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A STUDY OF THE WORK ACTIVITIES AND MANAGERIAL BEHAVIOR OF THE MICHIGAN INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT By James Randall Bergers A DISSERTATION Submitted to The Faculty of the College of Education Michigan State University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY June 1990 ABSTRACT A STUDY OF THE WORK ACTIVITIES AND MANAGERIAL BEHAVIOR OF THE MICHIGAN INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT By James Randall Bergers There was a research void involving the study of the managerial (ISD) behavior of the intermediate school district superintendent. provided dent's Such None information time nor a as to of the the use of the description information is available studies sorely superinten­ of his work activities. needed for a thorough understudy of any administrative position. The explain purpose the of work and superintendent. structured was role study role These of to the their educational managers. characteristics this comparison. and role describe characteristics were and of the ISD drawn from the work characteristics and superintendent managerial to The data from the observations determine ISD was descriptions observation. analyzed contrast this and behavior Mintzberg's sets to to compare those (1973) and of other managerial were used as a basis for James Randall Bergers Four ISD superintendents were observed for one week each. Field notes were taken throughout the observation process and spondence, then were categorized into chronological, corre­ contact subjected and to content group, records. intragroup The data was and intergroup analysis. Through these analyses the following conclusions were drawn; The ISD superintendent's job is characterized by: 1. An unsettled work environment 2. Open ended job responsibilities 3. Multiple sources of work activities 4. Ad Hoc decision making 5. Restricted access 6. Preferred use of two-way communication 7. Job mobility The certain superintendent primary and also established and maintained secondary job contact patterns with the following participants: 1. ISD Board of Education 2. ISD Staff 3. LEA Staff 4. Community Affiliates 5. Professional Organizations James Randall Bergers The frequency spheres of and duration of these job contacts create influence which affect the superintendent's job activities. An tendents patterns analysis led of job issues addressed by the superin­ to a theory of job content patterns. include three (operational, managerial job both domains, levels and internal of work environment institutional), and These involving external to the formal organi zation. Finally, tendent of neck an acts the an organization concluded the ISD superin­ as an input/output system, cast in the role information of researcher conduit. He functions much like the hourglass, processing information within the and exchanging information school district and external agents. between his DEDICATION This study is dedicated to my wife, Barbara, for all the sacrifices. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author gratitude to expresses those his sincerest appreciation and people who assisted and supported me in the completion of this dissertation. Thanks tation his are committee: guidance research Professor Philip Cusick, Chairman, for and constructive process, chairmanship Pullen. by first given to the members of the disser­ and upon the Cusick Professor Frederick steadfast insistence research process; and sional Michael the departure stepping into the of Professor Diana staff this research endeavor; Ignatovich for his encouragement and to maintain the integrity of the gained through his expertise in profes­ evaluation Moore. the throughout Professor Robert Hatfield for his sup­ advice researcher planted willingly The author appreciates the advocacy role assumed Professor port for criticism throughout the and development; and Professor It was Professor Moore who first exposed to seed the that theories grew of into Dr. the Mintzberg and selection and formulation of this research endeavor. A note of gratitude is extended to the four anonymous intermediate pated school district superintendents who partici­ in this research. Their cooperation in allowing me vi to "shadow" lives is better them and be an integral part of their daily greatly appreciated. understanding of their Each contributed to a chosen profession and I learned much, personally, from each. A special acknowledgment should be given to Mr. Roger Troupe, my Superintendent. understanding project, its flexibility both of my the Without time completion his demands would support involved not be and in this possible. The he allowed to accommodate the requirements of job and my studies contributed to a successful study. A very special typed this dissertation and assistance. she made to thanks to Joan Goodney, who not only but provided invaluable support Words cannot express the contribution the completion of this study. Her willing­ ness to meet time deadlines and fit this project into her busy schedule ated. ant without complaint, is sincerely appreci­ She is the most accommodating and capable assist­ one could fortunate to have be the and I consider beneficiary of myself her extremely exceptional abilities. Finally, throughout tion. the my support studies and and understanding of my family research are beyond descrip­ My wife, Barbara, and children, Kristen and Ryan, sacrificed countless days of family activities over the vii last five years so Dad could "study." support tions were were forgotten. invaluable. only seen by Their patience and Unfortunately, their contribu­ me. But they will never be TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES xi LIST OF FIGURES xiv CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1 Background of the Problem Statement of the Problem Conceptual Framework Purpose of the Study Research Questions Importance of the Study Organization of the Study II REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE & THEORY . . . . 14 Research Perspectives on Managerial Behavior The Development of General Management Research & Theory Theoretical Frame of Reference for the Study Review of Building Administrator Work Behavior Review of Local School District Superintendent Work Behavior Review of Intermediate School District Superintendent Work Behavior Summary III METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURES ...................... Structured Observation Methodology Validity and Reliability Effects of Presence of Researcher Data Collection Sample Selection Representativeness of Sample Superintendents Overview of Data Analysis and Collection ix 73 TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) IV PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA ................ 106 Analysis of Types and Characteristics of ISD Superintendent Work Activities Analysis of Task Performance Among ISD Superin­ tendents Comparison with Mintzberg's Six Managerial Work Characteristics Comparison with Mintzberg's Managerial Role Sets Comparison with Studies of Other Educational Managers' Work Activities Comparison with Studies of Local School District Superintendents' Work Activities V CONCLUSIONS ...................... 221 Job Profile Job Characteristics Job Contact Patterns Job Content Patterns Job Role Summary Implications Recommendations for Further Study Concluding Thoughts APPENDIX 1. 2. 3. 4. ......................... 270 Structured Observation Record Data Coding Manual Evening Activity Log The Subjects BIBLIOGRAPHY 318 x LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Seven Methods to Study Managerial Work . . . 74 2. Sample M a t r i x ................................ 95 3. Representativeness of Sample Intermediate School District Superintendents . . . . 97 4. Analysis of Work Activity by Type . . . . 5. Analysis of Correspondence Record by T y p e ............... Input 108 112 6. Analysis of Correspondence Record - Input by S o u r c e ............................... . . 114 7. Analysis of Correspondence Record - Input by Attention Given ................... 115 8. 9. Analysis of Correspondence Record by Action Taken . Input 117 Analysis of Correspondence Record - Output by F o r m ......................... 119 10. Analysis of Correspondence Record - Output by Target ................ 120 11. Analysis of Contact Record by Type 12. Analysis of Contact Record by Location . 13. Analysis of Contact Record by Participant Type ...................................... 126 14. Analysis of Contact Record by Number of Participants ............ . . . . . . . . . . . 122 . 124 129 15. Analysis of Contact Record by Form of I n i t i a t i o n ................................... 131 16. Analysis of Content Record cation - Input 17. Analysis of Content Record - Written Communi­ cation - O u t p u t ................................135 xi - Written Communi­ ...................... 134 Table Page 18. Analysis of Content Record by Contacts . 136 19. Comparison of the Chronology Record Based on Four Weeks of Observation ................ 139-40 20 . Comparison of Correspondence Record - Input by Form . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 21 . Comparison of Correspondence Record - Input by Sender . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 2 2 . Comparison of Correspondence Record - Input by Attention Given ......................... 149 23. Comparison of Correspondence Record - Input by Action Taken . . . . . . . . . . 150 Comparison of Correspondence Record - Output by Form . . . . . . . . e . . . 152 Comparison of Correspondence Record - Output by Target .................................. 154 26. Comparison of Contact Record by Activity Type 155 27. Comparison of Contact Record by Number of Participants ......................... 157 Compar ison of Contact Record by Form of Initiation . . . . . . . . . 159 29. Comparison of Contact Record by Location 161 30. Comparison of Contact Record by Type of Participant . . . . . . . . . 164 Comparison of Content Record - Written Communication - Input . . . . . 167 Comparison of Content Record Communication - Output 168 24. 25. 28. 31. 32. Written 33. Comparison of Content Record by Contacts 169 34. Comparison of Chronology Record with Mintzberg's CEO's ................... 171 Comparison of Mail Record with Mintzberg's CEO's 173 35. xii Input Table 36. 37. 38. Page Comparison of Mail Record - Output with Mintzberg's CEO's ................... 175 Comparison of Contact Record with Mintzberg's CEO's ................... 177 ISD Superintendent - Number of Activities Over Time . . . . . . . . . . . 179 39. Percent of 40. Number of Verbal and Non-Verbal Contacts by Subject . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 41. Percent of 185 42. Percent of Subjects' Time Spent with Inside Contacts by Position . . . . . . . . 185 Percent of Subjects' Time Spent with Outside ...................... Contacts by Position 186 Comparison of Chronological Data with Building Principals ............................... 196-7 Comparison of the Number of Activities Over Time with Building Principals ............ 201 Comparison of the Task Duration with Building P r i nc i pals . . . . . . » . . . . 203 Comparison of Input Correspondence with Building Principals . . . . . . . 205 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. Task Duration by Subject . . . . . Inside/Outside Contacts by Subject . 181 Comparison of Output Correspondence with Building Principals . . ................ 208 Comparison of Work Activities with Local Superintendents . ............ 211 Comparison of Contacts by Participant Type with Local Superintendents ............... 214 Comparison of Location of Superintendents' Contacts with Local Superintendents 216 Comparison of Initiation of Contacts with Local Superintendents ...................... 218 Comparison of Mean Duration of Activities with Local Superintendents ............... 220 xiii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Mintzberg's Ten Managerial Roles ............. 2. Data Collection and A n a l y s i s .................... 99 3 Contact Network/Spheres of Influence 4. Work Activity Environments...................... 241 5. Content D o m a i n s ............................... 243 6. Evolution of Role 7. Role of ISD Superintendent...................... 250 8. Superintendent Alpha's 9. Superintendent Beta's OfficeLayout . . . . . . 35 . ................... Office Layout 234 247 . . . 288 298 10. Superintendent Gamma's Office Layout . . . 307 11. Superintendent Delta's Office Layout . . . 317 xiv CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Background of the Problem Intermediate educational hierarchy. intermediate their own centers tion school Like local school districts, the districts are educational and to school districts are unique in Michigan's involved in the operation of programs such as special education vocational education centers. But, in addi­ the operation of their own programs, intermediate districts are asked to perform two additional functions. They serve Michigan include regulatory Department pupil of of function Education. accounting transportation myriad a on behalf of the Such responsibilities audits, home school compliance, program oversight and the monitoring of the forms and reports flowing between the State Department of Education and the local school districts. They also function constituent school are to unable service provider intermediate services to service provider to the As more and more districts provide the quantity and quality of educa­ programming these a districts. tional nating as desired or required, the regional will assist in supplementing and coordi­ programs. districts Through cooperative arrangements, are able to provide regional that individual local school districts are unable provide, such as media services, 1 State and Federal relations consultants, public relations expertise and inservice opportunities. It appears to this researcher that with the call for greater equity among local districts and greater accounta­ bility to the public, that consolidation and coordination of educational services is inevitable. For example, Initiatives, the entitled, State "Goals Board of Education 1988 2000: Deliver the Dream," on ISD's to ensure educational excellence in their constituent districts. elementary proposes to, legislation more and the State Board is placing greater emphasis and responsi­ bility in in and In the section proposing actions secondary "Ask education, the State Board the Governor and Legislature to enact assigning intermediate school districts a active educational role and a more descriptive name, providing reducing the more stable number of and adequate funding while districts or increasing coordi­ nated delivery of services. Arguably, tendent and as the the intermediate school district superin­ C.E.O. of the organization has the power authority to affect, if not determine, the success or failure school of these district initiatives. Thus, the intermediate superintendent is unique in that he has ■^Michigan State Board of Education. "Goals 2,000: Deliver the Dream." State Board of Education Initia­ tives, 1988-1990. November, 1988, pp. 9-10. 3 the on ability the his and the opportunity to wield great influence process and the product of education, not only in intermediate district, but also in the constituent school districts. Yet, despite importance, little operations less is this of an known individuals is written intermediate about who heightened the level of activity and about the functions and school district and even managerial behavior of the 57 are charged with the leadership of these organizations in the State of Michigan. Statement of the Problem There is managerial a behavior superintendent. focused of The 1982) limited studies available have or and (Oklahoma State Department of Education general superintendents' studies None of the use on the changing emphasis of activities from the regulatory functions to the service functions to the intermediate school district on the sources of work authority (Hill, Myers and Zuelke 1986) research void involving the study of the (Hendrick 1984). the available studies provide information as of the intermediate school superintendent's time or a description of work activities. tion is sorely needed for a thorough understanding of any administrative position. Such informa­ 4 Therefore, tions to it seems logical to pose a series of ques­ learn more superintendent; about the work of the intermediate what are the daily work activities of the superintendents, what issues are involved in these activi­ ties, how what are the purposes of these work activities, and does their managerial behavior compare and contrast with other educational managers? In one order ought to to achieve a record of such work behavior, study incumbents. the actual activity patterns of job Martin and Willower obvious strategy for observe thetask- performance pattern of position in to a stated; "An the role behavior is to persons in the Surprisingly, this strategy seems have been ignored by most educational researchers with few such much noteworthy direct depth to question. examining (1981) what exceptions. research it is a Mintzberg maintains that technique lacks in breadth. that makes up in He further argues that of the literature on organizational management fails stand the test on-site observation." of 2 comparison with the result of 2 Martin, William J. and Donald J. Willower. "The Managerial Behavior of High School Principals." Education Administration Quarterly, Vol. 17, 1981, pp. 69-70. 5 Conceptual Framework Whyte (1955) observed, but behavior. instead Since observation data, stated, it and seems may be wise research activities tendent of in must be are recorded to try attitudes cannot be inferred directly from subject his to like other scientific to understand man through 3 endeavor the an man's actions studying his actions." This "A studied the actions and work intermediate school district superin­ effort to better understand the roles and responsibilities of study to determine if differences exist in the attempted managerial behavior superintendent Mintzberg's the position. Additionally, this of the intermediate school district compared with other educational managers. (1973) managerial characteristics and role sets were used as a basis for this comparison. Mintzberg's Six Managerial Characteristics The by techniques Mintzberg (1973) of structured observation was applied to five managers, each of whom was the chief executive of a large organization. Mintzberg's study offered a description of managerial work that consisted of the following characteristics: 3 Whyte, William F. Street Corner Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2nd Edition, 1955, pg. 268. 1. Unrelenting pace structured in of work. The job demands were such a way that time breaks seldom occurred. 2. Variety, brevity performing ly then Rather than one long, arduous task and subsequent­ beginning and and fragmentation. a second, the manager performs one another brief job in rapid succession with little sense of task completion. 3. Verbal media preference. more advantageous and immediate The spoken word was since speed, ease, informality feedback were important for managerial communications. 4. Live action preference. Managers invested little time in reflective planning and priority usually went to tasks that required immediate action or could be quickly completed. 5. Contact role network. in two organization The manager was shown to play a types and the of networks - one within the second between the organi­ zation and other environmental agents. 6. A blend of rights and duties. tions the of While certain func­ the managerial work day are selected by executive (rights), others are required as part of the role in the organization (duties). While vided a the six characteristics of managerial work pro­ useful description of the nature or composition 7 of his work, performance also ten of examined roles they divulged little about the actual role the executive. various performed by roles As a result, Mintzberg of executives, identifying managers, influenced by the six characteristics. Mintzberg grouped these ten managerial functions under three role sets: 1. 2. 3. The Interpersonal Roles A. Figurehead - the manager performs activities that only he can do by virtue of holding the position of manager. B. Leader ■- Formal authority offers the manager potential power, leadership determines how much of it will be realized. C. Liaison - The manager established internal and external organizational feedback outside official communication channels. The Informational Roles A. Monitor - The from internal sources. manager collects information and external organization B. Disseminator The manager provides information that is vital to subordinate role performance. C. Spokesman - The manager relays organizational information to environmental agents. The Decisional Roles A. Entrepreneur - The manager is the initiator of organizational change. B. Disturbance responsible change. C. Resource Allocation - The manager divides resources among competing alternatives. Handler for the The manager is handling of involuntary 8 D. Negotiator - The manager is responsible for decision making, such as compromising conflicting organizational interpretation. These The ten three formal roles form a gestalt, an integrated whole. interpersonal roles derive from the manager's authority and status; these give rise to the three informational roles and these in turn enable the manager to perform the four decisional roles. Drawing on researchers, and in efforts to work (1973), educational better understand the roles responsibilities of school administrators, have taken categories of elementary district in Mintzberg's principals, to explain responsibilities; secondary superintendents), order berg's administrative principals (i.e., and local and recorded their activities their managerial behavior. Mintz- work and role characteristics provide a useful and consistent compare framework and with contrast the which work to identify and then behavior of educational managers. Purpose of the Study The the work school be purpose and role district drawn the study is to describe and explain characteristicsof the intermediate superintendent. These descriptions will from structured observation. observations acteristics of The data from the will be analyzed to determine the work char­ and role of the intermediate superintendent 9 and to compare and contrast their managerial behavior to those of other educational managers. The researcher utilizing Mintzberg's methodology. behavioral research every conducted a micro-behavioral analysis In the (1973) structural context of this observation study, micro- analysis refers to the process of studying the subjects second in of the minute behavioral detail. That is subject’s work day is observed and recorded in a number of ways. provided an empirical, descriptive and holistic study of the work behavior of the The results of this study intermediate school district superintendent and provided the data necessary to compare and the contrast job behaviors of the intermediate superintendent with other educational administrators. Research Questions This investigation was guided by efforts to seek answers to the following questions: 1. What are work activities district the types and the characteristics of in which the intermediate school superintendents invest their time while on the job? 2. What similar ities managerial district mance? and differences exist in behavior among the intermediate school superintendents in their task perfor­ 10 3. Do the task performance mediate school routine support patterns of the inter­ district superintendents' daily the mana­ characterization of gerial work developed by Mintzberg? 4. Is the school overall role district set of the intermediate superintendent comparable to the managerial role set developed by Mintzberg? 5. What similarities the intermediate and other and differences exist between school district superintendent educational managers in the character­ izationof managerial work developed by Mintzberg? Importance of the Study A study of the managerial behavior of the inter­ mediate school district superintendent may: 1. Provide of a the description of the managerial routine intermediate school district superin­ tendent , 2. Determine possible between the intendent areas intermediate of incompatibility school district super­ and other educational administrators in managerial characteristics and roles, 3. Provide tive roles a conceptual understanding of administra­ behavior of intendent , through exploration of managerial the intermediate school district super­ 11 4. Assist universities grams for current in developing training pro­ and prospective intermediate school district superintendents, 5. Assist intermediate clarify the school role and districts to further responsibilities of their superintendents. Organization of the Study Chapter school I provides districts educational a background on intermediate and their changing role in the Michigan hierarchy. points out the void behavior of dent better understand the roles and responsibilities of used as purpose need for studying the managerial the intermediate school district superinten­ the position. managerial the chapter research to and The work the of The chapter explains Mintzberg's (1973) characteristics conceptual the and roles which will be framework for the study. The study and the anticipated benefits to be derived from it are also outlined in this initial stage. Chapter ture a provides a review of the related litera­ and theory on managerial work activities. framework normative divided for and managerial the II review descriptive behavior. into historical by five distinguishing approaches The sections. development remainder to It offers between the the study of of the chapter is The first section reviews of general management theory 12 and research. explanation will the be Section of Mintzberg's used study. as related grouped by a findings more detailed and theories which the theoretical frame of reference for research elementary on administrative examines building and five level managerial administrative Section superintendent reviews available examining intendent work the work limited intermediate behavior. work position. secondary. district Section presents The remaining three sections of this chapter review school two behavior Section three behavior, both four reviews local activity research. number of studies school district super­ The chapter concludes with a summary on the literature review. Chapter III procedures methods explains utilized are and discussion primary data the also Hawthorne analysis of a Various research description of structured the recording and coding of forms are included in this chapter. contains an examination of the The sample matrix and continues with a review of the steps researcher including study. methodology and using structured observation and samples of observation selection research the rational for its utilization in this study.A chapter the presentedwith observation the in the took a pilot Effect. is offered to ensure validity and reliability study The and process and the the of potential for the data reduction and chapter concludes with 13 reference to each of the subjects and their school districts. Chapter data IV presents obtained from structured intermediate school explains data the subsequently levels group and and of The superintendents. to chapter analysis; group presented of the four It collection tools and how the data was data inter observation district coded. three a framework for the analysis of utilizing group, intra analysis. answer the further explains the The data is organized five primary research questions offered in Chapter I . Chapter about V managerial researcher 1s the is analysis yield and presentation tendent's II) and this relative to the work activities of school district superintendent managerial (Chapter behavior is offered based on job research These as to job characteristics, job contact content. The chapter continues with a of the intermediate school district superin- job profile and role. integrating chapter (Chapter of job activities, actors and issues. conclusions patterns of behavior A theoretical model of intermediate school district superintendents1 an work findings intermediate IV). a melding of what was previously known the results involving The chapter continues by of this study with the findings other educational managers. The concludes with a discussion of the implication of this research endeavor and suggestions for further study. CHAPTER II REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE & THEORY Research Perspectives on Managerial Behavior Although tiful in in tion the has been written and research is plen­ attempting general cally, much and to describe administrative behavior educational manager's behavior specifi­ a review of the literature of general administra­ and educational administration reveals that much of literature is normative in that it tells what admin­ istrators "should do” "actually do." This "Is-Ought" administrative instead activities is of describing what they problem in describing best summarized by Halpin (1969)? "In educational complicated writers have theory,' but administration even further used how they between the 'is's' responsible other the issue fact that is some term in the sense of 'value to refer not to how administrators do behave to between this by this for educators issue. standards— in ought a to and Confoundment the 'oughts' of behavior is greater and behave. failure in communication social scientists than any No one will deny that we need normative the ethical meaning of the term— for how administrators ought to behave, but these 14 15 prescriptions standards we use science. how the make constitute a theory. These be secured through the methods that for constructing a theoretical model in In this model we must confine our attention administrators description kept not cannot must to do of events distinct. To immediate more do and behave. In short, the their evaluation must be state the issue in other terms: purpose of research is to enable us to accurate predictions of events, not to prescribe preferential courses of human action." ^ The prescriptive hindered the nature of much of the literature researcher in his attempt to understand the job of the intermediate superintendent. Keeping the this research descriptive describe school "is-ought" review, studies the work district the that distinction researcher aided him in mind during concentrated in on his attempt to behavior and role of the intermediate superintendent and to make comparisons with other educational administrative positions. The tions. review of literature is divided into five sec­ In the first section, the development of general management research and theory will be reviewed. In the Halpin, Andrew W. (Editor). Theory and Research in Administration. London, England: The Macmillan Company, 3rd Edition, 1969, pg. 8. 