Panel Paper:
Superintendent Productivity, Principal Quality, and Academic Achievement
Friday, November 9, 2018
8212 - Lobby Level (Marriott Wardman Park)
*Names in bold indicate Presenter
Although much has been written about the importance of leadership in the determination of
organizational success, it is difficult to identify the effects of CEOs on profits or other outcome
measures. Leaders are not randomly assigned, and influences of leaders persist beyond their
tenure in an organization. This is certainly the case in public education, and there is little
evidence to date on the effects of school superintendents despite the growing emphasis on the
importance of leadership. In this study we build on previous work on principals and teachers to
estimate the variation in superintendent effectiveness using Texas administrative data.
Following the estimation of the variance in superintendent quality we investigate a primary
channel through which leaders affect the quality of schooling: the retention and raises of school principals. Specifically, we measure the strength of the association between various measures of principal performance and principal labor market outcomes and how the strength of these relationships differs by estimates of superintendent productivity. In addition, we examine the extent to which superintendents use crude performance information contained in accountability ratings as opposed to evidence more closely associated with principal effectiveness in making retention and salary decisions and whether variation across superintendents is related to estimates of superintendent productivity.
organizational success, it is difficult to identify the effects of CEOs on profits or other outcome
measures. Leaders are not randomly assigned, and influences of leaders persist beyond their
tenure in an organization. This is certainly the case in public education, and there is little
evidence to date on the effects of school superintendents despite the growing emphasis on the
importance of leadership. In this study we build on previous work on principals and teachers to
estimate the variation in superintendent effectiveness using Texas administrative data.
Following the estimation of the variance in superintendent quality we investigate a primary
channel through which leaders affect the quality of schooling: the retention and raises of school principals. Specifically, we measure the strength of the association between various measures of principal performance and principal labor market outcomes and how the strength of these relationships differs by estimates of superintendent productivity. In addition, we examine the extent to which superintendents use crude performance information contained in accountability ratings as opposed to evidence more closely associated with principal effectiveness in making retention and salary decisions and whether variation across superintendents is related to estimates of superintendent productivity.
