reforma. Un estudio previo identifica las barreras a la comunicación entre los diferentes niveles de jerarquía en el distrito (Cox & Malone, 2001), que potencialmente conduce a insatisfacción laboral y a una alta rotación (Alsbury, 2003). Por lo tanto, tener en cuenta los vínculos relacionales entre individuos de diferentes niveles dentro de una organización puede ayudar a dirigir la transformación potencial de administradores educativos y a su vez fortalecer el desarrollo sostenido y la gobernanza de un distrito (Daly, Finnigan y Liou, 2014).…”

Section: Aproximación De Red a La Gobernanzaunclassified

Difusión de la innovación: la red social y el enfoque de aprendizaje organizativo para la gobernanza de un equipo de liderazgo de todo el distrito

Liou

Daly

2016

Ped Soc. Rev Int

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

RESUMEN: Los líderes de distrito y las escuelas son esenciales para liderar las mejoras de todo distrito, ya que cada vez generan más cambios y mejoras para la innovación educativa y la excelencia. Mientras que la gobernanza del distrito convencional se centra bási-camente en cuestiones técnicas y administrativas como el desarrollo de políticas, supervisión y el seguimiento del progreso, en muchas ocasiones este enfoque técnico deja de lado la base que impulsa a la mejora: la infraestructura social formada por las relaciones interpersonales. En respuesta a los últimos itinerarios universitarios que reclaman una aproximación en red a la gobernanza, este estudio examinó el esfuerzo de cambio de un equipo directivo de un distrito en momentos en el tiempo basándose en la teoría de redes sociales y el análisis centrado en la gobernanza del distrito. Nos centramos principalmente en el tipo de relación interpersonal con líderes comprometidos para compartir e intercambiar ideas innovadoras y cómo estos esfuerzos pueden apoyar una mejor gobernanza. Además, se analizó el aprendizaje organizacional como una forma de examinar el clima para apoyar los esfuerzos innovadores de todo el distrito durante el proceso de cambio. Los resultados que extrajimos de los líderes indican que con el paso del tiempo se produce un incremento de comportamientos innovadores y una mejora del clima percibido en un aprendizaje organizacional. Los resultados sugirieron que con el tiempo los líderes incrementaron las conexiones asumiendo riesgos, independientemente de su nivel de trabajo. Esta creciente conectividad en innovación coincidió con un aumento en la percepción del clima de aprendizaje del distrito por parte de los líderes, lo que sugiere una aproximación coherente a la gobernanza y mejora.ABSTRACT: District and school leaders play particularly important roles in leading districtwide improvement, as they are increasingly held accountable for bringing about change and improvement for educational innovation and excellence. While conventional districtwide governance places much of its focus on technical and administrative matters such as policy development, supervision, and monitoring progress. This technical focus often overlooks the fundamental aspect that drives the progress of improvement-the social infrastructure shaped by interpersonal relationship. Responding to recent scholarships that calls for a networked approach to governance, this study examined the change effort of a districtwide leadership team over three points in time drawing on social network theory and CONTACTAR CON LOS AUTORES: Susana María Garcia Vargas. C/ Fenelon, 5,

show abstract

Superintendent and School Board Member Turnover: Political Versus Apolitical Turnover as a Critical Variable in the Application of the Dissatisfaction Theory

Cited by 32 publications

References 11 publications

School Board Member and Superintendent Turnover and the Influence on Student Achievement: An Application of the Dissatisfaction Theory

School Board Member and Superintendent Turnover and the Influence on Student Achievement: An Application of the Dissatisfaction Theory

Making the Case for Arizona School Board Training

Difusión de la innovación: la red social y el enfoque de aprendizaje organizativo para la gobernanza de un equipo de liderazgo de todo el distrito

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About