16 second this section, study research trict will will on Section the theoretical be reviewed. Section three will review building level administrator work behaviors. four will review superintendent review activities frame of reference for the of work limited the research on local school dis­ behavior. studies The fifth section available on the job intermediate school district superin­ tendent . The .... Development of General Management Research & Theory .. *>,. — , , ....... — ..... mf.,,...,. .... A . i I.,.,,- i Perhaps and the I.. ii the job earliest duties of systematic the view of management manager was offered by Frederick W. Taylor in the early 1900's . In his Management analyzed manager management (1911), book, Taylor scientifically, to provide Principles contended of Scientific that work could be and it was the function of the the scientific guidelines for worker performance. Scientific manager organize and control task performance. demanded plan, a manager. efforts new, Because management required that the It more systematic approach to the role of Taylor was concerned with optimizing at the operative level, excellence in management, he thought, resided in "knowing exactly what you want men to do, and then seeing that they do it in the best and 17 cheapest led way." 2 This emphasis on the operational level Taylor to describe the job of the manager in terms of micro concepts. Following terms of Taylor's these developed a zational of of or knowledge principles levels, macro on operational body administrative focus the manager's job in micro concepts, there that emphasized broad applicable to higher organi­ placing its emphasis on the development concepts. This approach became known as the functional or classical theory of management thought. Henri Fayol classical (1916) became known as the father of the school of managerial behavior. In 1916 he introduced his five basic managerial functions: planning, organizing, controlling. become These coordinating, five elements commanding of and management have the foundation for describing the basic process or functions of managerial work. Fayol's the way macro work for in the classical school of thought led Gulick and Urwick (1937) to expand on these concepts of management. Their answer to the ques­ tion of what a manager does was the acronym: POSDCoRB. 2 Taylor, Management. 21. Frederick W. The Principles of Scientific New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1947, pg. 18 "These letters represent the following seven func­ tional elements of the chief executive. Planning, that is working out in broad outline the things that need to be done and the methods for doing them to accomplish the purpose set for the enter­ prise; Organizing, that is the establishment of the formal structure of authority through which work subdivi­ sions are arranged, defined and coordinated for the defined objective; Staffing, that is the whole personnel function of bringing in and training the staff and maintaining favorable conditions of work; Directing, that is the continuous task of making decisions and embodying them in specific and general orders and instruction and serving as the leader of their enterprise; Coordinating , that is the all important interrelating the various parts of the work; duty of Reporting, that is keeping those to whom the executive is responsible informed as to what is going o n , which thus includes keeping himself and his subordinates informed through records, research and inspection; Budgeting, with all that goes with budgeting in the form of fiscal planning, accounting and control. This adapted Fayol is will statement from in his of work of a chief executive is the functional analysis elaborated by Henri Industrial and General Administration. It believed that those who know administration intimately find in this analysis a valid and helpful pattern, 19 into which can be fitted each of the major activities and 3 duties of any chief executive." This acronym continues to dominate the general manage­ ment literature. description of But managerial translate specific functional categories. manager engaged difficult to the difficulty in utilizing this in discern work observable For a is the behavior example, work inability into to these when observing a activity, it is extremely when a specific act represents one or a combination of these broad categories. These categories work and represent They provide but, they insight do describe the objectives of managerial normative or prescriptive view. into what an executive should do, not represent the descriptive view of what an executive actually does in his or her daily job activi­ ties. These managerial of the "they functions vague objectives of work, but they do not describe the actual work manager. are describe just Braybrooke and Lindblom (1963) contend, ways of indicating what we need to explain. 3 Gulick, Luther H. "Notes on the Theory of Organization." L. H. Gulick and L. F. Urwick, editors. Papers on the Science of Administration, New York: Columbia University Press, 1937, pg. 13. 4 Braybrooke V. and C. E. Lindblom. A Strategy of Decision. N.E. Free Press, 1963, pg. 537. 20 of Continuing this normative approach to the description managerial behavior defined executive taining systems was work cooperative definition of system communication; of essential Executive work speciali zed operation." tion executives' efforts; work 5 to is to the maintenance of Barnard's job was, "To provide the promote formulate of maintaining was a the and securing define of purpose. this organi zation in pioneer in noting the distinc­ operational contending effort. not that of_ the organization, but the He between He as the specialized work of main­ of the Chester Barnard (1938). and managerial activities, executive should focus his efforts on the organizational systems as opposed to the actual operations of the systems. The development activities provided for research focusing on managerial continued with the post World War II era which opportunities civilian Ohio State and ongoing State of life. for One military research to be used such group of studies was the Leadership Studies. study University on from This was a comprehensive managerial work conducted by Ohio the late 1940's through the mid 1960's. 5 Barnard, Chester I. Executive. Cambridge, MA: 1938, pg. 215. The Harvard Functions of the University Press, 21 Many researchers developed various associated categories with of these studies manager activity. The first was Shartle's (1949) list of fourteen: 1. Inspection of the organization 2. Investigation and research 3. Planning 4. Preparations of procedures and methods 5. Coordination 6. Evaluation 7. Interpretation of plans and procedures 8. Supervision of technical operations 9. Personnel activities 10. Public relations 11. Professional consultation 12. Negotiations 13. Scheduling, routing, dispatching 14. Technical and professional operations During the following Ohio State studies the modification this of it. years, researchers involved in used the same typology or a The difficulty in its application to research endeavor is the lack of specificity in such activities tion." "planning," "coordination" and "evalua­ A more descriptive analysis is required. Another ioral as study research incidents is developed that emerged from the wartime behav­ a collection and analysis of critical by Flanagan (1951). This research 22 revealed that the dominant requirements of the managerial role included handling administrative functions and super­ vision of produced personnel. a executive provided large number functions, little than Gulick's One The of but critical incident technique of behavioral descriptions of were so general that they more insight into actual managerial work (1937) POSDCoRD description. the more applicable Ohio State Leadership Studies dealing with managerial behavior was conducted by Hemphill (1960) . Hemphill administered Using developed to 96 a list of 575 statements which he executives in five large companies. factor analysis, he isolated ten clusters of state­ ments or "factors” of executive behavior. Factor A: Providing a Staff Service in Non-operational Areas - renders various staff services to supervisors. Factor B : Supervisor of Work - plans, organizes and controls the work of others Factor C: Business Control - concerned with reduction, adherence to budgets enforcement of financial regulations Factor D: Technical Concerns with Products and Markets relates to the activities of competition and the development of new business Factor E: Human, Community and Social Affairs concerned with company image and goodwill and community involvement Factor F: Long Range Planning related to the future general cost and concerns 23 Factor G: Exercise of Broad Power and Authority makes decisions on important issues and interprets policy Factor H: Business Reputation - concerned with product quality and/or public relations Factor I: Personal Demands - ubiquitous obligation to conduct oneself in accordance to the stereotype of the conservative businessman Factor J : Preservation of Assets - concerned with the safekeeping of company money and property Although more "behaviorally specific" than its prede­ cessors , renders its examination greatest the school district shortcoming sector executives is super intendents. in its methodology. But, its The diffi­ with the methodology used in this and a majority of Ohio State describing ing private some of the factors inapplicable to this study of intermediate culty of the studies managerial perceptions is the validity of the data in work. The researchers were study­ of the manager *s jobs, rather than the jobs themselves. The work in difference and the the Harper what they diary that actual work activity has been demonstrated studies and of Burns (1968). thought method , the between managers' perception of their what managers (1954), Horne and Lupton (1965) They each asked managers to record they did and then measured , by the they actually did. were poor Each study found predictors of their own activities. This researcher plans to avoid this problem by direct observation of intermediate superin­ employing tendent work activities. 24 Nevertheless, emphasis on these studies began an era of increased the empirical examination managerial work. The of managerial activity, rather than the normative or the focus turned of prescriptive analyze what supposed ology nature to the managers do utilized behavior of or for was to a more descriptive analysis job. actually There was a need to do, think they do. not what they were An effective method­ a descriptive analysis of managerial to observe, record and analyze daily activities. Theoretical Frame of Reference for the Study The the purpose work activities and roles of the intermediate school district exist of this study is to describe and analyze superintendent in the intermediate school educational managerial managerial and to determine if differences characteristics district administrators. characteristics between superintendent and Mintzberg's the other (1973) and role sets will be used as a basis for this analysis and comparison. Mintzberg's Six Managerial Characteristics The by the technique Mintzberg chief observed of (1973) executive his subjects structured observation was applied to five managers, each of whom was of a large organization. Mintzberg for one week each, recorded every 25 activity in which observations involved the to his they reveal the subjects. manager's mail engaged, and pattern then of used these contacts that Also, Mintzberg examined each of in an effort to understand executive communication. Mintzberg's description analysis of enabled managerial work him that to arrive consisted at a of six general characteristics: The Volume observation volume and Pace of tasks to be Mintzberg's first performed and the rapidity with which they are accomplished. tured in The job demands were struc­ such a way that free time was seldom available. Whyte's (1954) revealed an was - on the nature of managerial work concerns the of regular Work average office common, survey of work. with of more 48 hours than per 200 executives week devoted to An additional three or four nights free evenings often devoted to work- related entertainment. Luijk's the fact constant (1963) that study of 25 Dutch executives support executives interruptions. are subject to long hours and The managers worked long hours, averaging between 8-1/2 and 11-1/2 hours per day. The diary examination method executive daily of provides workload. undisturbed managerial a useful Carlson work time work employing the tool for revealing the (1951) reported an average of less than 90 minutes. 26 This total total of (1957) an does not represent uninterrupted time but the any work observation the average weekof 41.5 Guest's of observed between Direct clearly demonstra­ volume of work of Mintzberg's managerial charac­ 583 foremen were observed to perform an tasks per day, with a mean time invested a given task of only 48 seconds. that In the Burns hours per week. of foremenby Guest (1956) teristics. in of brief interludes. study, 76 managers used the diary method to report average ted number 24 foremen task the and found Kay and Meyer a (1962) similar relationship volume and position. Lundberg (1970) found number of hours per day and the number of tasks per hour increased in crisis situations. Variety, Mintzberg's concerned time, Brevity , with than verbal executives' work entails a wide array one second, brief job the manager performs one and then in rapid succession with little sense revealed contacts Thus, rather long, arduous task and subsequently completion. observation of Mintzberg's observations a task Another and duration. are frequently interrupted. performing another of that that beginning - the nature of tasks performed relative to sequencing tasks Fragmentation (1973) characteristics of managerial work was demonstrated of and per an Mintzberg's (1973) average 36 day, each behavioral display by the subject. of structured written and 16 requiring a distinct 27 Diary studies observing an excellent methodology for variety, brevity, fragmentation found provided that of and, administrative his executives by intrusions reduced this figure minutes. Carlson found only a lesser extent, tasks. had undisturbed investigations to an Carlson (1951) average time span visitors of 15 minutes but that telephone in which executive could work on a task tion . Burns (1954) studied four engineering managers and a more 12 periods in 35 days of single discovered for the to a mean of only eight than 23 minutes without interrup­ mean of 34 separate incidents per day scat­ tered among ten functional categories. Stewart senior and purpose how work was (1976) used middle managers to managers the diary for method to study 160 four weeks each. Her discover similarities and differences in spent their time. Fragmentation in their was great. There were few episodes of uninterrupted work activities. In concluding her discussion on similar­ ities , one... in Stewart noted, "A manager's job is a varied the place of work, in the contacts, in its acti- vities and in its content." Observation studies 6 are also useful in observing variety, brevity and fragmentation in managerial work. ^Stewart, Rosemary. Contrasts in Management. Maidenhead, England: McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, 1976, pg. 98. 28 Kay and Meyer "high volume 7 duration." (1964) the 24 foremen and noted a of varied tasks...generally each of a short Preference related observed the for third Verbal Media - Mintzberg (1973) characteristic of managerial work to choice of informational media. Four types of commun­ ication are available to the manager - telephone conversa­ tions, the face-to-face visual preferred tour. verbal telephone. speed, The ease, meetings, Of the contacts paper correspondence, and four, either Mintzberg’s subjects in person or on the spoken word was more advantageous since informality and immediate feedback were important for communication. Executive communication is one of the most frequently studied aspects studied managers and of the managerial role. Thomason (1966) in a wide variety of corporate settings discovered time investments of between 31 and 82 per­ cent in verbal communication. Guest (1956) found that 67 percent of the foreman's day was spent in verbalization. Several type berg's most types of verbal communication exist, and each presents (1973) a special pattern of utilization. data economical revealed verbal mode. Mintz­ that the telephone was the Moore's (1968) study 7 Kay, E. and Meyer, H. H. The Development of a Job Activity Questionnaire for Production Foreman. Personnel Psychology, 1962, Vol. 15, pg. 417. 29 revealed that, while interruptions source of the phone was a major source of for the manager, it served as an important needed information if the incoming calls were properly screened. Face-to-face analysis of Mintzberg and contacts were more suitable for in-depth a situation (1973) found than telephone conversations. that meetings of both scheduled unscheduled variety occurred with equal frequency and occupied 19 scheduled percent of the managerial activities. The meetings were the most time consuming, using 59 percent of the manager6s time, while unscheduled meetings totaled only ten percent. Mintzberg manager's which (1973) time found that 22 percent of his was spent working at their desks, most of involved the processing of written communication. Twenty-two percent of this time was spent reacting to the 36 of pieces communications incoming each mail and generating nine output day. Stewart (1976) concluded that her managers spent 60% of their time in discussion. Preference berg's (1973) for study occupied by preferred current ties . ning , Live Action revealed reflective - The results of Mintz­ that planners information positions but by were not persons who to dominate their activi­ Managers invested little time in reflective plan­ and immediate priority action or usually could went to tasks that required be quickly completed. This 30 type of style results in managers being tied to appoint­ ment calendars. Carlson (1951) complex." received were He reported immediate largely leads referred to a to that scheduled attention ignored. "here this behavior as "diary while concrete tasks future commitments This type of managers’ behavior and now" style for their activities, rather than a "wait and see" attitude. A variety of characterization for live managers of action. to management analysts administrative endorsed the work by a preference Wrapp (1967) noted the necessity for cultivate sources of current information within the organization in order to avoid insulation from events in the active world. most executives time in spend reflective Shapiro (1977) revealed that less than thought or five percent of their planning. Hekimian and Mintzberg (1968) revealed that the management environment precludes any activities involvement and with time-consuming planning that these activities should be completed by separate informational personnel. Pitner's study of She berg school (1979) of structured observation to superintendents presented a similar picture management's reported a (1973) and received use updated preference for current, lively activity. contact record similar to that of Mintz­ concluded that her subjects continually information that acted as a guide for 31 their decision-making comparative absence processes. Pitner also noted the of long-range planning and decisions based upon speculative contemplation. The Network of Contacts - Mintzberg's fifth character­ isticof managerial midst of categories and and contacts his resource percent The outsiders. number Three was spent with outside peers, customers, government personnel, Mintzberg reported that of his managers' time was spent with subordi­ thus leaving play manager in the Mintzberg noted that 44 agents in general. managerial large the exist - subordinates, superiors, managers' time including nates , to of of agents involves acontact network with the organization. organizational percent 48 work only eight percent with superiors. contact record has been investigated by a of researchers. The manager has been shown a role in two types of networks - one within the organization and the second between the organization and other environmental agents. In maintaining manager and that percent (1954) one external contact network, the seeks information relative to the organizations's position found the out of diary of survival in the environment. Keegan (1974) executives depend upon outside sources for 64 all the information they gather. Burns' study of five middle managers revealed that every eight contacts that were engaged in by his subjects involved an extra-organizational person. 32 Sayles (1964) observed 75 managers in a large Ameri­ can corporation and concluded the managers established and maintained relationships to maintain stability within the organization and monitor external disturbance. Nailon Lupton (1967) (1965) study the findings conclude internal a nine-point managers involvement their used of that modified form statement about three the of the Horne/ activity English hotels. hotel to Nailon's managers had a heavy with the external environment rather than the staff and they engaged in constant monitoring of organi zation through brief and frequent movement through the hotel. Managers verbal media. wri tten activity verbal Carlson was (1973) revealed, however , that follow a similar pattern. A well as the opportunity to engage reported that tours were only with three percent of his subjects' time, while (1951) reported that ten percent of his managers' spent manager and considered very using primarily outside of the formal organizational Mintzberg his it contacts that provides the administrator with as contacts channels. time Mintzberg information concerned their type of contact method is the tour , which is an open-ended visual in communications different in engage touring. Wirdenius (1958) reported that subjects expressed an enthusiasm for touring much. it to be rewarding, but they did not use This lack of participation in such an 33 unstructured preference activity for live may reflect action the manager's and high-priority tasks and contacts. A Blend final of of Rights and Duties - Mintzberg's (1973) characteristic of managerial work was a combination two aspects that represent opposing views of the over­ all control ance. are that While selected required as (duties). manager a manager can exert on a role perform­ certain functions of a managerial workday by executive part the of their (rights), role in the others are organization In examining this blend, it may result in the being perceived as "a puppet controlled by the O strings of the different task demands". Generation of empirical evidence for one or the other perspective is used examine is order (1954) of to a difficulttask. A device frequently the contacts made by the manager in to discover what portion was self-initiated. Burns found that his subjects initiated about 50 percent their peer contacts, 36 percent of their contacts with superiors, dinate and between 62 and 74 percent of their subor­ encounters. Dubin and Spray (1964) reported similar findings. g Mintzberg, Henry. The Nature of Managerial Work. New York, NY: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1973, pg. 30. 