Superintendent as Civic Leader: Stewarding the Future of Public Education

The superintendent’s role looks different today. What was once viewed as an organizational leadership role is now understood as a civic leadership role, which requires unique political expertise. Superintendent as Civic Leader introduces an original framework for superintendents that will help them develop the necessary knowledge, skills, and dispositions to successfully perform as educational leaders in their local communities.

In this book, the editors argue that understanding and dealing with complex political situations requires attention to three axes: the micro (understanding and navigating self), the meso (understanding and navigating the local community), and the macro (understanding and navigating the state and national context). With field-tested guidance from a collective made up of superintendents from across the US, leaders of influential educational organizations, and scholars of the politics of education, chapters offer real-world examples of leaders’ political skills in action, re-building local trust, and mobilizing for change. Readers will come away with strategies to transform challenges into opportunities through key efforts such as relationship building, clear communications, and community engagement.

Education leaders must embrace political leadership if they are to ensure that every child has access to a high-quality education. Their job is to bring people together in service of children, even when everything seems contested. For superintendents and other educational leaders, this book is an essential resource to not only understand today’s politicized climate but also to navigate and serve as successful, effective leaders within it.