34 While the self-initiated contacts are helpful in establishing degree for a of managerial variety different of job control, they fail to account conditions, interpretations. which results Mintzberg (1973), in not entirely satisfied with contact initiation as an index of control, analyzed managerial role performance relative to active or actively of passive involvement. Hypothetically, the more involved managerswould have the greatest degree organizational control. Mintzberg found 31 percent of the manager9s passively showed time was actively involved, 42 percent was involved, neither while the tendency. interpretation relative remainder These to the of findings the time are open to issue of organizational control. Mintzberg's Ten Managerial Roles Mintzberg similar these and standing The that common managerial (1973) certain roles characteristics. behavior of stated that the work of managers is these help management Interpersonal Roles. personal first to develop as a result of Mintzberg9s analyses of contribute to the under­ functions (see Figure 1). Three roles comprise the inter­ role set - figurehead, leader, and liaison. component The of this role set is the figurehead role. In such a role, the manager performs activities that only he or office she of can do by virtue of holding the position or manager. Neustadt (1976) emphasized this role 35 Figure 1 Mintzberg's Ten Managerial Roles Interpersonal Roles Figurehead Leader Liaison Informational Roles1 Monitor Disseminator Spokesman Decisional Roles Entrepreneur Disturbance Handler Resource Allocator Negotiator 36 in his study of American presidents. in such a requests, ial role performing duties. each of performance While these Activities involved include receiving status ceremonial functions, and minister­ virtually any person could perform tasks, they fall to the manager by social custom, organization practice or law. The of second of Mintzberg's interpersonal roles is that leader. istics The behavioral manifestations and character­ of this role were extensively analyzed by Stogdill (1965).As a directing the (1966) leader, noted position tures . the manager is responsible for organi zation's rather than from his influential position position as leaders offers personal or charismatic fea­ The leader needs to exert power and use the manager if managers are (Lipsky 1976). potential Theliaison taining of leadership (Whyte 1954). employed by the manager an outside contact network. in main­ Homans (1958) stated outside contacts are required by the manager because a lack Mintzberg its role is to maintain Formal author­ power, determines how much of it will be realized that and Kahn The organization looks to its leader for guidance motivation ity Katz that authority to do so is derived from the and their efforts. of (1973) peer interaction within the organi zation. believed that the contact network and value to the role incumbent increase as the manager's status and reputation grow. 37 The liaison internal and official "the to role is needed by individuals to acquire external organization communication channels. one feedback Sayles outside (1964) contends, enduring objective of the manager is the effort build and maintain a predictable, reciprocating system of relationships..." g The Informational berg (1973) placed the manager in the center of an inform­ ational the processing system. organi zational provides information performance, information the In the second role set, Mintz­ Three roles comprise that set monitor collects the information from internal and external is Roles. and to that the the disseminator vital to subordinate role spokesman relays organi zational The common element of internal and external contacts to information. organi zation is environmental agents. utilization transfer sources, The direct ion of flow within the or between the organi zation and the environ­ ment determines the specific role embraced. Mintzberg categories (1973) these five informational as substance for the monitoring role: internal operations, external and pressures. for the events, analysis, ideas or trends, Sayles (1964) envisioned a similar role manager but included several decisional elements in its composition. g included The nature of information required Sayles, Leonard. Managerial____ Behavior: Administrators in Complex Organizations. New York: McGraw-Hill, Publishers, 1964, Pg. 258. 38 by the manager pattern of abandoned 71 favor contact percent personnel monitor of information of a role requires unsolicited, manager’s that a Aguilar own internal and (1967) reported that manager’s information blend private sources finding the network. network further the communication flow within the organization be in external in of fostered comes from a and organizational by the manager. Aguilar's that 62% of this outside information was illustrates how well developed the manager's personal netv/ork is. As to a disseminator, specific tion to parties. the information ization. key the manager channels information The manager disseminates informa­ appropriate in party, which will use the order to maintain the goals of the organ­ Argyris (1953) revealed that the dispensing of organizational information to subordinates is crucial to the success of the organization. Mintzberg information and (1973) results values. status of believed in two for forms - factual information Factual information deals with the current organization conditions while values represent more of a goal orientation. inating that the dissemination of factual information The manager's role in dissem­ requires little convincing its plausibility to be accepted, but the manager as a disseminator of value information is placed in an awkward position times. at The manager is required to influence 39 various parties issues of to comply organizational with his/her perspective on management. The transfer of value information as a subtle influence or an iron-fisted demand causes the manager to incorporate some features of leadership into the performance of the disseminator role. The transfer involves tional of information to outside contacts the manager in Mintzberg's (1973) final informa­ role as a spokesman. Hodgson, Levinson and Zalenznik (1965), in analyzing the formation of the execu­ tive the role failed to distinguish between two roles in relation to outside contacts. placed the types of in the board could spokesman between the Mintzberg organi zation and two outsiders-the external influencers and the pub­ lic The constellation, general. be The external influencers could include of directors or shareholders, while the public customers, manager external can groups government agencies, and the press. provide specific inside information to or engage in the standard organi zational rhetoric designed for mass consumption. The Decisional decisional Roles. roles as encompassing the most crucial aspects of managerial work. mental Mintzberg feels managers were instru­ to the decision-making process of the organi zation because flow Mintzberg (1973) perceived the of their authority, their central position in the of information, and the strategic necessity of inte­ grating the decisional processes to the organization. 40 The first of the decisional roles is that of entrepre­ neur. the This role, according to Mintzberg (1973), involves initiation of organizational change. Mintzberg noted that other roles came into the role prior to entrepreneur­ ship. an Organizational awareness required was necessary to create problematic state of the system that Dissemination and leadership also may performance failed in this decisional role. Mintzberg to elaborate upon the processes by which entrepre­ neurship handler was implemented. full control. disturbance change. role, Performance as a disturbance finds the manager in a situation over which he or lacks the a change. precede she of monitoring handling Lundberg the during (1970) manager more believed that avoidance of Unlike the entrepreneur role, role involves involuntary noted that in performing this assumed more power and influence than routine the role involvement. manager disturbances Sayles (1964) may strive for stability and but may never achieve the ideal. While is usually perceived as dividing physical resources among competing factor, defining only resource allocation, the third decisional role, alternatives Mintzberg the physical according maintained role. a to some broader pr iori ti zing perspective in Organi zational resources involve not resources, but such abstract qualities as time, influence, manpower or reputation. 41 Mintzberg vital the role considered allocation to be a because in performing it the manager dictated emphasis receive. three resource that various organizational endeavors would Mintzberg divided resource allocation into components-scheduling of time, programming of work, and authorizing of actions. The placed managerial into bargaining Sayles a position should (1964) outside contact felt life for the leadership, spokesman of that manager. to this of or collective resource allocator. role dominated managers he studied. in the He all areas are a way of Negotiations must articulate with figurehead, Barnard's resource (1938) allocation, and appellate decision supports the compromising and negotiating position a manager. based upon Using role relayed conflicting Mintzberg's sets as comparison, the studies In this role the manager makes decision information compromising, related administrators. tors negotiation negotiations roles. which the organization is applied activities that a be in of reported also theory action a of researcher to a subordinate or as organi zational interpretation. (1973) frame by certain work character istics reference and basis and for reviewed certain descriptive positions of educational In reviewing building level administra­ (principals), the researcher examined Kmetz's (1982) study of five elementary principals and Martin's (1980) study of five secondary principals. The researcher then 42 examined local Larson, school Finally, district the studies Bussom and Vicar's (1981) study of six superintendents' work activities. researcher reviewed the limited number of on intermediate or county school superintendents' activity. Review of Building Administrator Work Behavior The ondary purpose principals, principals was principalship Mintzberg A of both the Martin (1980) study of sec­ and to with Kmetz (1982) study of elementary examine the the compatibility managerial of the behavior observed by (1973). Summary of Martin*s and Kmetz*s Reviews of Mintzberg*s Characteristics The Volume and Pace of Work Martin's (1980) revealed that with of 11 activities. principals work week. activities, studies exceed study his of five secondary principals principals work a 53-hour work week those hours being designated as after-school Kmetz' (1982) study of five elementary indicated that his principals work a 41.7 hour The subjects in his study also attended night which averaged 8.0 hours per week. Both would indicate that a principal's work week would 50 hours and would duty at least one night a week. require principals to be on 43 The pace cipals of would managers. engage be in Martin's in found Martin's (1980) and Kmetz' concordance study with Mintzberg's revealed that his principals 17.7 different activities an hour, while Kmetz 14.7 tasks per hour. principal (1982) prin­ engages in Both studies would indicate a a different task every 2.4 to 3.4 minutes. Variety, Brevity, and Fragmentation Martin's his (1980) study revealed that 50 percent of all principal's once. The were activities Kmetz interrupted Kmetz' and percentage short of duration. tasks. or Kmetz' activities per Kmetz task every manager's one by number finds of activities and their data displays the high fragmentation, interruption, and with Martin reporting similar results. elementary hour, while subjects completed 14.7 Martin's secondary subjects 17.7 activities an hour. (1982) studies data When comparing of tasks per hour differed between Martin and Kmetz. averaged least principals' work activities averaged ten less, number at There were similarities in duration of Kmetz' minutes The 38 percent of the time. time, characteristics interrupted (1982) study indicated his principals Martin's of were Both Martin (1980) and reported a similar engagement rate of a new three would work to four reinforce entails minutes. Analysis of both Mintzberg's observations that a a wide variety of tasks that are 44 frequently interrupted. interruptions were in Most of the principals' the form of phone calls and brief unscheduled meetings or exchanges. Verbal Media Preference The Martin (1980) study revealed that 89.2 percent of the principals' activities and 80.8 percent of their time was spent communicating verbally, while the Kmetz (1982) study indicated that 86.0 percent of the principals' acti­ vities and 70 percent of their time was spent in verbal communication. could be ings, Verbal in both studies identified as exchanges, phone, scheduled meet­ unscheduled monitoring and principals initiate Face-to-face to-face communication meetings, trips. announcements, The manner in which both sets of their contacts tours, verbal contacts is similar. were the dominant contacts. Face- contacts included scheduled meetings, unscheduled meetings and exchanges. The was dominant verbal form of communication in both studies communication. cated that face-to-face 72.4 percent of Martin's verbal revealed 62.5 percent. sidered another type of that spent the on was 8.0 percent. exchanges accounted for the principal's activities, while Kmetz (1982) indicated (1980) study indi­ 5.8 The telephone was con­ verbal mode. percent The Martin study of the principal's time was phone, while Kmetz' principals' phone time 45 Preference for Live Action Mintzberg preference than for live issues and are action persons rather reflective studies in (1973) stated that managers show a distinct indicated formal studies items planners. as certain and Kmetz' at a Both sets of principals in the rapid pace and completed general soon as possible to prevent falling behind when items arose, Martin's that principals spend very little time planning. worked Both the needed to principals be often completed. As a problem worked toward its solution even though it forced other tasks into the background. Martin's planning of study was that even though no formal observed, most of the principals had a plan action outlined in his or her mind. this Martin attributed "interscheme of activities” to the experience of the principals in principals avoided of revealed time, would but curtail his in study, Martin also observed that activities that required long periods the their case of an emergency, principals activities in order to devote full time to the crisis at hand. The Contact Network The to be Martin made elementary similar to (1980) noted by the principals' contact network was found that of secondary school principals. that principals 92.6 were percent of all contacts people under their 46 supervision, while Kmetz (1982) noted 89.3 percent were people under the direction of the building principal. The the two studies yielded dissimilar results regarding number reported of contacts made with parents. a low frequency of 2.0 Martin (1980) percent contacts as compared with 4.7 percent in the Kmetz study. It can be inferred, then, that the principals in both studies spent students a in responsible great their to deal time building. parents, superintendent, of Even school principals with and they are though board rarely staff members and the communicate with them in their daily activities. Kmetz and principals a day time they with percent a of was (1982) reported the elementary studied averaged 40 unscheduled meetings mean duration of 4.4 minutes. Eighty-six these principals' activities and 70% of their spent persons, and greatest part notes, Willower in personal contact with one or more another 8% was spent on the telephone. The of their noncontact time was spent writing completing reports, processing correspondence and similar chores. Martin principals as and as Willower reported secondary exhibiting the same "busy person" syndrome elementary principals. their time on desk work. ings , (1981) These people spent only 16% of The remainder was spent on meet­ both scheduled and unscheduled (45%) and exchanges, sometimes on the phone, sometimes in person (19%). The 47 rest of the charge and was on what might be called, being in being monitoring, latter time around, announcing, situations, the (i.e., touring, supervising, etc.). observing, In these principals positioned themselves visibly so as to invite further interaction. For trips both or meetings outside the building took only a small percentage tendent elementary and secondary school principals, of their time. Interactions with the superin­ or other central office people consumed a compar­ able small tors are part of their routine. locally bound and Building administra­ always open to any and all contacts. A Blend of Rights and Duties Mintzberg's heads of control, study organizations indicated that managers as often fail to exercise full but this can be disputed by the Martin and Kemtz studies. In exchanges and (1973) such the as analysis telephone of contact records for calls, scheduled meetings, unscheduled meetings, Martin's (1980) study indicated that 56.7 initiated percent of the principals' contacts were self­ contacts. highest percentage meeting. Both In the Martin and Kmetz studies, the of self-initiation was the scheduled of these rates succeed Mintzberg's find­ ings of 32 percent of self-initiation. A pals' than final work consideration is the purpose for the princi­ activities. Mintzberg (1973), Although categorized differently both Martin (1980) and Kmetz 48 (1982) developed purpose of the categories program, specific principals' were pupil control, to activities which maintenance promotedthe the The major maintenance, extracurricular, Organizational analyze work activities. organizational mined. such categories and school undeter­ included work overall school operation as staff and pupil personnel services, school plant, public relations, health and safety concerns. School programs curriculum. tions , were with those involvement with were day athletic undetermined to ries . involving (1982) activities events category fit These which student into was included about programs. contacts curricular failed staff curriculum like two areas: instruction and These activities contact planning included staff observa­ teaching methods, or Pupil control activities the principal discipline had direct problems. Extra­ which went beyond the school or for parent those meetings. activities The which one of the other four major catego­ activities were usually personal in nature phone calls excluded or errands. deskwork Martin (1980), Kmetz and personal sessions from the analysis of purpose. Organizational Martin and (1980) and maintenance Kmetz percent of activities. principals' tenance . time was was consistent between (1982) in both percent of time As little as one-third of the involved in organizational main­ 49 The largest secondary and variance was noted in pupil control with principals 14.7% of devoting 18.9% of their activities their time, compared with elementary prin­ cipals' 24.4% of activities but only 3.7% of their time. Putting all of this together, Willower colleagues (Kmetz and Martin) concluded that for building administrators, at an (1982) and his there unrelenting "variety, is a high volume of work completed pace. The work is characterized by, brevity and fragmentation of tasks, and prefer­ ences for verbal media and live action. Interestingly, strators is quite the behavior of these building admini­ similar to a group of educational program managers that Sproull (1981) studied. ter i zed her episodes people, 4) as subjects of 3) brief 2) oral...spent talking to unpredictable...without visible pattern...and were always approximately duration These duration, as, 1) choppy...with many much other directed as self directed. strators the routine of 60 busy and active. interactions a day Her admini­ They engaged in with an average 5.6 minutes, most always inside, not outside building, people She charac­ and often with others setting the agenda. were busy, they interacted serially with a great many people, and the topics tend to change with the Kmetz, John T. and Donald J. Willower. "Elementary School Principals' Work Behavior." Educational Administration Quarterly, Vol. 18, No. 4 (Fall 1982), pg. 72. 50 person the and be initiated by the other person. manager...is the initiator of "Even when interaction, usually to attend a topic raised by someone else." These managers facilitators it is 11 were not technicians or experts; they are and they facilitate the coming and going of people and events within the routine. Review of Local School District Superintendent Work Behavior A study major was purpose of Larson, Bussom and Vicars' (1981) to systematically study the nature of a school superintendent's work description of job. outcome from the data collection effort using The structured narrative where the number on was the a job superintendent interacted of of a school superintendent's data set of 79 days of record, based on 560 hours of observation. focuses he nature observation study whom the activity and to provide a detailed people in The general, by reporting on worked, how he spent his time, with, who initiated the contact, the involved, and the purpose of these interactions. Sproull, Lee S. "Managing Education Programs: A Micro-behavioral Analysis." Human Organization, Vol. 40, No. 2, 1981, pg. 116. 51 Where do Superintendents Work? The their was superintendents, time in their office. "other areas cafeteria, similar of as a group, spent two-thirds of in learning places on the The next most used location school center, system," industrial a school campus. such as the arts the superintendents grounds, activity took they there; or They spent about 9% their time away from the school facilities. school shop, While the spent almost all of their time on averaged less than ten minutes per in contrast, activities away from campus only 8.8% of the superintendents’ time, but averaged almost 40 minutes. How do Superintendents Spend Their Time? To answer this question, the observed activities were classified these categories (1973) added of in the 29.7% ing seven categories. The their and "other". time 3.2 on the minutes, telephone, and spent 30.9% of The researcher Superintendents spent 10.7% their phone calls phone calls made up 20.6% of total number of activities. study first five of were developed and defined by Mintzberg his study of chief executives. "travel" averaged their into their The superintendents in time on desk work and of their time in unscheduled meetings; the remain­ 39.6% of their time was spread over the rest of five categories. 52 It is interesting superintendents others. The spent this accounted their note the amount of time that interpersonal interaction with of time absorbed by interpersonal calls, scheduled meetings, and meetings-— totals about 53% for the group, and activities. of in percent contact— telephone unscheduled to for over 55% of the total number of their Since time contacts consumed more than one-half and activities, obvious and important questions arise concerning their nature. With Whom do Superintendents Interact? As might largest be expected, the superintendents spent the percentage of their their assistant superintendent. an proportion of time (21.4%) with individuals who not such as business the did same part frequency managers and However, they totaled almost of the school system (i.e., "Outsiders"), citizens (other than parents) and members of the community. amount custodians, (11.3%). business with subordinates, were as (22.0%) immediate equal such time In of Furthermore, principals got about of the superintendent's time (12.9%) as bus fact, contact drivers, the and kitchen superintendents had workers a higher with the custodial group than they did with building principals (17.8% versus 14.5%). 53 Superintendents with their dents to things peers. call as school most attended frequent of own 13.0% of their time in contact It was not uncommon for superinten­ nearby addition, dents. spent superintendents closings of the area and to discuss such state aid formulas. superintendents meetings in the In study with other superinten­ Surprisingly, there was a relatively small amount contact between school superintendents and members of their boards— only 2.1% of contacts and 3.9% of time. Who Initiates These Contacts? The mean statistic to intendent, (i.e., a frequency is the most others involved in the contact, person the clock scheduled, reoccurring contact), and The other party tended to initiate approximately half of interpersonal contacts (49.2%). tendent relevant describe who initiated contacts: the super­ regularly mutual. one percent initiated initiated duration of (13.8%) 5.3 36.3% of contacts tended to have the contacts; self or other tended minutes). The superin­ to be brief (a mean Mutually initiated contacts a longer mean duration (9 minutes). The majority (85.6%) were paired (one-to-one) only accounted ofsuperintendents’ as contacts opposed to group, but they for 37% of the contact time. Thus paired 54 contacts were frequent but brief (4.2 minutes) while group contacts were infrequent but long (16 minutes). What are the Purposes of Superintendents8 Contacts? In of order to describe in a systematic way the purposes the more than 3,000 contacts that occurred during the observations, framework about a was the modification utilized. patterns the Mintzberg (1973) These data give an indication contacts for the school superin­ tendents as requests, and negotiation sessions occurred infrequently, but they when contrast, a of of group. did, action and frequent brief dents time spent in inant a long they were requests, information, but Nonmanager ial of manager giving long considerable duration. were of In relatively Also, the superinten­ amount of their interaction strategy sessions. Review was the predom­ purpose in terms of frequency and time spent. little status requests, receiving information occurrences. work, Very the school superintendents' interaction activ­ ity was absorbed in ceremony and scheduling. Combined as defined giving by Mintzberg information, of the of their was related to information handling (1973)— receiving information, and review— accounted for about 64% superintendents' contact activities and over 65% intendents' time categories contact time. contact spent Approximately 24% of the super­ activities taking requests and 13% of their contact from others and making 55 their own strategy of requests. Decision making categories (i.e., and negotiation) comprised just a little over 5% the superintendents' contact activities and took only 10% of his contact time. The dent results Study about of can the Larson et al. School Superinten­ be compared with Mintzberg's conclusions managerial work, and similarities and differences can be highlighted. Quantity and Pace of Managerial Work Mintzberg to day is substantial hour, or 80 using quantity and that only pace pace pace is unrelenting. in an eight-hour day. data composite The From an confirms this proposition; means in describing the of work ignores variability among and A cursory analysis of a measure of (frequency of events per hour) suggests there were considerable differences among the school superintendents In that the quantity of work averaged approximately ten events the individuals. work the events viewpoint, however, within and superintendents overall the proposed be done, or that the manager chooses to do, during the school per (1973) addition, observation as each period to the amount of work each performed. superintendent's work load varied by (fall, winter, and spring), by day and even within a single day. Although there superintendent's were times of high work demand on the time, there were also numerous low work 56 demand periods. During superintendents quired work, disposing tended such of periods to as of perform reading low demand, most postponable or unre­ professional journals, promotional mail, or going on tours of the also that school grounds. Mintzberg chief executives recognizes can the noted cannot power the executive's search continually still. activities part of dents and attended functions, numerous unusual obtained new from job-related information, be direct observation of evening self-reports statement. civic substantiate All of the superinten- meetings, local political other community events in addition to the evening at Nor own mind, which has been trained to evening and for escape from an environment that participants' Mintzberg's normal work hours and status of their position. for Conclusions after the these school-related events. superintendent to functions to It was not pass on information others in the school organization. Brevity, Variety and Fragmentation Mintzberg contended that a manager's job is character­ ized by brevity, that a large brief, tendents periods variety, and fragmentation. He noted majority of managerial activities are very even for chief executives. The school superin­ in the study experienced even briefer activity than those reported by Mintzberg and others. The 57 school superintendents tives are similar to the police execu­ (Larson et al., 1981) and show lower mean durations than the (1979) Mintzberg studies. Mintzberg's item to At belief item brevity (1973) of in first that a and glance managers variety activity the tends Kurke these data support continually move from of episodes. to and Aldrich vary However, the considerable among individual school superintendents. It seems factors He to can, his the superintendent can manipulate these different degrees to change his work pattern. for example, encourage or discourage visitors to office; he can even make modifications in the office layout to facilitate or restrict interpersonal contact. Larson, school there Bussom district were dent's periods— "the Vicars superintendents times time, and (1981) study of local indicated that although of high work demand on the superinten­ there were also superintendent's numerous low work demand work was characterized by lumpiness. This concept is supported by Duigan (1980) who concluded from that superintendents’ administrative behavior is not the generally as his observational data of superintendents planned and suggested in the literature. 12 organized as is sometimes "The superintendent works Larson, Lars L., Robert S. Bussom and William M. Vicars. "The Nature of a School Superintendent's Work-Final Technical Report." March, 1981, pg. 31. 58 in a and world of action where uninvited verbal encounters imposed deadlines order to tives and and who then frustrated problems 13 work.” his practitioner chooses crises. finds problems, generates alterna­ the who optimum solution, we see a is faced with an array of Confronted with a myriad of tasks responsibilities rarely Instead of a calm and controlled diagnoses individual and play havoc with attempts to bring of the job, the superintendent sufficient time to analyze his problems nor plan his strategies. Batchler the (1981) variety and the Australian provide guilty fragmentation of the work activities of administrator. comfort for also conducted a study commenting on to the spending school Batchler9s findings administrator who feels time accomplishing little more than coping with ambiguity, frustration and disruptions. The Use of Different Media Mintzberg different media— unscheduled managers telephone (1973) mail, meetings, are and found and strongly scheduled that managers used five telephone, scheduled meetings, tours. He pointed out that attracted and to the verbal media— unscheduled meetings— with verbal contacts accounting for up to 75% of a manager9s 13 Duignan, P. "Administrative Behavior of School Superintendents: A Descriptive Study.” The Journal of Educational Administration, 18, (1), 1980, pg. 25. 59 time. the As noted school time earlier,the interpersonal contacts of superintendents accounted and 55% of their total activities. superintendents varied time interpersonal contacts of for spent 48% study in to a high of 74%. tends scores considerably to support 53% of their Also, individual in the percent of ranging from a low Thus while the Larson, et al. the proposition, it also under­ the significant impact that individual differences have on the generalizability of the proposition. Jon a Morris self acts (1979) conducted extensive research using reporting classification system of administrative (behaviors) analyzing a sample of twelve superinten­ dents who twenty randomly selected five minute blocks of time, per day for twelve days. administration environment tendents takes and are the oriented He concluded that school place in an intensely verbal contact networks of school superin­ toward interaction with subordi­ nates at the expense of external contacts. In (1981), a highly examined tendent. They communicating. dyads; although referenced study, Pitner and Ogawa the day to day behavior of the superin­ conclude that, Most this of "The super intendency is communication occurs in it is characteristically brief and fragmented and, it usually involves subordinates, members of 60 boards of education or members of the community at large 14 are often involved." Also commenting tendency, tors whose day for very in was large verbal Gaily's job ten (1986) study of eight administra­ behavior was observed for five hours per days each. proportion contacts, telephone on the verbal nature of the superin­ calls and He concluded, in part, that a of administrators9 time was spent whether by means of direct talks administrators usually relate or to people on a one-to-one basis or in dyads. Scheduled Meetings The dent results study scheduled other the do consumed of in Mintzberg9s contention that The superintendents, as a group, spent time 30% on of deskwork (31%). their time. meetings Superintendent, (19%) support meetings take more of a manager9s time than any their scheduled the Larson et al. school superinten­ not activity. most 13% of who scheduled Unscheduled meetings time and scheduled meetings only The percent varied spent the meetings, by of individual, largest did time amount spent in butone of time not approach the 75% reported by Mintzberg for one of his managers. 14 Pitner, Nancy J. and Rodney T. Ogawa. "Organizational Leadership: The Case of the School Superintendent." Educational Administration Quarterly. Vol. 17, No. 2, Spring, 1981, pg. 49. 61 Tours Mintzberg time on this; with (1973) tours. they found that managers spent little The school superintendent data confirmed averaged only 4.6% of their time on tours and the exception of one superintendent who spent almost 11% of his time on tours, there was little variation. External Contacts Mintzberg serve to proposed that top level managers as a connecting link between their organization and outsiders. 23% (1973) The school superintendents as a group spent of their contact time dealing with outsiders compared Mintzberg's individuals 50%. once again These large highlights differences between the danger of only using composite results. Subordinates Managers to in Mintzberg's study spent between one-third one-half of their contact time with subordinates. The school superintendents spent 59% of their time with subor­ dinates. appears with Inspection of the individual data reveals what to be an inverse relationship between time spent subordinates spend and time spent with outsiders. Time with subordinates versus outsiders can describe the individual manager's internal-external orientation. Superiors Mintzberg time (about found that managers spent relatively little 10%) with their superiors. This result was 62 confirmed by the superintendents who, as a group, spent only 3.9% of their time with superiors. Comparisons with Other Superintendent Work Behavior on superin­ Studies Other observational tendents’ activities Mintzberg's district spring of Pitner (1978), week a the suburbs a also been undertaken. chief large who was year. focusing executives (18,000 was a school students) observed for One of suburban one week in the A second study was conducted by who observed three school superintendents contiguous to a large Midwestern city for one each. large five of school in have (1973) superintendent studies Finally, Kurke and Aldrich managerial (1979) , as part of study, observed a school superinten­ dent for one week in 1978. None of these studies reported on the location of the superintendent’s (1973) of activities, all used Mintzberg's classification schemes for activities and purposes interactions. not but Exact comparisons between studies are always possible, due to modifications each researcher made in the basic classification process. A comparison superintendents Mintzberg all four studies of whom the had contact with is difficult, since both (1973) and Kurke and Aldrich (1979) counted all organization ifications across members as subordinates. included directors, Their other class­ trade organizations, 63 clients, are and suppliers. easily translated to a school setting: directors are equivalent include to all majority Unfortunately, only two of these the board of education, and subordinates employees of the school district. While the of a school superintendent's time was spent with subordinates and the in terms of the contacts and time spent with studies others, there is some variability among members of the board of education (i.e., directors). Pitner dinate provided categories. tacts 38%; (1978) with She reported the percentage of con­ immediate teachers 2%. In the fewer contacts an expanded number of subor­ subordinates to be 35%; principals 20%; and custodians, kitchen workers, etc. Larson et al. study, there were relatively with teachers and considerable more with custodians, kitchen workers, etc. We can contacts also make requests, are so al., were Mintzberg’s of the involved as the purpose of While similarities are regard to status requests, information, to cast studies. and giving serious doubt on the For example, Larson, et with review 44% of the time, whereas superintendent this activity. of are a number of major differences, and severe comparability with receiving information— there some comparison across the four studies. apparent— particularly manager a spent only 11% of his time in 64 Content Another work line of behavior content. The of Huff superintendent study by The of issue on the study their Although it did speak the by analyzing job issues they addressed. case study of three suburban management of brought issue five to to light seven major management, major themes, avoidance of constituents, rehearsal as a key aspect framing not examining effective surprising to describe the and Pondy (1983) analyzed the job of the superintendents8 including; attempted superintendents focused issues. inquiry and studied incremental reframing of issues. the process of issue management, it to the actual issues addressed that would aid this researcher in the determination of role. This study in void was filled by Reed and Connors (1983). The drew heavily on James Thompson8s work Organi zations Action tions , (1967) including organizational which contends that complex organi za­ school levels of districts, consist responsibility. of three They are, 1) Technical, 2) Managerial, and 3) Institutional. The Reed and Connors study contends that the primary activity of between technical environments, disrupt domains the administration and is to organi zational to coordinate exchanges levels and task respond to uncertainties which may exchange relationship between organi zational (job issues) and their related work environment. 65 They conclude that the work associated with the super­ intendent cal encompasses a variety of tasks. level, employee superintendents contracts of positions of managing At the techni­ have the task of negotiating and selecting personnel for a variety At the managerial level, they have the task the and facilities. the task of district’s transportation, food service At the institutional level, they have representing, supporting and defending all organi zational domains to all task environments. From content, issues" to the studies of there emerges a dichotomy between "educational and this "management as the the superintendent issues." world of by job Shannon (1988) refers ideas vs. the world of operations. A number of contemporary researchers have noted this dichotomy. Pitner's When studying the job of the superintendent, study intendent 's (1981) time is concludes that most of the super­ spent on noninstructional or non- educational issues. Wallace (1985) superintendent functions. (busses, occupy is He budget, found heavily that the oriented job content of the toward management concludes the four B ’s of administration buildings and bonds) have tended to much of the attention of school superintendents at the expense of educational leadership issues. 66 Littleton and Turner questionnaire completed across be (1984) analyzed the results of a by 251 school board members Texas and found that more responsibility tended to delegated to superintendents for budgeting, financing, personnel, while school less facilities responsibility and community relations, tended to be delegated in the areas of curriculum and student discipline. Analyzing dents who making ies the results of the 240 sample superinten­ filled out situational administrative decision inventory, Sorenson (1985) identified six categor­ of job Personnel content: Relations, Relations, concluded and that 6) the 1) 4) Business, 2) Instruction, 3) Student Relations, 5) Community Non-instructional Operations. He majority of attention is directed to the noninstructional aspects of the superintendent's job. Review of Intermediate School District Superintendent Work Behavior The researcher exists on district the noted previously that little research work behavior of the intermediate school superintendent. Semantics of the job title and varying organi zational play part in the research void but surprisingly little is a known about this structure from state to state may occupation. Available studies address the changing focus of the intermediate school dis­ trict superintendent's work and the source of authority 67 of that work but no studies were found that addressed the managerial behavior of the intermediate school district superintendent. Hill, Myers and Zuelke ments ta. of the county school superintendency in North Dako­ They offered three broad sources of work authority: 1. Work specified by statute 2. Work required by regulation 3. Work initiated by the superintendent or invited by one or more of the constituencies The study found obsolete. initiated county or or and from because - a there authority researchers to data gathering haphazard exists of state reports. on the The work very different from county to approach no policy experiences The investiga­ "The of to service functions governance, not even advisory or determine trend is priority. The quite clear, from North Dakota and other states: and reporting functions are giving way to service functions." 15 Hill, was centered that the present system permits - probably conclude, the requirements incumbent to incumbent. set both of the statutory requirements transmittal invited believed predicts many Regulatory organization tors (1982) studied the job require­ 15 Richard L., Elizabeth A. Myers and Dennis C. Zuelke. "The North Dakota County Superintendency in the 80's: Is it An Anachronism?" Planning and Change, 1982, p. 200. 68 A comprehensive superintendent Department was of of the conducted Education superintendents statutory study in office of the county by the 1986. Oklahoma State Duties of 46 county were analyzed and educational benefits of provisions and additional activities were evaluated. Statutory duties superintendent's tendents or consuming than as a were report. invited by found to be present in each Services initiated by superin­ constituents statutory duties. were more time The data was also used compilation and consensus of the current duties and functions of the office of county superintendent. The data was organized into three general areas: The 1. Responsibilities, functions and duties associated with statutory powers and duties, 2. Responsibilities, functions and duties associated with initiated or invited services, 3. Educational benefits to students. investigators conclude that the trend in the super in- tendent's job is away from regulatory functions and toward service functions. Hendrick ment (1984) investigated the historical develop­ of the bureaucratization of a county school superin­ tendent 's office since its creation in 1893. collected data from historical and scholarly studies. The data was analyzed to determine the process twenty-six interviews The study and from works, documents and empirical 69 of the county school office bureaucratization and the data implications for school administrators. The researchers dent's conclude that the county superinten­ office has evolved as a wild organization creating new services the general to meet clients' needs. trend superintendents's of job, the The study supports intermediate school district moving from regulatory functions to the service function. SUMMARY The researcher has attempted to describe " the state of the research" concerning managerial behavior. ing this knowledge Compact­ base into a consistent, coherent and comprehensive summation is the final step of the review. The researcher managerial for behavior employed Mintzberg's propositions on as the conceptual frame of reference this study. Thus, Mintzberg's conclusions became the "common thread" which ran throughout the research review. For the most part, Mintzberg1s six managerial work characteristics were found to be compatible with the mana­ gerial behavior principals of the elementary and secondary school and the local school district superintendents. The work of these educational managers can be character­ ized bys 1. An unrelenting pace 2. Variety, brevity and fragmentation 3. Verbal media preference 70 4. Live action preference 5. Contact networking 6. A blend of rights and duties However, some distinctions were evident among these admin­ istrative hectic for brevity for positions. principals than for superintendents. Also, and fragmentation of work activities were greater principals were For example, the work pace was more than generally superintendents. internal for Contact networks principals and relatively balanced between internal and external agents for superin­ tendents . exhibited Further, a blend superintendent had job activities to be both of groups' rights greater and job responsibilities duties, however, the flexibility in discretionary (job rights) than did principals who tend dominated by fixed job responsibilities (job duties). Finally, there super intendents than school principals. of greater var iability among the in exhibi ting these manager ial character­ istics that was there was among elementary and secondary This leads the researcher to believe individual superintendents may have a greater degree individual control over their activities than do secondary and elementary principals. Turning researcher studies from job characteristics to job roles, the than compared and contrasted previous research addressing theories of job role. The role of the 71 educational manager is compatible with Mintzberg's three role sets; 1. Interpersonal Roles 2. Informational Roles 3. Decisional Roles Each made group through information However, the of educational managers utilized contacts interpersonal to assist in relations to give and get their decision making duties. the types of frequency of interpersonal contact, types of information exchanged and the complexity and impact of decisions made differed significantly between principals and local school district super intendents. If were differences demonstrated school district questioned findings job characteristics and job roles in the studies examining various local administrative positions, the researcher the when in degree of applicability applied to intermediate of Mintzberg's school district super intendents. As was a school studies noted earlier, in reviewing theliterature, research void involving the study ofintermediate district superintendents. that position. examined The superintendent educational job is managers an independent As described there unit above, the There were no available managerial behavior of this of the intermediate school district separate and, and and distinct from other as such, should be studied as conclusions drawn accordingly. differences began to emerge when 72 comparing district in building level administrators to local school superintendents. The researcher was interested determining if these differences form a continuum when including a study of the intermediate school district superintendent. Finally, results of the this researcher study in intends the to context examine of the education, leadership, and institutions. The researcher findings say is interested in assessing what these about the current state of schools and school administration in Michigan. And, if engaged would on in like our school administrators are so maintenance, the researcher organizational deeply to explore the implications of these findings the ability of school leaders to effectuate change and improvement in our public school system. The researcher contrast those any would also like to compare and his conclusions on public sector management with of private inherent sector management and speculate as to differences that might exist in the manage­ ment of these two institutions. It is anticipated that the integration of the results of this study in various with previous research endeavors analyzed contextual settings will extend the knowledge base of the managerial behavior of school administrators. CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURES The and purpose explain of the this work research study was to describe and role characteristics of the intermediate school district superintendent. Consistent qualitative research purpose to with the nature of the research purpose, a field research methodology was utilized. methodology had to beinductive The because the was to describe what the researcher did not know, develop from a study of specific intermediate superin­ tendents a general statement district superintendents' research had might the to interest moment, tendent. probe be of intermediate administrative comprehensive the school behavior. The to capture, not what researcher or draw his attention for but to capture the whole job of the superin­ And deeply, intermediate it had to be intensive in that it had to not superficially, school district into the complex set of superintendent work behaviors. A conduct number this of field research methods were available to study. Mintzberg (1973) offers seven with accompanying advantages and disadvantages. (see Table 1) Structured Observation Methodology The researcher chose structured observation as the method for this study because it made it possible to 73 TABLE 1 Seven Methods to Study Manogerld Work Method Applications Major Advantages) Major Disadvantage^) AppropriateUse Secondly Sources Neustadt Convenient; draws on analyses of other Data frequently unavailable, inappropriate, or incomplete To study job of inaccessible manager Questionnaire and Interview Ohio State Leadership Group Convenient Data of questionable reliability To study manager's perception of his job Critical Incident and Sequence of Episodes Flanagan, Marples Allows for intense probing Parts of job not covered by the data To study certain aspects of job in depth (e.g., decision­ making) Diary Carlson, Stewart Efficient (Le., large sample possible relative to researcher's time investment) No help in developing under­ standing of new dimensions; some problems with inter­ pretation, consistency, and reliability To study characteristics of large sample of differing managerial jobs Activity Sampling Kelly, Wirdenius Efficient; recording by researcher Liule help in developing understanding of new dimensions; noncontinuous, hence interpretation difficult To study observational aspects of different jobs in one location Unstructured Observation Sayles, Dalton, Hodgson et al. Enables researcher to understand new dimensions and to probe Nonsystematic (may lose important data; cannot replicate); inefficient To study the most com­ plex, least understood aspects of manager's job (content) Structured Observation Guest, Ponder, Mintzberg, Radomsky Enables researcher to understand new dimensions, to probe, to be systematic Inefficient (consumes much researcher time); difficult to interpret some activities To study at same lime content and characteristics of small sample of mana­ gers'job 75 develop theory inductively, to observe and question intensively and to be systematic. methodology as follows, "Structured observation...couples the flexibility discipline The Each in the the the manager as he performs his outgoing mail) number of ways a purpose) important during with certain types of structured data. observes or participants, one observation observed event (a verbal contact or a piece incoming researcher open-ended seeking researcher work. of of of Mintzberg defines this is categorized by the (for example, duration, as in the diary method, but with difference. The categories are developed observation and after takes place. the researcher process, not by the standing literature or his own prior him. is but by influenced in his In effect, experience, is it coding the single event taking place before In addition to categorizing events, the researcher able to record detailed information on important incidents and to collect anecdotal materials."'*' Structured the part prior to this, this involving of observation involved a large investment on the researcher in simply gathering the data the application technique numerous did of any treatment. not subjects. ^Mintzberg, Henry. New York, NY: Harper 231-232. & lend Because of itself to research But, it did allow detailed The Nature of Managerial Work. Row, Publishers, 1973, pp. 76 analysis of the work of a small number of participants and was well suited for this type of study. Guba using and Lincoln (1983) cited several arguments for non-participant observation when doing qualitative studies. They summarized the benefits of using this research technique: "Observation grasp maximizes motives, beliefs, scious behaviors, allows the see it, ability to concerns, interests, uncon­ customs, and the like; observation inquirer to see the world as his subjects to live in their time frames, to capture the phenomenon culture the, inquirer’s in in and on its own terms, and to grasp the its observation own provides emotional reactions that in is, use himself the observer natural, ongoing environment; the inquirer with access to the of the group introspectively, a real sense it permits the observer to as a data source; and observation allows to build on tacit knowledge, both his own and that of members of the group.” 2 However, no methodology is without limitation. Willower observation: observation (1982) stated the following about structured "Like approach all methods, Mintzberg's structured has its weaknesses: 1) activities that are of overriding importance but occur infrequently 2 Guba, E. G. and Y. Evaluations. San Francisco: 1983, pg. 193. S. Lincoln. Jossey-Bass, Effective Publishers, 77 are of deemphasized; 2) the meaning and the symbolic content activities ponents; are neglected as are their emotional com­ 3) the social context within which action occurs is slighted; and 4) variables that do not lend themselves to classification "presence" or as what activities Goffman (such as administrator labeled personal front) are missed entirely. Nevertheless, sense of the specific The methodology realities record tion. the of the results administrative of administrative a general life and a allocation of managerial atten­ concerning work provides are fairly the characteristics of consistent across the studies".^ Structured efficient the methodology intermediate tionally, berg 1s this observation the use classification researcher's examining the to school of proved to be an effective and record the work activities of district superintendent. Addi­ structured observation and Mintz­ system findings managerial allowed with behavior for comparison of those of other studies of other educational administrators. 3 Willower, Donald J. "School Organizations: Per­ spectives in Juxtaposition." Educational Administration Quarterly. Vol. 18, No. 3, Summer, 1982, pg. 102. 78 Validity and Reliability The ent value of scientific research is partially depend­ on the ability of the researcher to demonstrate the credibility at of his findings. qualitative Reichardt A common criticism directed investigation (e.g., Magoon, 1977, & Cook, 1979) is that it fails to adhere to the canons of reliability and validity. LeCompte and Goetz ethnographic research and in lacking ethnographers potential develop state, are and "The results of regarded as unreliable generalizability. Some ignore such criticisms; others, recognizing to strategies implement often validi ty threats researcher (1982) the credibility of their findings, addressing attempted not to the ignore issues. This but to develop and procedures to strengthen the credibility of the findings of his research endeavor. Reliability scientific addresses would is concerned findings. the discover The issue of the same with the replicability of question of reliability whether independent researchers phenomena or generate the same constructs in the same or similar settings. In this research research instrument. endeavor, the investigator was the Consequently, it was important to 4 LeCompte, Margaret D. and Judith P. Goetz. "Problems of Reliability and Validity in Ethnographic Research." Review of Educational Research, Vol. 52, No. 1, Spring, 1982, pg. 32. 79 ensure was observer reliability. conducted During that the to test training open-ended for of field To that end, a pilot study inter-rater the raters, it became apparent notes could produce inconsistent categorization. As Record 1) was developed. (Appendix allowed for reliability. a consistent result, a Structured Observation Part A of the record application of quantifiable data in the following categories: 1. Duration of activity 2. Type of activity 3. Number and type of participants 4. Form of initiation 5. Location of activity After and the Structured Observation Record was developed tested, it also became apparent that a common set of definitions gorize in required activities. (Appendix when was 2) Bussom activities. study and Consequently, a Data Coding Manual was adopted to afford a common nomenclature observing this to uniformly observe and cate­ The Data Coding Manual used was a modification of one used by Larson, Vicars (1981) in their study of local school district superintendents. These in the two documents proved to be extremely beneficial training process. sample two With for the superintendent raters. and conducting of the observation training was and observed process in place, a for one week by the Observation sessions ran approximately one 80 hour each, one consecutive the in the a.m. and one in the p.m. for five days. researcher At the conclusion of the pilot study, conducted an analysis of on each raters' record to determine reliability. Eighty-four eleven each hours activities and rater. comparing category. the twenty-five The each were degree of the recorded encompassing minutes of observation by of variance was determined by raters' observation records by If identical entries were made when recording same activity Comparing the dimension, no variance was noted. five activity dimensions by rater resulted in the following findings. Type of Activity All pilot nine types study. type of In all ten of the observation periods, the activity raters. of activity were recorded during the was recorded consistently between the No variance was present between the raters. Type and Number of Participants Ten categories subject the seven categories unknown. not were utilized in this study. participant observed types were observed. Of Those included teachers, students and An analysis of the ten observation periods also revealed and individuals who interact with the superintendents ten, number of no of number variance between the raters in the type and participants of people recorded. That is, the position interacting with the subject 81 superintendents were recorded consistently between raters. Form of Initiation All four example, the subject of impetus meeting form of consistent initiation for superintendent, scheduled The forms a were contact observed. could be For by the the opposite party, a previously (the clock) or could be indeterminate. initiation between the for two personal raters in contacts were all observation periods with no variance present. Location of Activity All Both five locations of work activity were recorded. raters identified the location of the activities consistently throughout the ten observation periods with no variance. Duration of Activity Variations the 84 of up activities raters to one minute were noted in 47 of observed. It was noted that both the used watches with sweep second hands that were not synchronized at the beginning of the observation period. Although there duration of the activities, no variance was greater than minute. It was concluded that the use of a synchro­ one nized was a minimal difference in the recorded digital clock would have eliminated any variance in 82 time noted. Regardless, investigator significant that and the did it was the conclusion of this variance in the duration is not not adversely impact the results of the Pilot Study. It was Pilot the of this researcher that the Study proved that through the use of the Structured Observation principal observe and conclusion Record and investigator the the can Data Coding consistently Manual, the and accurately day to day work patterns of a superintendent accurately reliability of development and record his or her activities. Thus, the study was enhanced as a result of the execution of uniform definitions, forms and procedures utilized in the pilot study. To further reviewed numerous behavior. study with CEO's other studies and addressing (1982) Martin's (1980) Larson, compared utilized the study study Bussom district convinced researcher manager ial he reviewed Mintzberg's (1978) and contrasted that study to educational managers. school the research endeavors using the same methodology Kmetz’s treat reliability, Specifically, of applied with ensure of of and The researcher compared elementary principals, and secondary principals together Vicars' (1981) study of local superintendents. Comparing the studies this researcher that the methods and procedures in this data study in did indeed observe, record and a consistent and accurate manner and 83 the findings are consistent with what other researchers might find under similar conditions. While of reliability is concerned with the replicability scientific findings, accuracy of scientific requires determining effectively validity, is concerned with the findings. Establishing validity the represent the validity extent to empirical researcher which conclusions reality. tailored his To work to the six indices of subjective adequacy stated by Homans 1. ensure (1950): Time; the more time an individual spends with a group the more likely it is that he will obtain an accurate members school perception of the social meaning its live by. district By observing four intermediate superintendents one week each, the researcher witnessed the equivalent of 11% of the total time in which one superintendent would work in a 180 day school year. Additionally, week of efforts observation superintendent's the were previous is typical twelve made to ensure each representative schedule months by of of the reviewing appointment calendars; 2. Place: the researcherto accurate closer the should observational the physical proximity of the people be study his he studies, the more interpretations. examined This the superintendent 84 in situ. actions Consequently, and the study captured the activities of his actual work environment; 3. Social circumstances; social circumstances encounters within community of the which the increases number and variety of social his the observer structure accuracy. of the Every minute every work day was observed and recorded. verbal contacts noted. and written All communication were Consequently, this study provides a great variety and amount of data; 4. Language; share the a common researcher's school was researcher language. sixteen years administrator, gained in an and his subject should Because of of experience the as a the last fourteen of which intermediate school district, common language was utilized. ing of Lack of understand­ issues or purpose as a result of unfamil­ iarity with topics addressed was not evidenced; 5. Intimacy; researcher noted the the greater degree of intimacy achieve, the greater his accuracy. the As earlier, the researcher "lived the life" of superintendent quently, all during each work day. Conse­ actions and activities were subject to description and analysis; 6. Consensus; confirmation preted the by that the meanings inter­ observer are correct. At the end 85 of each with observation the period, superintendent the researcher met to confirm the data and remove any uncertainties. With the these six indices in mind, Homans concludes that researcher who undertakes an observational study will have some assurance that his findings reach an acceptable degree of validity. To further researcher ensure the validity of this study, the sought confirmation of his inferences from the incumbent intermediate At conclusion the school of each observation reviewed conclusions drawn for that observation session. and there the was the subject period, researcher case, with district superintendents. the data the and In every agreement by each subject that the data conclusion presented an accurate description and explanation of their respective managerial behaviors for the time period observed. Finally, concluding each subject with each. its with interviews were conducted with the results of the study being shared Again, all subjects concurred that the data, treatment and its findings were valid perceptions and accurately described the job realities of the inter­ mediate school district superintendent. Consequently, efforts were findings the work the made researcher believes that extensive to represented activities ensure a that reliable and the study and its and valid portrayal of managerial behavior of the 86 intermediate school district superintendent. and Goetz and reliability model. (1982) factors by an impossible goal for any research investigators conscientious research reputable may approach these balancing of the various a problems and goals. For decades, ethnographers have used a variety of strategies reduce been is enhancing credibility within the context of their particular to conclude, "Attaining absolute validity Nevertheless, objectives As LeCompte threats to reliability and validity. This has major source for one of the defining characteris- tics of present-day ethnography-its multimodality". 5 Effects of Presence of Researcher Any researcher cognizant direct observation must be of any influence his presence might have on the subject (Hawthorne subject to meetings calls employing observer are and Effects). set mail influence. up Some activities are not For example, scheduled well in advance and incoming phone are not influenced by the presence of an observer. Other that meetings were more susceptible. fewer calls meetings and originated phone would take place as a result of the presence of the researcher, exposed unscheduled It is possible but given the information the researcher was to, there is no reason to believe that activities were delayed to avoid the researcher's exposure to them. ^LeCompte & Goetz, op. cit., p g . 55. 87 On occasion, small there was a tendency, particularly in group meetings, for participants to try to draw the researcher tact into and not researcher the conversation. By avoiding eye con­ sitting at the table with the subjects the was able to distance himself and remain in the role of a non-participant observer. When the researcher others subject superintendent left his office, the walked a few paces behind so as not to inhibit from ally, this prevented approaching the superintendent. Addition­ allowed the superintendent to move freely and the superintendent from engaging in conversa­ tion with the researcher. The er's only Hawthorne estimation superintendent the week meetings, who had large case, to used the frequent tion not got with was was occurred during scheduled meetings. progressed. presence of Effects of note in the research­ to the researcher's presence as But, the to exception most participants at of immediate subordinates unscheduled contacts, the researcher's unexpected. meetings evident, The In most cases, with the excep­ where the researcher's presence introductions were necessary. In no researcher's knowledge, did anyone express misgivings about the researcher's presence. The researcher concluded that the basic events of the superintendent's week were not subject to major change simply because the researcher was present. 88 Data Collection 1* Preliminary Data For each nary superintendent studied, a body of prelimi­ data was collected before the actual observation began. Information About the Work Week The of researcher the entries was reviewed, usually with the assistance superintendent's secretary, one year of calendar to the week chosen for observation ensure that representative superintendent. of the typical work week of the In each case, it was determined that the observation week represented a "typical" work week. Information About the School District Information chart, staff reports used and to collected roster, district district environment the names and an organizational directory, brochures. familiarize the included annual audit This information was the researcher with each district, in which the superintendent operates and titles of individuals who will likely interact with the superintendent. Information About the Superintendent Information his background. obtained. This was collected Copies of on the superintendent and personal resumes were also allowed the researcher to become better 89 acquainted used to with each compare superintendent individual. the with This representativeness the data was also of the sample population in terms of years of experience, training, age, sex, etc. 2. Primary Data Recording and Coding of Observations "Structured work data" was collected on the pattern of behavior throughout the work day and on all mail and verbal contacts. "Unstructured data" was collected on issues addressed and purpose of activities. Although collection the basic scheme Mintzberg's was concept used, structured this observation of Mintzberg's researcher data modified methodology in two significant ways: A. The observation issues record addressed to was expanded to include allow for job content analysis. B. The interpretation replication of of the data was more than a the Mintzberg classification. The work and role researcher was open to new and more accurate propositions. Many employed out of of the recent descriptive research studies have the the structured observation method, both in and educational community to analyze administra­ tive behavior. also replicated For the most part, these studies have Mintzberg's their reliability and validity. propositions to reaffirm 90 This methodology sector studying health care has hotel been administrators extensive tional use Holloway principals (Parker (McDonald 1980, Gibson 1978), long term (Mayo 1983). been employed in the educa­ sector principals 1985, (Ley the private (Mosher 1981), city managers has administration elementary in managers (Hale 1983) and policy chiefs More applied studying (Kmetz 1986), 1982, public Hallinger 1984), secondary assistant principals 1982, (Schmidt 1982, (Foshee 1984), 1983, private school elementary 1981), secondary high school principals Berman school Chung Burden 1987), 1985), music (Martin administrators assistant superintendents superintendents (Kennedy 1985), and community college chairperson (Burke 1985). The difficulty and analysis the researcher is unable to explore new propositions. Mintzberg ten on with considering only the replication previously himself concluded proposed role sets, is that when As describing his set of roles of the manager, "It should be made clear at the outset this that the chapter delineation is of view one roles process, a somewhat manager's activities of managerial roles presented in among many that are possible. is essentially arbitrary into affinity a categorization partitioning groups. of Mintzberg, op. cit., p g . 55. the The result must ultimately be judged in terms of its usefulness." g The 91 Appendix used to 1-A, "Structured record Activities and Observation classify the Record", was structured data. were recorded by frequency, duration, type and location. Actors were recorded by type, number and source of initiation. Appendix Record", on activity each activity. was addressed noted. during additional cant to only the the the Observation Analysis The issue involved with each On occasion, multiple issues were the same activity. In those instances, issues weresecondary and not as signifi­ activity as the primary topic. Therefore, primary issue, usually the basis or purpose for activity was and/or purpose record was purpose open of fact to flow from by recorded. of The explanation of the data activity ended the classifications. tion "Structured was used to record the open-ended data and field notes the 1-B, was noted. The analysis so as not to force the issues or observed activity into preconceived The field notes were analyzed after the allow the issues and purpose of activities to the data, as opposed to arbitrary classifica­ the researcher in the limited time available during the observation process. The issues and thought tive It researcher and felt the conclusions required on purpose are more qualitative and require more interpretation than does the more quantita­ data recorded in the Structured Observation Record. should be noted, however, that the findings were also 92 classified according comparison with to Mintzberg's system to allow for previous studies involving other groups of educational managers. Some in of the work activities of the theevening instances the 3 after when the working hours. In those researcher was unable to be present, subject was asked to record his activities. (Evening Activity data. The next subject the evening qualitative the normal subjects occurred day aspects inclusion Log) and was the of developed to record such researcher activities the Appendix and reviewed with the completed the more activity. This allowed for analysis of after hour's work activi­ ties . Sample Selection As noted restrictions the fact (N=57) (n=4). earlier, on that the the observation research sample size. imposes Coupled with the population itself is relatively small researcher This structured studied represents a four ISD superintendents sample of 7% of the total population. Instead theoretical section of random sampling, the researcher utilized a sampling technique which represented a cross of the population. ple was judged the analyst The adequate theoretical sam­ on the basis of how widely and diversely chose his group according to the type of 93 theory he wished to develop. concluded, "Thus, random Glaser and Strauss sampling (1967) is not necessary for theoretical sampling, either to discover the relationship 7 or check out its existence in other groups." Three district variables were considered when identi­ fying sample ISD superintendents: Size (a. student population, constituent local districts) Demographic rural) Make-Up - (a. urban, b. b. number of suburban, c. Services Provided - (a. General Education, b. Special Education, c. Vocational Education) A. Size Three classifications variables: Districts Large ISD were Student Population (Constituent Districts) 20,000-49,999 Small ISD 1-19,999 20 & above 10-19 1-9 Demographic Make-Up Because land based on two No. of Constituent Districts_____ 50,000 & above Medium ISD B. considered areas, intermediate school districts encompass large demographic make-up can be varied and mixed. Regardless, these predominant feature broad of categories depicting the the intermediate school district were used in the sample selection process. 7 Glaser, Barney G. and Anselm L. Strauss. "The Discovery of Grounded Theory." Chicago: Aldine Publish­ ing Company, 1967, pg. 45. 94 1. Urban An ISD that contains a central city population greater than 100,000 metropolitan area greater than 200,000. 2. with and a a Middle City/Suburban An ISD that contains a city with a population between 25,000 to 75,000 and features multiple suburban areas representing several school districts. 3. Small Town/Rural An ISD that contains cities/towns with a popula­ tion less than 25,000 and features multiple small rural school districts. C. Services Provided All ISD's millage. provide services through general education Additionally, all 57 ISD's provide services through a education special education millage. millage is only levied But vocational by 26 ISD's (45.6%).8 Therefore, selected from two of full the sample superintendents were service ISD's and two from districts with no vocational education millage. Taking all three researcher developed researcher selected cross variables into consideration, the a Sample Matrix (see Table 2). superintendents that The represented a section of intermediate school districts within the State of Michigan. O State of Michigan. "Intermediate School District Statistical Data (1987-88)", April, 1988. 95 TABLE 2 S a m o le -M atrix D e m o g ra p h ic Size Make-Up Supt. Alpha Large Urban G.E., S.E., V.E. Supt. Beta Medium Middle City/ Suburban G.E., S.E. Supt. G am m a Small Small Town/ Rural G.E., S.E., V.E. Supt. Delta Small Small Town/ Rural G.E., S.E. 96 Representativeness of Sample Superintendents The sample section of matrix ISD's was was designed used to to ensure a cross select subject superin­ tendents. However, theoretical sampling of the districts did address not whether the superintendent of the selected districts were representative of the population. Consequently, the the researcher conducted an analysis of subject superintendents considering certain variables (i.e., age, comparison sex, gender, work experience, education). was made to relevant Superintendent-National, Intermediate the populations Superintendent-Michigan, Superintendent-Michigan). analysis of sample The A (i.e., and results of representatives are depicted on Table 3. The researcher concluded that the sample intermediate school district research superintendents selected for this endeavor, as a group, were representative of the national, state and intermediate populations from which they were drawn. A dents, detailed 4. of the subject superinten­ their educational and professional background, the demographics their description of physical their respective school districts and work environment are provided in Appendix TABLE 3 REPRESENTATIVENESS OF SAMPLE INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENTS G ender Race Avg A ge Male Female White Other Supt-National 96% 4% 97% 3% Supt-State2 98% 2% N/A Supt-ISD3 100% 0 Bergers' Sample 100% 0 Avg Experience Highest Degree Held This Position Total BA MA 49 7 yrs 25 yrs 2% 31% 30% 37% N/A 50 N/A 23 yrs 2% 49% 22% 27% 100% 0 N/A N/A N/A 0 41% 14% 45% 100% 0 51 11 yrs 27 yrs 0 75% 0 25% SPEC DOCT 1 N/A = Not Available Source: 1. Educator Opinion Poll, Educational Research Service, Arlington, VA. Dec. 1985 2. Professional Personnel Report, Michigan D epartm ent of Education. State of Michigan. O ctober 1988, Fiscal Year 1987-88 3. Michigan Intermeidate School District Directory, Fiscal Year 1988-89. Michigan Association of Intermediate School District, Summer. 1989 98 Overview of Data Analysis and Collection The and researcher analysis to used four complete research (see data. The researcher collected preliminary data concern­ events concerning subject the through observation week, information Anecdotal after formal data was collected observation through with staff and discussions with the himself. The primary data was collected structured observation, and in some instances, in absence logs. of the researcher, through evening activity The four subject superintendents were observed for days each, the results of which comprised over 1,000 individual 200 observable activities, and accounted for over hours of direct observation. from to and discussion superintendent the collection of raw school district and information about the during handouts, five the superintendent. before, the of involved endeavor 2). the one this Figure ing Level levels of data collection brief These activities ranged one on one encounters of less than one minute scheduled meetings with multiple participants lasting many hours. Once using collected, four task the data was then coded and reduced, analysis records. These data coding records comprise level two. 1. The Chronology minute type of of the Record - This superintendent's record details every day. It lists the activity and its duration and references the mail and contact record. 99 FIGURE 2 DATA COLLECTION & ANALYSIS Level Preliminary Data - Info about work week -Into about district -Info about Supt. E d m a o L Q a ta - Structurol Obssrv. - Evening Activity Log - Discussion w/Supt. AnecdotaLData Data Collection -Handouts • Obcustionw/Staff - Dlacusion w/Supt. Chronology Record Data Coding Correspondence Record Contact Record | Content Record Group Data Analysis Irrtra Group in I inter G roip I Activities Actors JOB PROFILE Theory Job Characteristics Job Contact Pattern Job Role Job itent 100 2. Correspondence written It correspondence, records form, Record - This both record details all incoming and outgoing. incoming written communication by sender, attention given and action taken. Outgoing communication is recorded as to target and form. 3. Contact Record - contacts the superintendent Contacts were participant, This recorded number of record by details had type, all with direct others. location, type of participants, and form of initiation. 4. Content Record - content observed activities and is recorded by of the written This communication record details the subject or output, written communication input and types of contacts. By will way of example, the following sequence of events be described, then coded, utilizing the four records explained above. 7;59 with a the consultant tation later a.m., on team that 8:38 at a restaurant to review his presen­ building morning. presentation, participants superintendent began his day meeting the and a.m., They length some skills for a staff inservice discussed the outline for the of likely the presentation, questions to be the asked. the superintendent left the restaurant to drive to his office. 101 8?52 a.m., meeting room spoke a.m., the superintendent went to his office and an assistant arrangements to went directly to the the room for the meeting. with member superintendent and assisted the custodian and the presenter in setting up 8;54 the superintendent making sure had been made for a State Board of Education give a welcome at a dedication ceremony later that week. 9:00 room a.m., and staff the superintendent went to the meeting introduced the consultant to the administrative present for the inservice training on team building. 9:26 a.m., inservice of the meeting local superintendent the staff and greeted and welcomed a small group superintendents legislative left meeting. who were assembling for a Upon entering the meeting room, he noticed that there were no rolls. 9:29 a.m., the superintendent called his secretary to check if any rolls had been ordered for the meeting. 9:33 a.m., the superintendent returned to his office, whereupon, he checked his desk and reviewed the mail. reviewed a decision on from the awarding dents and memo from He the Business Manager requesting a an acquisition of a school vehicle, a letter State of a a Department grant of Education announcing the for intervention with at-risk stu­ flyer from a vendor about a word processing software package. 102 9;35 local a.m., the superintendent receives a call from a superintendent asking his position on the school finance reform proposal. The above scenario creates the following records: Chronology Record Time 7:59 a.m. 8:38 a.m. 8:52 a.m. 8:54 a.m. 9:00 a.m. 9:26 a.m. 9:29 a.m. 9:33 a.m. 9:35 a.m. Reference Mail Contact Activity Sched. Mtg. Travel Unsched. Mtg. Unsched. Mtg. Sched. Mtg. Unsched. Mtg. Tele.-Call Out Desk Work Tele.-Call In 1 2 3 4 5 6 A-C 7 Duration (Minutes) 39 14 2 6 26 3 4 2 3 Mail Record Input Reference Form Sender Attention Action A. Memo Other Admin. Subordinate Read Forward B. Letter Gov't. Agency Skim Forward C. Flyer Vendor Skim Discard Contact Record Reference Type Location Participant 1. Sched. M t g . Other Location Outsider 1 Clock 2. Unsched. Mtg. Other Ofc. Area Outsider , Other Sub. 2 Self 2 3. Unsched. Mtg. Office Adm. Sub. 1 Self 6 4. Sched. Mtg. Other Ofc. Area Other Adm. Sub. 5. Unsched. Mtg. Other Ofc. Area LEA Supt. 3 Mutual 3 6. Tele. Out Other Ofc. Area Sec. 1 Self 4 7. Tele. In Office LEA Supt. 1 Other 3 No. Clock Duration 39 26 103 16 Initiation Content Record Reference Type Form Issue A. Mail-In Memo Organizational Maintenance B. Mail-In Letter Instructional Program C. Mail-In Flyer Organizational Maintenance 1. Contact Sched. Mtg. Organizational Maintenance 2. Contact Unsched. Mtg. Other 3. Contact Unsched. Mtg. Community Relations 4. Contact Sched. Mtg. Organizational Maintenance 5. Contact Unsched. Mtg. Constituent Relations 6. Contact Tele.-Out Other 7. Contact Desk Work Organizational Maintenance 105 Level three examining analysis (i.e., and involved examination of group three analysis of the been an the by findings of the composite results The researcher then moved to an findings among group members (i.e., The researcher concluded level comparing the results of this study of other researchers in their studies activities fourth based level on discovered analysis and In of other educational admini­ (i.e., intergroup analysis). The theory study analysis). work strators the analysis). intra the of multiple data analyses. comparing the four data records, the first group with consists what of analysis was the development of was known previously and what had through this research endeavor. Through of job characteristics, job contact patterns job content, conclusions are drawn concerning the job profile of the intermediate school district superinten­ dent (i.e., what they do) and job role of the intermed­ iate school district superintendent (i.e., why they do it) . With process attention study. an as overview of the data collection and analysis a to reference point, the researcher turned his the research questions which directed this CHAPTER IV PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA Analysis of Types and Characteristics of ISP Superinten­ dent Work Activities What are activities the in types which and characteristics of the work the Intermediate School District Superintendents invest their time while on the job? To answer chronology dents this question, the researcher analyzed the record as a utilized group nine types. This and Mintzberg's the travel are pilot and managerial tendents' five became scheme day and, Also, desk system that work secretary. (i.e., at the was work, outset that not a sufficient it assumes that all work other activities, therefore, and desk It became apparent early on that a activity meeting, unscheduled meeting managerial. testing, work of Mintzberg’s original apparent in The researcher identify categories scheduled personal separately. solitary of to expansion classification activities in an It categorization how the superinten­ spent their work day. is calls, tours). chronicled categories categorization telephone which are should distinction desk activities, such as work was with part be of the categorized made between the superin­ The researcher was interested in an analysis of the secretary/administrator interactions. 106 107 Table the 4 presents the percentage of time and frequency superintendents spend by activity type. The mean duration of work activity type is also noted. The a intermediate group, in spent the greatest percent of total activities unscheduled sented school district superintendents, as meetings (27.9%). However, this repre­ just 13% of total time invested with such meetings averaging these six minutes unscheduled in duration. For the most part, meetings were brief encounters distri­ buted throughout the course of the work day. The trict largest superintendents® meetings total such portion (40.2%). number of scheduled of the intermediate school dis­ work day was devoted to scheduled Yet, this represented only 7.6% of the activities. meetings These scheduled large number The average duration for was meetings in were excess normally of 68 minutes. attended by a of people and were used to handle a variety of formal issues, normally with a set agenda. The intermediate small amounts going telephone calls represented 9.2% of total number of activities and of superintendents invested relatively their work day on the telephone. 3.4% calls represented total time. of 7.1% Phone total time. of calls, total both Out­ Incoming telephone activities and 3% of incoming and outgoing averaged about five minutes in duration. The ized remaining contact very infrequently. activity, the tour, was util­ Only 1.9% of the total number of 108 TABLE 4 ANALYSIS OF WORK ACTIVITY BY TYPE A ctivity M ean % of M ean % of ActiYitY Hme M ean Duration (M inutes) Tours 1.9 2.0 13.5 Sch. Mtgs. 7.6 40.2 68.7 27.9 13.0 6.0 Telephone Out 9.2 3.4 4.8 Telephone In 7.1 3.0 5.6 Desk Work-Self 25.0 19.3 9.9 Desk Work-Sec. 6.8 1.1 2 .0 Travel 8.3 13.8 21.4 Personal 6.3 4.3 8.8 Unsch. Mtgs. 109 activities time were was invested expressed tion a work in of tours and only 2% of their tours. Although the subjects desire to be in contact with their organiza­ through the comprised these day was informal such walk-throughs, the pace of that the tour was infrequently utilized because of the demands of the other activities. It is interesting superintendents others. 61.6% spent The contact in percent (telephone for to examine the amount of time the the activities. interpersonal interaction with of time absorbed by interpersonal calls, group and meetings and tours) totals accounts for 53.7% of their Since interpersonal contacts consumed about 2/3' s of their time, arise concerning obvious their and nature important questions which will be explored later in this study. The largest solitary desk percent of non-contact time was spent in work, 25% of total activities and 19.3% of superintendents' desk. under brief The ten time average minutes piles of quickly checking alone at his These sessions were generally between "quiet work a working duration for such settings was just This through spent each. interludes interruptions. was "to scheduled time" or was unscheduled spent checking on one’s desk and processing, or do" list and/or an appointment calendar so as not to miss the next scheduled meeting. It might tendents ' be true that the secretary is the superin­ right-hand person, but if that is the case, 110 this relationship nor is not based on frequency of contact duration of such contacts. just 6.8% of secretary, time the and an (1.1%). secretary two total were amount even The of activity with his smaller percentage of his total superintendent's contact with his not only infrequent, but brief, averaging minutes per contact. around The superintendents spent coordination of These contacts usually centered calendars or obtaining required signatures. The yet, last two activities are non-managerial in nature, together dents' was they time. The traveling represented time. to of the superinten­ most frequent nonmanagerial activity and 8.3% 18.1% of from various work sites. Travel total activities and 13.8% of total It is interesting to note that the superintendents invested more time traveling than they did in unscheduled meetings. sion. uled represent Travel This time averaged 21.4 minutes per ses­ average duration is exceeded only by sched­ meetings. Thus, the intermediate school district superintendent averages over one hour per day in the car. The visits home, sented last to category the packing 6.3% rest for of is personal activity, such as room, smoke breaks, eating lunch at a trip, etc. total These activities repre­ activities and 4.3% of total time with an average duration of 8.8 minutes. An pattern analysis in of the day. the work activities revealed no set It appears that the superintendents Ill work day is sandwiched between Scheduled of the comprised bursts of interaction long, scheduled meetings. set the basic structure and location day and the gaps meetings were meetings, telephone that several meetings work of short filled with a between such scheduled mixture calls, and desk of unscheduled work. It appeared the superintendent exhibited little control over the pattern of these work activities. Of desk the mean self terms of and personal), the largest both mean percent of activities of time is desk work-self. Desk work- basic components: reviewing correspondence, creating outgoing correspondence what could be frequently reviewing ence travel comprisedof three incoming most in percent is and non-contact activities (desk work-self, work-secretary, investment and four considered observed incoming general paper work. The solitary desk work was that of correspondence. Incoming correspond- for the group were analyzed by: Type of Correspond­ ence , Source of Correspondence, Attention Given to Corres­ pondence and Action Taken. As a diverse forms tendents 109.25 group, of received pieces frequently of the represented and memos, received communication (Table 5). 437 pieces of correspondence received which super intendents type 24.9% of of representing mail, per fairly The superin­ an average of week. The most correspondence was letters all incoming correspondence 15.1% of all incoming 112 TABLE 5 ANALYSIS O F CORRESPONDENCE RECORD - INPUT BY TYPE FORM NO* Letter 109 24.9 M em o 66 15.1 Report 50 11.4 Brochure/Flyer 74 16.9 Newsletter 47 10.8 N ote 25 5.7 N ew sp ap er/M agazin e 22 5.0 Other 44 10.1 PERCENT. 113 correspondence. On superintendents magazines total per handle on week, other 25 end of the scale, the notes and 22 newspapers and representing correspondence. 5.7% and 5.0% of the Because of the amount of correspondence and the limited time available to it, not desk received incoming incoming the it being appeared the superintendents put priority the "'bottleneck" in the paper flow. Most sessions began with the handling of incoming corres­ pondence . Sources also of incoming correspondence (Table 6), were diverse and mixed, ranging from a high of 100 pieces correspondence per week from educational organizations which a of represent 22.9% of total correspondence received to low Only of 1 23.1% from correspondence received from board members. of members (i.e., of board nel). Of all incoming correspondence was generated the formal that came total, 17.6% of incoming correspondence from organizations, Thus, most mediate structure member, subordinate, peers, and LEA person­ was generated by subordinates. pondence organizational governmental vendors written school Over half of total corres­ and agencies, community educational, organizations. communication directed to the inter­ district superintendent was originated from sources external to the school organization. Another to interesting incoming 70.5% of all finding correspondence. incoming was the attention given As can be seen on Table 7, correspondence received cursory 114 TABLE 6 ANALYSIS O F CORRESPONDENCE RECORD - INPUT BY SOURCE Sender Board M em ber No. 1 E£LQ£Qt 0 Subordinate 77 17.6 Peer 18 4.1 LEA Personnel 6 1.4 G overnm ent 73 16.7 100 22.9 Vendor 72 16.7 Community Organization 49 11.2 Publisher 23 5.3 Other 18 4.1 Educational Organization 115 TABLE 7 ANALYSIS O F CORRESPONDENCE RECORD - INPUT BY ATTENTION G IVE N A tte n tio n No. P e rce n t Skim 308 70.5 R ead 125 28.6 Study 4 0.9 116 treatment (i.e., 28.6% incoming the as of material being wishes be the material mail was skimmed) with only being read, and less than 1% of was given enough attention to be classified studied. It appears from this data that if one the intermediate school district superintendent to attentive to information and spend some time reviewing and understanding its contents, one would do well not to submit it in written form. The the last aspect of incoming communication studied was actions tendents can of the intermediate school district superin­ upon be receiving the incoming correspondence. seen in correspondence was a was interesting clear ing relative of 8, almost half (47.1%) of all forwarded to others upon receipt. It to note that the superintendent acted as house to (22.2%) Table As or gatekeeper to incoming correspondence. all mail his organi zation Almost one-quarter received by the superintendent was discarded. Consequently, written communication district other and of percent kept tendent the super intendent members tenths there by for of the the all is sent a to great likelihood that any an intermediate will be skimmed and forwarded to organi zation. Seventeen and six mail received was actually filed intermediate school district superin­ review at a later date. Thirteen percent of incoming correspondence was deferred. initial attention, if school That is, after was left on the desk to be taken 117 TABLE 8 ANALYSIS OF CORRESPONDENCE RECORD - INPUT BY A C TIO N TAKEN Action N o. File 77 17.6 206 47.1 Discard 97 22.2 Defer 57 13.0 Forward P e rce n t 118 up at a later date rather than discarded or forwarded to someone immediately. correspondence Therefore, 87% of all incoming was handled just once with a decision made on its future and immediate action taken. The researcher correspondence district generated superintendents correspondence. little by the In as intermediate terms of communication a group produced 58 outgoing The superintendents spent relatively time generating written correspondence. it was written generally record. communication school This is compared to 437 incoming pieces correspondence. did, conducted an examination of the superintendent. output, of next of The (Table a formal nature, requiring a most 9) When they was frequently the used letter, form of representing 43.1% of the outgoing mail, followed by handwritten notes which account documents for were 3 9.7% a little of the outgoing mail. Written used communications device and normally, were less preferable than the direct contact. In terms of communicated group subordinates. represented also through Outgoing interesting members. communication (Table 10), the most frequently the written communications media to school note the district was to subordinates 34.5% of all outgoing correspondence. intermediate board targets It was limited contact that the superintendent had with In only 1.7% of the cases was an outward directed to a board of education member. 119 TABLE 9 ANALYSIS OF CORRESPONDENCE RECORD -OUTPUT BY FORM Fprm Ms* Letter 25 43.1 6 10.4 23 39.7 Report 2 3.4 Other 2 3.4 M em o N ote EfiffiSQt 120 TABLE 10 ANALYSIS O F CORRESPONDENCE RECORD- OUTPUT BY TARGET N o. P e rce n t 1 1.7 20 34.5 Peer 8 13.8 LEA Personnel 4 6.9 G overnm ent 8 13.8 Educational Association 7 12.1 V endor 0 0.0 Community Organization 1 1.7 O ther 9 15.5 Ia r.g e t Board M em ber Subordinate 121 The remainder general paper activity, of work. outside creation the desk work activities involved The most frequently observed desk of handling of correspondence, was the and maintenance of "to do" lists and checking of calendar. Much material on of the the desk desk and work involved reviewing establishing priorities for action. The researcher next activities in the tendent 's work Table 11 examines total contact time, total contact activities 21.1% with of 14.1% meetings. contact calls that these total to the involved contact with others. contacts by type. In terms of the super intendent spent 52% of his in unscheduled meetings which activities This compared invested in scheduled such meetings consumed 65.2% of all the Although incoming and outgoing telephone represented activities attention of total time invested. Yet, time. his intermediate school district superin­ day represen ted turned 13.2% respectively, and 17.2% they of represent total only contact 4.9% and 5.6% of total time invested. The least utilized represented 3.5% of It that the appears school district meeting. activities total activity, the tour, activities and 3.2% of time. pr imary medium superintendents' Collectively, unscheduled, contact meetings, for intermediate interactions both is the scheduled and represented 66.1% of total number of contact and 86.3% of total time in contact 122 TABLE 11 ANALYSIS OF CO NTAC T RECORD BY TYPE Type Qf Activity AgMties M e a n % of T im e M ean D uration (Minute?) Tour 3.5 3.2 13.5 S ch ed u led 14.1 65.2 68.7 U nscheduled Mtgs. 52.0 21.1 6.0 T elep h o n e-In 13.2 4.9 5.6 T elephone - Out 17.2 5.6 4.8 123 activities. ten a Scheduled meetings, on average, lasted over times longer than unscheduled meetings. large portion Because such of the superintendent's day is spent in meetings, an would helpful in understanding the work of the inter­ be examination of the nature of those meetings mediate school district superintendent. The researcher location of own of spent office, invested in 6.8 51.3% that his attention (Table 12). to the Although the of all contact activities in represented 23.4% of total time contact activities with an average duration minutes. super intendents’ locations, turned contactactivities superintendent his next By far contact outside of the time the largest took portion of the place at other intermediate school district facilities. Although 14.6% of represented contact contact in other locations only represented total number nearly half activities. of contact activities, it (47.8%) of all time involved in The average duration for contacts outside of the school district was 48.4 minutes. Taken collectively, superintendents activities tive own other just spent the intermediate school district 81.6% of all of their contact at various locations within their administra­ building and spent 47.3% of their time within their building. They very seldom had contact activities in intermediate 3.7% school district operated buildings, of their total activities and 5% of their time 124 TABLE 12 ANALYSIS OF CO NTACT RECORD BY LO CATIO N M fifflo A Q f A c tiv ity Mg-qQ-%.Qi T im e 51.3 23.4 6.8 3.3 1.4 6.1 O ther Office A rea 27.0 22.5 12.3 Other ISD Building 3.7 5.0 20.0 14.6 47.8 48.4 Logffltfon Office Im m ediate Administrative Subordinate Office O ther Location M ean D uration TM inutes) 125 was spent buildings in other appears from equally split ing (47.3%) This time other the intermediate than their operated administrative offices. It between their administrative office build­ and locations outside the district (47.8%). commitment is at the expense of contacts in school district buildings which house instructional programs. their district this data that the superintendent's time is intermediate district school super intendents instructional Although intermediate school expressed buildings a desire and "be to seen", visit they invested only 5% of the contact time at those sites. The with researcher next reviewed the type of participants whom the intermediate school distr ict super intendent had contact ate schooldistr ict percent with during the study (Table 13). of total administrative zational The contact subordinates outsiders intermediate invested same super intendents the two (19.4%) and participant school superintendent immediate followed by organi­ district super intendent also time in contact activities with these immediate outsiders group with at 24.8% of total contact activities. most groups, spent the greatest activities (27.6%) Intermedi­ administrative subordinates (23.6%). The next largest was other super intendents in which the spent 17.9% of total contact time and 13% of total activities with peers. It ties is interesting to note that the percent of activi­ and time invested by contact type is not a function 126 TABLE 13 ANALYSIS O F CO NTACT RECORD BY PARTICIPANT TYPE MEAN %* ACTIVITIES MEAN %: 3.4 8.0 13.0 17.9 6.2 10.0 Im m ediate Administrator Subordinate 27.6 19.4 O ther Administrative Subordinate 10.4 9.0 3.1 2.0 10.9 8.9 Student 0.6 1.2 Outsider 24.8 23.6 !y p e .Qf.Pdrt.icipqnt Board M em ber Peer Local Administrator T eacher O ther Subordinate time ‘Multiply c o n ta c t (i.e. m eeting which included superiors, peers, a n d subordinates) w ere dup licated for time a n d activity co u n t to eq u al 100%. 127 of position of total mediate board the organizational hierarchy. activities school mediate Only 3.4% 8% of total time of the inter­ was spent with Conversely, other subordinates, such as, workers, activities and district superintendent members. office the in accounted and 8.9% school for of time. 10.9% of total contact The fact that the inter­ district superintendent is isolated from teaching/learning environment is also evidenced by instructional staff does not have the data. Consequently, access to the the superintendent's ear and sending information "through the channels." school district activities and infinitesimal superintendents spent must rely on Intermediate just 3.1% of 2.0% of contact time with teachers and an .6% of activities and 1.2% of time with students. Additionally, intermediate local with school district district it appears that most contacts that the district personnel superintendents superintendent has with are funneled through the local as opposed other local administrators. to direct contact The intermediate school district superintendent twice often (13.0% to 6.2%) as he did all other local as contacted the superintendent administrators combined. Also, types, pants it examining appears garner the the contact record by participant that three major segments of partici­ most attention of the intermediate 128 school of district activities. immediate tive Internal organizational members administrative subordinates, activities and 29.2% activities represent 24.8% appears dent has three and 27.9% of time; and outsiders activities and 23.6% of time. Thus, intermediate school distr ict super inten­ established major of time; local school district and local administrators) representing of the subordinates, other administra­ 37.3% (peers, of (i.e., and other subordinates) totaled 48.9% personnel it both in terms of number contact activities, and percentage of time invested in those of superintendent, a groups? contact internal network that includes educators/staff, external educators/staff and organizational outsiders. Another examining form the activities both (Table two-thirds pant 14). and analysis was conducted This analysis was conducted for unscheduled meetings. Collectively, (66.6%) of all contacts occurred with just one participant. groups tacts . contact number of participants involved in contact scheduled other of is The least frequent number of partici­ 6-9 which represents 3.9% of total con­ Large groups of 10 or more represent 8.7% of all meetings. Comparing this data, between scheduled and unscheduled meetings, the unscheduled meeting occurred with j ust one other partici­ less formal but more frequent pant 79.4% of the time. There of is an participants inverse relationship between the number and percent of unscheduled meeting 129 TABLE 14 ANALYSIS OF CONTACT RECORD BY NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS No. o f Pflrticipqnt? S c h e d u le d M e a lin g ? U n s c h e d u le d M e e tin g s C o m p o s ite No. P ercent No. Percent No. Percent 1 14 18.7 223 79.4 237 66.6 2 6 8.0 35 12.5 41 11.5 3-5 14 18.7 19 6.8 33 9.3 6-9 11 14.7 3 1.1 14 3.9 10 or m ore 30 40.0 1 .4 31 8.7 130 frequency. As percentage of Unscheduled of 10 more meetings. all 10 or in just .4% of all unscheduled involved in scheduled meetings. meetings with one participant occurred in 18.7% such meetings. more Again, used But, scheduled meetings which had participants meetings. were decreases. the opposite appears to be true for the participants Scheduled meetings that were attended by a large group occurred Just of of unscheduled meetings or number the number of participants increase, the to information convene or feedback. it occurred appeared large receive in 40% of all such that scheduled meetings numbers of people to share individual and collective Whereas, unscheduled meetings were usually ad hoc, give and take, sessions with a single participant. The was final the contact variable studied by the researcher form initiated the distributed opposite of initiation of contacts contact between party tion. In appeared self (Table 15). Who to be relatively evenly initiation (44.6%), and the representing 34.1% of the contact initia- 7.6% of the cases, the form of initiation was indeterminate and in 13.7% of the cases, the clock determined the contact. Based school or by this data, it appears that the intermediate district one-half mined on of superintendents their determine approximately contacts and the other half is deter­ for them either by initiation on the part of others a previously scheduled meeting. This again gives 131 TABLE 15 ANALYSIS O F CO NTAC T RECORD BY FORM OF INITIATION EoaiLof Initiation N o. Self 241 44.6 O p p o s ite 184 34.1 M u tu a l 41 7.6 C lo c k 74 13.7 E£l££Dl 132 evidence able to the fact that there is a lack of a pattern to the daily activities of the intermediate school district both self predict­ superintendent and that brief contacts, initiated and initiated by others, control the activities between previously scheduled meetings. The last intermediate centered work activity school analysis district conducted for the superintendents as a group on the content or issues involved in three forms of activity; incoming correspondence, outgoing correspond­ ence, and interpersonal contact. Content was defined as follows; 1. Organizational involved issues matters those Maintenance or relative staff things and to This category budget and fiscal personnel issues; e.g., concerned with the operation of the organi zation. 2. School Program curriculum - This involved instructional/ issues and pupil affairs. pertaining to It revolved around items the actual instruc­ tional endeavors and programs of the intermediate school district. 3. Constituent involving intermediate school Affairs the districts. This refers relationship school districts. regulatory - functions to between issues the district and its constituent Issues may involve either or service for local school 133 4. Community related Relations to public intermediate involved This relations intendent's involved and school district. the district - image issues of the In other cases, it intermediate school district super­ role and as other a liaison between noneducational the public or community organizations. 5. Other - This covers content areas not. fitting in the four previously mentioned categories. In analyzing pondence (Table represented relations 16), 51.7% communications. ence. the content of incoming written corres­ organizational maintenance issues of the content of all written incoming The next representing largest category was community 20.6% of all incoming correspond­ Little incoming correspondence related to constit­ uent affairs (6%) or school programming (10.3%). In analyzing organizational attention outgoing for maintenance accounting for communications. correspondence again 46.6% of (Table demanded the the 17), most content of all Constituent affairs accounted 20.7% of outgoing communication content and community relations to outgoing 25.9%. Relatively little attention was given school program (5.2%) or other content areas (1.7%) in outgoing communications. In district reviewing the content of the intermediate school superintendents' contacts (Table 18), the most TABLE 16 ANALYSIS O F CONTENT RECORD WRITTEN C O M M U N IC A T IO N - INPUT C o n te n t P e rce n t Organizational M a in ten a n ce 226 51.7 S chool Program 45 10.3 Constituent Affairs 26 6.0 Com m unity Relations 90 20.6 Other 50 11.4 135 TABLE 17 ANALYSIS OF CONTENT RECORD WRITTEN C O M M U N IC A T IO N - OUTPUT Content Organization M a in ten a n ce No, Eercent 27 46.6 3 5.2 Constituent Affairs 12 20.7 Com m unity Relations 15 25.9 1 1.7 School Program Other TABLE 18 ANALYSIS OF CONTENT RECORD BY CONTACTS C o n ta c t? Ns* P e rc e n t Organizational M a in ten a n ce 213 39.4 S chool Program 51 9.4 Constituent Affairs 142 26.3 Com m unity Relations 65 12.0 Other 69 12.8 137 frequently was, discussed again, 39.4% issue organizational of total contacts. affairs Again, during whose the issues contacts with others maintenance, representing This is followed by constituent involved 26.3% of total contacts. least attended to content area for the inter­ mediate school district programs, representing superintendents were 9.4% of the content of school total contacts. Analyzing the content record collectively, it appears that the superintendent spends the majority of his time, both in written communication and in contact with others, discussing respect, organizational educator. on is, more the In this as a majority manager than as an of his efforts are maintaining the fiscal and personnel aspects organization. concerned with functions That expended the issues. it appears that the intermediate school district superintendent of maintenance primarily The remainder with of his time is issues involving relationships the constituent school districts or the community in general, discussing with a actual limited school amount programs of time and devoted to instructional/ curricular matters. Analysis of Task Performance Among ISP Superintendents What managerial similarities behavior and differences among intermediate superintendents in their task performances? exist in the school district 138 Once task the researcher characteristics superintendents as reviewed the types of tasks and of a intermediate group, school district he turned his attention to the second research question. The and most effective way to determine the similarities differences contrast the Record, among in managerial behavior is to compare and observational Mail Record, members of records; Contact e.g., Chronology Record and Content Record the group. This will be the basis for comparison of managerial behavior among superintendents. Table dents' 19 is an analysis of individual superinten­ chronology records and provides an excellent basis for comparison of their task performance. dents exceeded work week the typical 40-hour work week. With the ranging from 48.9 hours (Superintendent Alpha) to 62.6 hours (Superintendent Gamma). intendents Although all super­ experienced hours of evening work, Superinten­ dent Gamma work activity day All superinten­ experienced the largest number of after hours at 13 hours. The average activities per were relatively consistent among Superintendent Alpha (56), Gamma demonstrated (56), an and average Delta (50). number Superintendent Beta of activities of 40 per day. In comparing superintendents Delta and the amount of engaged solitary desk work in, Superintendent Gamma the and had 70 or more sessions, while Superintendent Alpha Beta had less than 60 each. Although the percent of 139 TABLE 19 CO M PARISO N OF THE C H R O N O LO G Y RECORD BASED O N FOUR WEEKS OF OBSERVATION Coteaorv Supt, Alpha Supt. Beta Supf. Gamma Supt. Delta 216.6 27.3 1007 58.35 48.9 5.7 279 56 54.3 4.9 199 40 62.6 13.0 279 56 50.8 3.7 250 50 252 2506 9.9 19.3 25.0 56 278 5.0 9.5 20.0 54 693 12.8 21.3 27.1 70 868 12.3 23.0 25.1 72 672 9.3 22.1 28.8 68 136 2.0 1.1 6.8 20 45 2.3 1.5 7.2 16 34 2.1 1.0 8.0 15 28 1.9 0.8 5.4 17 29 1.7 1.0 6.8 71 395 5.6 3.0 7.1 7 53 7.6 1.8 2.5 23 170 7.4 5.2 11.6 23 115 5.0 3.1 8.2 18 57 3.2 1.9 7.2 93 447 5.6 3.4 9.2 25 102 7.6 3.5 9.0 16 84 7.4 2.6 8.0 32 165 5.0 4.4 11.5 20 96 3.2 3.1 8.0 76 5219 68.7 40.2 7.6 26 1478 56.9 50.0 9.3 18 999 55.55 30.7 9.1 22 1524 69.3 40.6 7.9 10 1218 121.8 40.0 4.0 Composite Total Job Hours Hours of Evenings Worked (Ind.) Total # of Activities A verage # of Activities Per Day Desk W o r k - Self # Of Sessions Total Time (Minutes) A verage Duration (Minutes) Percent of Time Percent of Frequency Desk W o r k - Sec. # of Sessions Total Time A verage Duration Percent of Time Percent of Frequency Ieleohone Calls - In # of Sessions Total Time A verage Duration Percent of Time Percent of Frequency Xeleohone Calls-Out # of Sessions Total Time A verage Duration Percent of Time Percent of Frequency Scheduled Meetings # of Sessions Total Time A verage Duration Percent of Time Percent of Frequency 140 U n s c h e d u le d M e e tin g s # of Sessions Total Time A verage Duration Percent of Time Percent of Frequency 281 1691 6.0 13.0 27.9 96 362 3.8 12.3 34.4 38 363 9.6 11.1 19.1 63 317 5.0 8.4 22.6 84 649 7.7 21.3 33.6 19 257 13.5 2.0 1.9 7 89 12.7 3.0 2.5 2 58 29.0 1.8 1.0 8 91 11.4 2.4 2.9 2 19 9.5 0.6 0.8 84 1794 21.4 13.8 8.3 14 359 29.9 12.2 5.0 22 587 26.7 18.0 11.1 29 567 20.0 15.1 10.4 19 281 14.8 9.2 7.6 63 553 8.8 4.3 6.3 28 169 6.0 5.8 10.0 10 271 27.1 8.2 5.0 17 86 5.1 2.3 6.1 8 27 3.4 0.9 3.2 Tours # of Sessions Total Time A verage Duration Percent of Time Percent of Frequency Travel # of Sessions Total Time A verage Duration Percent of Time Percent of Frequency Personal # of Sessions Total Time A verage Duration Percent of Time Percent of Frequency 141 frequency of desk work-self ranged between 20% and 30% for all the superintendents, the percent of time invested in desk between just work-self 20% and with three superintendents 25% with Superintendent Alpha investing 9.5% of total activities in desk work-self. duration per ranged Average of desk work also ranged from a low of 5 minutes session (Superintendent Alpha) to a high of 12.8 minutes per session (Superintendent Beta). All time of the superintendents wor king frequency total ranged None of to of their thei r from activities Beta. 1.5% with spent relatively little secretaries. Superintendent a the high of 8% Percent Gamma of at 5.4% of for Superintendent super intendents invested more than total time in activities involving work with their secretar ies . The superintendents amounts of ranging from high of calls 2.5% to for calls to received 3.2 5.2% outgoing time on spent incoming relatively telephone small calls, a low of 1.8% for Superintendent Alpha to a for Superintendent Beta. The frequency of total activities did range widely from a low of Superintendent a high of 23 calls. minutes minutes their also per for 11.6% for Super intendent Beta who Average duration of calls ranged from Super intendent Delta to call for Superintendent Alpha. telephone approximately Alpha receiving only 7 incoming the calls, same all a high 7.6 In comparing super intendents spent average duration per phone call, 142 in the 4-5 minutes superintendents on invest calls for per more outgoing phone calls. phone 8% range session. None of the than 5% of their total time Also, the frequency of outgoing was relatively similar ranging from a low of Superintendent Beta to a high of 11.5% for Super­ intendent Gamma. Turning appears ules that between meetings of our attention there the occupied the is some similarity of meeting sched­ superintendents superintendents, Superintendent for Super intendent Alpha. Beta experienced frequency of scheduled meetings ties observed. Scheduled the largest investment of time by each for Gamma to comparison of meetings, it ranging up to one half of the work week Super intendent Alpha, Beta and approximately meetings from 30.7% of the week the same percent of (8-9%) with Superintendent Delta's only amounting to 4% of total activi­ By far, scheduled meetings also lasted longer than any other activity, Super intendent average Alpha, duration of equaling Beta 2 and hours approximately Gamma 1 hour for and exceeding an per scheduled meeting for Super intendent Delta. There of time Alpha was noticeable variation concerning the percent devoted to unscheduled meetings. Superintendent and Beta invested 12.3 and 11.1% respectively while Superintendent Gamma's unscheduled meetings accounted for 8.4% of percent Delta’s 21.3%. his day compared to Superintendent Duration also varied, ranging from a low 143 of 3.8 minutes minutes (Superintendent (Superintendent Beta). Individually, the Alpha) to a high of 9.6 investment tours of superintendents' represented a small portion of both time and frequency in all of the schedules, accounting for less than 3% in each case. It ies, is interesting to note that the last two categor­ involving non-managerial work, also accounted for significant portions of each of the superintendents' work day. superintendents The range in time invested from 9.2% (Superintendent Delta) to 18% (Superintendent Beta). Personal activities average of to ranged from 3.2% of total frequency of 10%, duration with one Beta whose time is 27.1 minutes. occasions classified in notable exception of the of 6 minutes or less with the exception Superintendent sonal Beta time which average duration for per­ This is accounted for by two he had lunch by himself and was thus personal time, and the fact the Superintendent is a smoker and smoking is not allowed in any of the buildings. So consequently, he had to leave the facility to take personal smoking breaks. Once days the researcher made comparisons with the work of the superintendents, he turned his attention to a comparison of their compares, by received during incoming superintendent, the correspondence. Table 20 the form of correspondence observation periods. All the 144 TABLE 20 C O M PA R ISO N OF CORRESPONDENCE RECORD - INPUT BY FORM Form Aloha Beta Letter 36/38.3 40/20.4 Memo 16/17.0 Report Brochure Qsmmsk Delta .C_Q.rop.9?Jte 21/21 12/25.5 109 37/18.9 07/07 06/12.8 66 5/5.3 29/14.8 09/09 07/14.9 50 8/8.5 22/11.2 31/31 13/27.7 74 Newsletter 10/10.6 28/14.3 07/07 02/4.3 47 Note 10/10.6 11/5.6 04/04 0/0 25 04/4.3 11/5.6 06/06 01/2.1 22 O ther 5/5.3 18/9.2 15/15 6/12.8 44 Total 94 196 N ew spaper First Cell Represent Frequency Second Cell Represents Percentage 100 47 437 145 superintendents received communication. The diverse forms of written only example not observed was notes received by Superintendent Delta. In terms received of gross numbers. period, whereas, received 47. just neither and Beta 196 pieces of incoming correspondence during the observation taries Superintendent Delta It is also interesting to note that Superintendent screen Superintendent any Beta of nor Delta had their secre­ their mail. Super intendent Alpha Gamma had secretarial screening to varying degrees. Therefore, the volume of mail received in this study was affected the by the fact that certain documents never reached super intendent's records and desk. As might be expected, memos, notes tended to be generated from within the organization, while the remainder of written communica­ tion records; e.g., letters, brochures, newsletters, news­ papers and other correspondence, tended to be generated externally from the organi zation. Table by 21 sender compares the written correspondence or interesting to correspondence 100 that of source of the came material. It is from educational organizations where pieces of total mail received came from The researcher believes this speaks to the networking function educational support received written notethat the largest number of incoming 437 source. the record significant of school super intendents and their groups. written None of the superintendents correspondence from board 146 TABLE 21 C O M P A R IS O N O F CORRESPONDEN CE RECORD - INPUT BY SENDER SUPERINTENDENT S&nsil&E Board M em b er Alpha B eta Qamma D elta C om oos 0/0 1/.5 0/0 0/0 0 15/15 0/0 77 S u b o rd in ate 17/18.1 45/23.0 P eer 13/13.8 5/2.6 0/0 0/0 18 2/2.1 2/1.0 2/2 0/0 6 G o v e rn m e n t 13/13.8 24/12.2 20/20 16/34.0 73 E ducational O rganization 17/18.1 51/26.0 16/16 16/34.0 100 4/4.3 29/14.8 25/25 14/29.8 72 17/18.1 26/13.3 5/5 1/2.1 49 Publisher 7/7.5 7/3.6 9/9 0/0 23 O ther 4/4.3 6/3.1 8/8 0/0 18 TOTAL 94 196 100 47 437 LEA Personnel V endor C om m unity O rganization First Cell R epresents F requency S e c o n d Cell R epresents P e rc e n ta g e 147 members with Superintendent correspondence wise, it dents, the appeared did extent, and Beta only receiving remainder receiving none. that one Like­ peers; e.g., other superinten­ not rely on written communications to a great with a high being 13.8% for Superintendent Alpha. Superintendent Gamma and Delta received no written commun­ ications local from other school district correspondence school superintendents. to district Likewise, other personnel did not utilize written communicate with superintendent the intermediate with a high of only 2.1% for Super intendent Alpha. Governmental and vendors address relied the (e.g. board mental to members, by varying degrees between By analyzing the source of internal subordinates, school str ucture; peers, local school personnel), and external sources; (e.g., govern­ agencies, community educational organizations, following analysis received 34% sources and of 73% external; and appears organizations, publishers results. wr itten 66% internal, structure onwritten communication to super intendents. communications district it heavily super intendents intermediate wr itten organizations, educational organizations Delta, others), Superintendent communications external; external; and vendors, from Superintendent Gamma, 17% the Alpha internal Beta, 27% internal, 83% 0% internal, 100% external. Thus, that individuals outside the immediate school rely heavily on written communications, 148 whereas, people ity, not rely as heavily on written communications as a do form of involved in the immediate school commun­ providing information to the intermediate school district superintendent. Table 22 tendents dent analyzes the attention each of the superin­ gave Beta incoming correspondence. gave evidence of Only Superinten­ studying any incoming correspondence, which he did on four occasions out of the 196 received. pieces he showed propensity ranging from a high of 37.2% of the material for Beta, to low of 4.3% demonstrated skim it, for reading superintendents varying a for The Delta. attention ranging material they received, By far the most frequently given incoming mail was to simply from a low of 60.7% for Beta to a high of 95.8% for Delta. Table 23 tendents upon intendent of all Gamma none of of of all carded It action taken by the superin­ correspondence received. 10%, the Super­ and Beta filed approximately one-quarter the filed the receiving incoming correspondence. Alpha Superintendent whereas, Superintendent Delta retained correspondence received. Approximately 50% correspondence was either forwarded or discarded. Although dent reflects there was a large range inpercentage of dis­ correspondence from a low of 10.2% for Superinten­ Beta also to a high of 44.7% for Superintendent Delta. appeared, superintendents for preferred the most part, that each of the to handle communications just 149 TABLE 22 COMPARISON OF CORRESPONDENCE RECORD - INPUT BY ATTENTION GIVEN SUPERINTENDENT A ttention AlDha Beta G am m a D elta C om posite Skim 64/68.1 119/60.7 80/80 45/95.8 308 R ead 30/31.9 73/37.2 20/20 2/4.3 125 Study 0/0 Total 94 4/2.0 0/0 0/0 4 196 100 47 437 First Cell Represents Frequency S eco n d Cell Represents P ercen tag e 150 TABLE 23 COMPARISON OF CORRESPONDENCE RECORD - INPUT BY ACTION TAKEN SUPERINTENDENT Action Alpha Beta G am m a Delta Com posite File 22/23.4 45/23.0 10/10 0/0 77 Forward 46/52.1 92/46.9 47/47 21/44.7 206 Discard 26/27.6 20/10.2 30/30 21/44.7 97 Defer 0/0 39/19.9 13/13 5/10.6 57 Total 94 196 100 47 437 First Cell Represents Frequency Second Cell Represents Percentage 151 once. Superintendent communications where Alpha deferred Superintendent none of his 94 Beta deferred 19.9% of the 196 pieces of communication received. The ysis researcher of the then turned his attention to an anal­ outgoing correspondence to make comparisons as to how these were handled among the research subjects. Table each 24 the many reports. total frequently were these of used the Beta's 58 letter, 23.1% to further reference. for the group. The two most of outgoing written communication were organi zation Super intendent amount None of the superintendents Super intendent Gamma's 60.9. communications Superintendent correspondence for ranging from Superintendents Alpha and the formal in which in Normally, nature, directed a copy was kept for Memos were utilized in no instances Gamma Beta. compared to a high of 23.1% for But, in terms of total numbers, the was still only 6 forms of communication out of the total 58. note, used in 22.2% for Delta notes were reactions Most outgoing Only a total of 2 were generated forms outside by the superintendent by form. generated of analyzes of The next 23 of the 58 cases, ranging from a low of to normally to the most frequently used form was the a high of 61.5% for Alpha. handwritten, spur of These the moment, correspondence covering a specific subject. notes were generated to internal members and attached to other correspondence. staff 152 TABLE 24 COMPARISON OF CORRESPONDENCE RECORD - OUTPUT BY FORM SUPERINTENDENT Form Alpha Bgtq Q s m m m Delta Com ooslte Letter 3/23.1 3/23.1 14/60.9 5/55.6 25 Memo 2/15.4 3/23.1 0 /0 1/11.1 6 N ote 8/61.5 6/46.2 7/30.4 2/22.2 23 Report 0 /0 0 /0 1/4.4 1/11.1 2 O ther 0 /0 1/7.7 1/4.4 0 /0 2 13 23 9 58 Total 13 First Cell Represents Frequency Second Cell Represents Percentage 153 The other analyzed by majority the of of not was by outgoing intended ranging target. on written members. directed correspondence was Table 25 reveals the correspondence was directed to from a low of 22.2% for Delta to a 39.1% for Gamma. rely board of written subordinates, high aspect Again, the superintendents did communications to communicate with Only 1 of the 58 outgoing correspondence to that audience. In comparing the target internal educational members and external agencies, an interesting spread develops between the individual super­ intendents . Outgoing correspondence directed to internal numbers to a range from a high of 77% for Superintendent Alpha low directed 66.6% are of 33% for Superintendent Delta. communications for Delta. and targets. the largest quite differently concerning As share superintendents' from 23.1% for Alpha to It appears that outgoing communications distributed correspondence range Externally internal then are incoming and external senders a single group, subordinates received of written the intermediate school district communications, ranging from a low of 22.2% for Delta to a high of 39.1% for Gamma. The researcher next activities to ferences . Table 26 analyzes the type of contact activity among super intendents. used the the meetings tour identify turned his attention to contact to accounted any individual similarities and dif­ None of the super intendents significant extent. Scheduled for a majority of their time, ranging 154 TABLE 25 COMPARISON OF CORRESPONDENCE RECORD - OUTPUT BY TARGET SUPERINTENDENT target Board M em ber Aiphg 0/0 Beta 1/7.7 Smmm. Pelta 0/0 0/0 C om ae 1 Subordinate 4/30.8 5/38.5 9/39.1 2/22.2 20 Peer 4/30.8 3/23.1 1/4.4 0/0 8 Local District Personnel 2/15.4 0/0 1/4.4 1/11.1 4 G overnm ent 0/0 2/15.4 3/13.0 3/33.3 8 Educational Association 0/0 2/15.4 4/17.4 1/11.1 7 V endor 0/0 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 Community Organization 0/0 0/0 1/4.4 0/0 1 O ther 3/23.1 0/0 4/17.4 2/22.2 9 Total 13 First Cell Represents Frequency Second Cell Represents Percentage 13 23 9 58 155 TABLE 26 COMPARISON OF CONTACT RECORD BY ACTIVITY TYPE SUPERINTENDENT AoiiYitY A lp h a B eta Q am nm D«?|tg Tour 4.4/4.3 2.1/3.5 5.4/4.1 1.5/0.9 Scheduled Mtg. 16.2/70.9 18.6/59.7 14.9/68.9 7.5/59.7 Unscheduled Mtg. 59.6/17.4 39.2/21.7 42.6/14.3 62.7/31.8 Telephone - In 4.4/2.5 23.7/10.2 15.5/5.2 13.4/2.8 Telephone - Out 15.5/4.9 16.5/5.0 21.6/7.5 14.9/4.7 First Cell Represents Percent of Frequency Second Cell Represents Percent of Time 156 from a a low of 59.7% for Superintendent Beta and Delta to high of meetings all 70.9% represented contact such tendent compared tendent activities in incoming phone calls 23.7% of all contact activities for Superin­ Beta. consistent from a low of 39.2% of Superintendent Alpha spent only 4.4% of contact to ranging for Beta to a high of 62.7% for Superin­ Delta. total Unscheduled the highest percent of frequency of activities, activities his for Superintendent Alpha. Outgoing telephone calls were relatively for both percent of frequency and percent of time for all of the subject superintendents. In as a examining meetings, both scheduled and unscheduled group, activities extremely his the in amount the of time taken up by these two course of the superintendents' day is high. Superintendent Alpha invests 88.3% of contact time in meetings, Superintendent, Beta 81.4%, Superintendent 91.5%. uled Gamma, 83.2% and Super intendent Delta, It appears that other than scheduled and unsched­ meetings, there is little time left in the super in­ tendents ' day to attend to other contact activities. Table in 27 examines the number of participants involved the scheduled and unscheduled meetings. there is an inverse participants Unscheduled other uled and the In each case, relationship between the number of scheduled and unscheduled meeting. meetings, for the most part, involve just one participant, meetings with ranging from a low of 74% of unsched­ one participant for Superintendents 157 TABLE 27 COMPARISON OF CONTACT RECORD BY N U M B E R O F PARTICIPANTS SUPERINTENDENT Alpiia Beta Qmrns 1 Sched. 1 Unsched. 4/15 71/74 7/41 28/74 3/14 53/84 0/0 71/85 14 223 2 Sched. 2 Unsched. 3/12 14/15 0/0 5/13 3/14 9/14 0/0 7/8 35 3-5 Sched. 3-5 Unsched. 4/15 10/10 3/18 4/11 3/14 1/2 4/40 4/5 14 19 6-9 Sched. 6-9 Unsched. 4/15 1/1 2/12 0/0 2/9 0/0 3/30 2/2 11 10+ Sched. 10+ Unsched. 11/42 0/0 5/29 1/3 11/50 0/0 3/30 0/0 30 10 84 75 281 iQ lP o rtio p . Total Frequency Sched. Unsched. 26 96 17 38 First Cell Represents Frequency S econd Cell Represents P e rc e n ta g e 22 63 Peltq C om posite 6 3 1 158 Alpha and Gamma and Beta to highs of 84% and 85% for Superintendent Delta, respectively. 281 unscheduled the number of participants increased, the meeting shifted from met meetings Collectively, 223 of the unscheduled to with 10 involved scheduled. just one person. As When the superintendent or more people in a schedule meeting, that represented 42% of all scheduled meetings for Superinten­ dent down Alpha Super intendent involved iate 10 to 29% Beta. or more people in addition to the intermed­ one to a quick involving format Thus, unscheduled meetings were one encounters, usually brief in nature communication. involved all scheduled meetings for Thirty of the 75 scheduled meetings superintendent. normally of exchange of information, both two way Whereas, scheduled meetings normally larger numbers of people were more formal in its and content and was more used as an information generating instrument. The for researcher each contact results. whose With self contacts. contacts Delta, the examined the form of initiation activity. the exception Table of 28 examines the Super intendent Beta, initiation of contacts was only 26% of total The three other roughly 43%. opposite tendent next Alpha The half superintendents ini tiated the time; Alpha, 57%; Gamma, 45%; super intendents' contact initiated by party ranged from a low of 24% for Superin­ to a high of 45% for Superintendent Beta. 159 TABLE 28 COMPARISON OF CONTACT RECORD BY FORM OF INITIATION SUPERINTENDENT Form.of Aloha BfilS G am m a Pelta Self 92/57 25/26 66/45 58/43 241 O pposite 38/24 44/45 53/36 49/37 184 6/4 9/9 8/5 18/13 41 25/16 19/20 21/14 9/7 74 161 97 148 134 540 Mutual Clock Total First Cell Represents Frequency S e c o n d Cell Represents Percentage Com posite 160 Mutual 4% or for Superintendent Delta. and indeterminate source of initiation ranged from accounted Delta. Beta forms. control day. 20% to half a of of forms low of initiation for of 7% for Superintendent the contact initiations, as a subject Thus, the superintendents have some degree over their contacts over the course of a work The remainder of the time the superintendents are to contacts in which or scheduled initiated by others to raise issues they may or may not be interested or concerned, meetings appointment book. frustration in which The they are tied to their superintendents expressed in the lack of their ability to do the things they deemed important. and wishes of those individuals who wished to set whims agenda. that 13% for Superintendent were self initiated, the remainder spread over the other the for Roughly group, that to The clock refers to previously scheduled meetings Superintendent of Alpha Instead, they were at the Despite their objections, it was interesting each of the super intendents usually had their office doors open to invite and, frequently, took the common opportunity office despite when area their the completing to to concern presence of outside contacts go be about to their desk work, they the breakroom or to a accessible to people. So, lack of control over their day, they continually invited such interruptions. Table 29 analyzes superintendents. The the location super intendents of contacts among showed a great 161 TABLE 29 COMPARISON OF CONTACT RECORD BY LOCATION SUPERINTENDENT LOCATION Office ALPHA 45.3/21.6 BETA GAMMA 75.3/32.0 58.1/30.7 DELIA 33.6/10.3 Im m ediate Subordinate 1.9/0.3 00.0/00.0 7.4/4.3 3.0/0.4 O ther Office Personnel 47.8/44.9 7.2/6.8 21.0/27.4 23.1/7.1 O ther Buildings .6/.8 5.2/7.8 9.5/11.4 00.0/00.0 O ther Location 4.3/32.4 12.4/53.5 4.1/26.2 40.3/82.2 First Cell Represents Percent of Frequency S e c o n d Cell Represents Percent of Time 162 degree of tions. divergence The terms of in their mobility and work loca­ superintendents contacts in their office in frequency of contacts ranged from 75.3% of all contacts for Superintendent Beta to a low of 33.6% of all contacts for spent for tendent Delta inate 's had office, within high propensity to work out of the of time although portions of the building. in their immediate subord­ they did spend relatively their day in other office areas Superintendent Alpha spent 47.8% of frequency and 44.9% of total time in other areas of building. tacts None superintendents devoted a large amount of time to contacts in ings . tional Conversely, Beta spent 7.2% of total con­ and 6.8% of total time in other office areas. the other Normally, programs vocational these intermediate these such centers. Super intendent school buildings district build­ would house instruc­ as, special education centers or The highest of such contacts was Gamma who spent 11.4% of his contact time locations. All of the superintendents spent a significant amount Superintendent other a amount significant total Thus, Beta had None of the intermediate superintendents spent a significant in terms of time propensity to stay in his office where Superin­ office. of In Beta to a low of 10.3 for Delta. higher the Delta. in contacts in the office, it ranged from a high of 32% a Superintendent locations Gamma of time spent outside of in other locations. 26.2% of his contact time in the ISD buildings, whereas, 163 Superintendent from Delta spent 82.2% of his contact time away ISD buildings. much of this buildings, ISDruns In the case of Superintendent Delta, contact was troubleshooting and operates in the local school district computer system that the for the local constituent districts. Table the 30 examines intermediate contact. with None the type of participant with whom school of the district superintendent has super intendents spend much time board of education members. Only two instances were recorded outside where of there was contact with board members the formal board meeting or the discussion of the creation of agendas for the board meetings. A combination administrators with account for about 25% of the time spent local school district personnel. consistent among approximately exper ienced by command exception the superintendents of the total super intendents subordinates. was of the 25-35% administrative of of contacts with peers and other local relatively Superintendent This is relatively studied. number Also, of contacts were with immediate It appeared that the chain closely followed, with the Alpha in which 18.5% of his time and 22.2% of his contacts were with other administra­ tive spent tive subordinates. very The remaining three superintendents little time in contact with other administra­ personnel. Most of the contact was directed through their immediate subordinates. 164 TABLE 30 COMPARISON OF CONTACT RECORD BY TYPE O F PARTICIPANT SUPERINTENDENT Type A Ir M Board M em ber 2.5/6.5 Peer Local Administrator 12.8/18.6 2.0/3.3 5.1/11.1 11.0/21.3 G am m a D elta 4.0/8.0 2.7/7.1 20.0/17.0 6.7/15.2 2.5/9.1 7.4/15.9 13.4/13.0 29.7/26.4 22.8/14.0 Im m ediate Administrative Subordinate 25.1/19.8 34.8/16.6 O ther Administrative Subordinate 22.2/18.5 7.6/5.3 6.3/9.4 1.3/0.1 1.5/0.2 0.9/0.5 5.1/6.2 4.7/1.0 O ther Subordinate 15.3/13.2 7.6/2.5 5.1/2.4 14.1/15.8 Student 00.0/00.0 0.9/2.3 1.7/3.0 00.0/00.0 Outsider 18.7/20.0 29.7/31.2 T eacher First Cell Represents Percent of Frequency S e c o n d Cell Represents Percent of Time 20.6/11.6 34.2/33.9 165 Teachers with any and of tendents. students experience very little contact the intermediate The greatest investment of time with teachers was 6.2% Two of the superintendents 1% of of total contact time by Superintendent Gamma. their Students contact received superintendents with all did to less and that contact teachers such devoted to teacher contact. attention Gamma) representing note and either nates (Beta to (Alpha and Beta) had less than time even students, interesting access school district superin­ with only two having any contact at less custodial than staff 3%. It is had greater with the ISD super intendent then or students. Also , other subordi­ a s i secretaries, had some degree of access to the superintendent, although that varied. Organizational the ISD ited and superintendents. by Super intendent 33% Because verbal outsiders had significant contact with of his much of Delta, where 34% of his contacts contact the contacts , time was spent with outsiders. super intendents' usually through scheduled and unsched­ meetings, that have the greatest access to ISD superintendents, the that is time is spent in uled contacts it The most exposure being exhib- the interesting ISD to note those people superintendents choose to make, with whom and how frequently they make contacts. The final researcher was involving each area that of of of the analysis content conducted by this analysis or the issues intermediate school district 166 superintendent. input Table 31 examines written communication by content area. The majority of incoming, written communications involved issues, from ranging Alpha to a high next largest 27.7% of a of was Alpha’s issues community incoming correspondence affairs, ranging and low of 36.1% for Superintendent of Incoming school maintenance 70% for Superintendent Delta. group communications organizational involved relations, in The incoming ranging from mail to 15% of Delta's mail. rarely dealt with constituent from 2% for Gamma to 9.6% for Alpha, or instructional programming, ranging from 6.4% for Delta to 13% for Gamma. This trend Analysis the of Outgoing majority zational continues of outgoing Alpha's . group, Of issues. It affairs Communications issues, from communications the only examining the (Table 32). Content Again, communications are dealing with organi­ maintenance Delta's when 3 was 58 of to outgoing them a a of to 33.3% of high of 61.5% of communications involved interesting low school for the programming note that constituent and community relations as a group, equaled 27 of the 58 content issues of outgoing communications. Table 33 analyzes content by personal contact. lyzed in still dominate the subject matter discussed, ranging from a low 52.6% of this Ana­ 35.1% for Beta. manner, organizational maintenance issues for Superintendent Gamma to a high of School programming remains low frequency 167 TABLE 31 COMPARISON OF CONTENT RECORD WRITTEN COM M UNICATION - INPUT SUPERINTENDENT C ontent A lp h a Beifl Sam m a Organization M aintenance 34/36.1 100/51.0 School Program 9/9.6 Constituent Affairs Delta C sm aasi 61/61 31/70.0 226 20/10.2 13/13 3/6.4 45 9/9.6 14/7.1 2/2 1/2.1 26 Community Relations 26/27.7 41/20.9 16/16 7/15.0 90 O ther 16/17.0 21/10.7 8 /8 5/10.6 50 Total 94 196 100 47 437 First Cell Represents Frequency Second Cell Represents Percentage 168 TABLE 32 COMPARISON OF CONTENT RECORD WRITTEN C O M M UNICATIO N - OUTPUT SUPERINTENDENT C on ten t Organization M ainten an ce Alpha Beta G am m a D elta CQmpMte 8/61.5 5/38.5 11/47.8 3/33.3 27 0/0 0/0 1/4.4 2/22.2 3 Constituent Affairs 3/23.1 5/38.5 2/8.7 2/22.2 12 Community Relations 1/7.7 3/23.1 9/39.1 2/22.2 15 O ther 1/7.7 0/0 0/0 0/0 1 Total 13 13 23 9 58 School Program First Cell Represents Frequency Second Cell Represents Percentage 169 TABLE 33 COMPARISON OF CONTENT RECORD BY C O N T A C T S SUPERINTENDENT C ontent Alpha Beta Siamma O raganization M aintenance 61/37.9 50/52.6 52/35.1 48/35.8 211 16/9.9 6/6.3 22/14.9 7/5.2 51 Constituent Affairs 30/18.6 11/11.6 39/26.4 62/46.3 142 Community Relations 30/18.6 16/16.8 15/10.1 4/3.0 65 O ther 24/14.9 12/12.6 20/13.5 13/9.7 69 Total 161 95 148 134 538 School Program First Cell Represents Frequency Second Cell Represents Percentage Pella C-pmRasite 170 content, ranging from 5.2% for Delta to 14.9% for Gamma. Constituent affairs has a diverse frequency, ranging from a 46.3% of Delta to a low of 11.6% of Beta. high of appears i.e., that regardless written maintenance or of the personal issues It form of communication; contact, that organizational dominated the discussion and the issues in each of the superintendents8 cases. Comparison With Mint zberg1s Six Managerial Work Characteristics Do the school the task performance patterns of the intermediate district superintendents8 characteristics of daily managerial work routine support developed by Mintzberg? The third question of this study concerned compari­ sons of the intermediate school district superintendents8 work activities managerial istics presents with work. was a Mintzberg8s six characteristics of Evidence evident of the Mintzberg character­ during this investigation. comparison of Table 34 the chronology record of this study and Mintzberg8s study. The averaged berg 8s intermediate 251.8 activities district super intendent per week compared with Mintz­ C E O 8s who averaged 109.4 activities per week. intermediate longer school hours, school district averaging The superintendent also worked 54.3 hours per week compared to Mintzberg8s CE08s who averaged a 40.4 hour work week. 171 TABLE 34 COMPARISON OF CHRONOLOGY RECORD WITH MINTZBERG'S CEO S CATEGORY BERGERS 1SELSUEL MINTZBERG C£SL (4) Total Hours Worked Hours of Evening Work (Inc.) Total N umber of Activities (5) C f t m o o s it e Mean Comoosite 217 27.3 1007 54.3 6.8 251.8 202 24 547 40.0 4.8 109.4 320 44 hrs. 8 mln. 20% 80 11 179 44 hrs. 15 mln. 22% 35.8 8.8 164 14hrs. 5 mln. 7% 41 3.6 133 13 hrs. 6 mln. 6% 26.6 2.6 76 87hrs. 69 mln. 40% 19 21.8 105 120 hrs. 68 mln. 59% 21 24 281 28 hrs. 6 mln. 13% 70.3 7 101 20 hrs. 12 mln. 10% 20.2 4 19 4 his. 14 mln. 2% 4.8 1 29 5 hrs. 11 mln. 3% 5.8 1 84 30 hrs. 21 mln. 14% 21 7.5 . . . . _ _ . - - - 63 15.8 2.3 _ _ Mean Desk Work Number of Sessions Time o n Desk Work A verage Duration Proportion of Time . - - Telephone Call* Number of Calls Time on Telephone A verage Duration Proportion of Time _ - _ - Scheduled Meetings Number of Meetings Time In Meetings A verage Duration Proportion of Time _ - . - Unscheduled Meetlna Number of Meetings Time In Meetings A verage Duration Proportion of Time . - - - Tour* Number of Tours Time o n Tours A verage Duration Proportion of Time . - . - Travel Number of Trips Time on Trips A verage Duration Proposal of Time Eereonal Number of Sessions Time on Sessions Average Duration Proportion of Time 9 hrs. 9min. 4% . _ - - - 172 Desk work district of 20% of intermediate school superintendents' work activities compared to 22% CEO's twice occupied activities, but the average duration was almost as long for the CEO's (15 minutes compared to 8 minutes). The use of intermediate of CEO's, the telephone was comparable, 7% of school district superintendents' time and 6% as was the use of tours, 2% for intermediate school district superintendents and 3% for CEO's. Scheduled school 59% district for ical, meetings 40% superintendents' CEO's. 69 took of the work intermediate week compared to The average duration was almost ident­ minutes for intermediate school district superintendents to 68 minutes for CEO's. Unscheduled compared meetings to 13% superintendents, for but took 10% of the intermediate lasted CEO's school time district twice as long, on average 6 minutes to 12 minutes. Eighteen percent superintendents' activities. of the intermediate school district work week was expended in nonmanagerial These activities were not reported separately in Mintzberg's study of CEO's. Table received 35 compares incoming mail. Mintzberg's CEO's an average of 132 pieces of mail compared to the intermediate school week. form The district of superintendents' 109 per input was diverse for both groups. 173 TABLE 35 COMPARISON OF MAIL RECORD - INPUT WITH MINTZBERGS CEO C a te g o ry . Bergers M in tzb erg JgP JS up^iofeM e n y CEOs Number of Pieces Received M ean Number of Pieces Received 437 109 659 132 25 15 12 5 43 29 10 25 16 20 70 29 1 31 63 6 18 0 4 23 1 17 15 5 17 39 1 16 9 5 8 6 11 5 Form of Input (%) Letter M emo Report Periodical O ther M e ntion (%) Skim R ead Study Sender (%) Subordinate Director Peer Trade Organization Client Supplier or Associate In dep en d en t Publisher G overnm ent 174 There was incoming a notable difference in the attention give to correspondence intermediate school between the two incoming mail, CEO's skimmed just 31%. or studied mediate spent while district superintendents skimmed 70% of 69% groups The CEO's read of their mail compared to 30% for inter­ school district superintendents. Thus, CEO's more time per session and gave greater attention to the written work than did the intermediate school district superintendent. In CEO's examining the received twice subordinates district from source (39%) as 16% to superintendents. district intermediate and from school four times as much 4% for intermediate school district Conversely, from communication to (18%), superintendents correspondence much compared superintendents peers, of written communications, the received intermediate 78% school of their written sources external to the organization compared to 44% for CEO's. Table generated did 36 46 intermediate used predominate the outgoing mail. Mintzberg's CEO's three times as many written correspondence then intermediate averaging groups compares largest school district superintendents, pieces per week compared to 15 per week for school district superintendents. diverse forms of written communication. form was percent the of letter. outgoing Both The Both groups directed correspondence to 175 TABLE 36 COMPARISON OF MAIL RECORD - OUTPUT WITH MINTZBERGS CEO S C a te g o ry ISD S u p e rin te n d e n t Number of P ieces G en era ted M ean Number of P ieces G en era ted CEO? 58 231 15 46 E fiD X L fiL £ u fo it(% ) Letter M em o Report Other 43 10 4 43 47 19 2 32 Tar.get.(% ) Subordinate Director Peer Trade Organization Client Supplier or A ssociate In d ep en d en t G overnm ent 34 2 14 12 7 0 17 14 55 2 17 5 7 3 5 7 176 subordinates, CEO's averaging 55% and intermediate school district superintendents 34%. Table of 37 compares contacts. In examining the amount personal contacts, intermediate school district super­ intendents averaged 135 CEO's who averaged 73.6. hours per week in interpersonal contacts. more time their ISD district in and contacts per week compared with frequency Each group averaged over 30 CEO's invested in scheduled meetings than did counterparts. Conversely, intermediate school superintendents invested more time and frequency unscheduled meetings. The use of tours and phone calls were comparable between the two studies. When examining the form of contact initiation, inter­ mediate school degree of school district district control compared opposite party compared over superintendents contacts CEO's their superintendents with initiated 32% had contacts. initiated for CE O 's . contacts a greater Intermediate 45% of their Conversely, the 57% of the time with with 34% for intermediate school district superintendents. In school compar ing location of contacts, intermediate district superintendents spent 51% of contacts and 23% of contact time in their office compared to C EO's 75% and 39% of their mediate CEO's. respectively. work school week Both groups spent large portions in district other locations, 48% for inter­ superintendents and 38% for 177 TABLE 37 COMPARISON OF CONTACT RECORD WITH MINTZBERGS CEO s C_qte_q Job Characteristics The first major component of the job profile, common characteristics intendents' analysis of intermediate managerial school behavior, was of daily work activities. identified that district super­ derived from an Seven dimensions were describes the job characteristics of the intermediate school district superintendent: Unsettled school Environment. district setting that Unlike who's Work the The superintendent intermediate works in a job is both unstable and unpredictable. picture of a structured, orderly CEO, day is controlled only by his desires and interests, we find constantly being activity he scheduled about him. manager by who is the waves of With the exception of meetings which provide occa­ islands of predictability, once adjourned, is set on a course of acting and reacting to a ubiquitous series encounters and he harried tossed surrounding regularly sional a of written phone calls, one communication. on one Although may be designated the captain of his ship, and he has responsibility ultimate destination, control the wind to he and steer lacks waves her the to the ability to encountered during each day's journey. Open-ended the is Job Responsibilities. intermediate the The super­ continually scan the environment look­ forthe does school district super intendency open-ended nature of the job. intendents ing Also evident in next task totackle. Very rarely the superintendent find satisfaction in task completion. This open-ended nature The could be due in part to the of managerial work in fact is that the job is never done. general. There's always other to resolved. No matter how good things are today, they could always row. This phenomenon recent school be stone is event, Quite that and completing issues to be addressed and problems is also evidenced in the improvement movement. improvement is ongoing. one be made better tomor­ task, Its corner­ is a process, not an Their job was not one of then moving on to another. the contrary, because of the scope of their responsibilities organizations, district and the dynamic nature of their the job of the intermediate school superintendent could never by considered finished. Consequently, demonstrated doing the a propensity nothing. job next on stimulating fatigue, superintendents to feel guilty about As soon as a task was completed, incumbents item the the immediately agenda. looked This for the represents a challenge but also can be a source of frustration and lack of satisfaction and gratification. Multiple or Sources impetus three for from or below, and/or e.g., been e.g., emanates from from above, e.g., Board of Department of Education, 2) intermediate school districts intermediate personal between and the school district superin­ interest that the superintendent Nevertheless, The source districts' staff, or, 3) from with­ demonstrated exists initiation 1) State local tendent's work task directions; Education in, of Work Activities. or desire. little regular It has contact intermediate school district his board education. is a primary source of for the superintendent. The majority of job responsibilities board of required from above concerns the creation of the regularly scheduled meetings typically tion the by agenda and board run participation meetings. in Although an hour or two, prepara­ superintendent and staff can be 226 tenfold. Although, Department staff, for work generated by the of Education was normally delegated to the Superintendent monitoring is still responsible the successful completion of such tasks. The iate superintendent's school district major district personnel portion requests sources constantly sources. mode local school Consequently, a is created by information from these of is hardly unexpected, but these requests school district bombarded by is. The superintendent requests from is these He was usually placed in a reactionary and deal and activity or This frequency intermediate with intermed­ the intermediate school district superintendent. the work action "below" staff is frequent. of for contact bounced with the about like a pinball trying to task requests generated from others. The final source generated internally. addresses the When quiet presented time, activity work day on was of work This phenomena openendedness with activity of the is also position. the opportunity for free or the superintendent usually initiated his own; so that every minute of the accounted for. This internally generated tendent often work stimuli also provided the superin­ with set some proactive work activities. in motion a chain reaction throughout the organization for information The self-initiated putty that It fill as others react to the request or action by the superintendent. activities the appear unoccupied to be the cracks in the superintendent's work day. Ad Hoc Decision Making. district is superintendents' decision making process normally constantly events on required to be instantaneous. responding ebb and flow of Most decisions are based and gained from previous experience. reflective decision demonstrated planners alternatives the the He is information stored in the head of the superin­ superintendents of to surrounding him. tendent they The intermediate school and who that they were not systematically chose The weighed and implemented the best after evaluating consequences. Instead, were instantaneous, shoot from the hip types decision makers. demands decision making individuals immediate of The pace of the work day and the job precluded process. confronted problems an isolated More often than not, the superintendent requiring with immediate solutions. take After very brief sessions of give and concerning specifics of the situation, deci­ sions were not, the specific rendered. superintendents to knowledge and normally the to related asked problem his and for information then applied that set of preconceived principles experiences, instantaneous More often than evaluation to and conducted make the an required decision. Restricted appeared of Access. to the be The problem of timely access another important characteristic intermediate continually hovered super intendency. and Staff circled the superinten­ dent and attempted to get and give information or give and get frustration decisions. with superintendent opportunities after the in a Most people expressed inability timely to access manner. the Usually were seized in restrooms, before or scheduled meetings, or walking down the hall in an attempt to address the superintendent with an array of stored up requests and informa­ tion . It appeared reciprocal. expressed contact that Many frustration people this times access the with immediately was superintendent his to problem inability give to or get the appropriate trail of information phone to messages give A long evidence to the inability to manner. Additionally, many times a quick run by an office access take action. to people by phone in a timely receive some empty desk. information was met with an this contact created a forum to trade information concerning not, was an array expanded to incorporate that had became fair game an role been this once superintendent’s as a gatekeeper incoming appointments secretary how calls with played all of which had been gained. phenomenon access secretary orscreener Whether phone array of other up, access limited intervention. and More often than an piling interesting concerning The of topics. the specific reason for a meeting or contact issues Also Once access did take place, it or be took place characteristic. played a major of external incoming mail, people wishing to make the superintendent, the a vital role in controlling who frequently the superintendent was accessed. Preferred appeared preferred district Use that of the media Two-Way most of productive, the superintendent Communication. and intermediate was that of It thus, school verbal 230 contact. two-way This response because as the offered The give no and all on the take written communication of an array of appeared to place written time to opportunity for Verbal superintendents importance it allowed for opposed probing. for Therefore, the which or issues. little so communication communication allowed was communication. and effort invested on part of staff to research and prepare regular reports and studies appears to be of little value to intermediate the dent. school district superinten­ However, even though written communication maintained a low level of importance, an interest­ ing phenomena need flow of these documents. process not be tions it, There was a pressing on the part of the superintendents to handle the to developed. it in and out of the organization and the bottleneck in the written communica­ flow. Although they placed little value on evidenced given, They felt compelled they by the lack of time and attention felt compelled to keep this mountain of written communication moving. The a very phone also proved to be an effective but inefficient allowed two-way harking back to method of communication. access to distant It parties but the access problem, very seldom was a contact made on the first attempt. ly, two more three call backs were required and times than not, the problem and/or the issue was resolved made. to or Normal­ prior to the contact finally being Unscheduled meetings were used frequently give and get information on pressing future issues, but were of short duration. uled meetings, on the and Sched­ other hand, ate up huge chunks of the superintendents' time, but neverthe­ less , required normally to his presence. used discuss to Although they were convene large groups of people formal issues, usually from a set agenda, the opportunity was taken by the superin­ tendent and array of topics allowing dent the to and trade information on an it served the purpose of a planned access between the superinten­ and two-way others others. The greatest advantage of modes of communication was the ability of superintendent to expand agendas and probe for information. A Mobile district mobile Manager. superintendent person, educational Evidence The was much intermediate appeared more so administrative given that to than be his school a very other counterparts. large portions of each 232 day were devoted extended area travel and spent the very to travel. Normally, this is to and from sites throughout the state. little school district tional programs, Because the superintendent time in facilities most that housed instruc­ the local travel time trips frequent travel time involved trips to sites that hosting because much of time functions. state was The most or regional meetings. Also, spent traveling to and from these This mobility also contributed to the problem. reduce the the districts. his involvement in community affairs, access of local intermediate involved were to of other Although a car phone would access effects of this mobility, none superintendents superintendents protected utilized and them. appreciated The the isolation created by their mobility. Actors -> The contact Job Contact Patterns second major component of the job profile is job networks. the A review and analysis of the actors prominent in intendent revealed certain the more frequent the contact, the more opportunity one had to persuade working day of the intermediate super­ and impact contact patterns. the Normally, decisions made by the intermediate school district superintendent. 233 The frequency opportunity create a of to these access contact networks create an and impact the superintendent and sphere of influence. Thesenetworks involve the following primary players; 1) intermediate school district education, 2) intermediate school board of district staff , 3) local district staff, 4) community affiliations, and, 5) professional organizations. A diagram Figure 3. tendent of As these relationships is depicted in noted earlier, the intermediate superin­ has very little day-to-day contact with his board of education. The direction and leadership for the opera­ tion organization of not the the board. The board , in most cases, appears to be a repository and of recommendations with an occasional checking questioning impetus comes from the superintendent for of rationale. change For the most part, the and programmatic direction is gener­ ated and carried out by the superintendent and his staff. Regardless the of statutory the frequency authority of contact, because of of the board of education, each intermediate school great of importance on keeping the board informed amount district superintendent placed a and responding to their every request. In examining the internal superintendent, they organi zational hierarchy. subordinates access and and appear other contact staff contacts with the to predominantly follow the Immediate administrative administrators have the greatest with the superintendent. FIGURE 3 CONTACT NETWORK/SPHERES OF INFLUENCE BOARD OF EDUCATION INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL DISTRICT STAFF 234 INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL DISTRICT SUPERINTENDED COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS PRIMARY CONTACT » SECONDARY CONTACT PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATION LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY SUPERINTENDED 235 Consequently, greatest have the opportunity to influence on the superintendent. diminishes chy. they as exert the This influence one continues down the educational hierar­ As a result, teachers and students have very little contact and, thus, has major was discussed and the consequences with issues. received to the superintendent. This for input and decision making as earlier access information the access the decision making process Superintendents rely heavily on from face to face contacts. With limited contacts students, teaching staff and princi­ pals have reaching thus with the superintendent, most information the superintendent must be run through channels, allowing Therefore, for the a filtering immediate effect subordinates along of the way. the superin­ tendent have a great deal of influence to control informa­ tion in and ability to out of the superintendent's office and the access and persuade the superintendent on various issues. There appears to be little direct contact between the board of education staff, except Organizational education school for and formal intermediate contact at school district a board meeting. protocol calls for all contact by board of members to be funneled through the intermediate district superintendent superintendent. This also allows the to filter, select, sort and interpret what information flows between these two groups. 236 The next significant network participant is the local school an district superintendent. unspoken nance protocol of contacts. ication local for Again, there seems to be the establishment and mainte­ Almost without exception, the commun­ between the intermediate school district school dents. districts' were between the and the superinten­ On very few occasions did the intermediate school district superintendent administrators philosophy issues. school contact and vice versa. seems to Coupled district presence within apparent that mediate make be with fact superintendent the the local key other local This "birds of a feather" pervasive the with regardless of the that the intermediate has very little physical school districts, it becomes relationships between the inter­ school district and the local school districts is monitored through the respective superintendents. The placed intermediate great relationships each school importance with on district maintaining super intendent good the LEA super intendents. working It appeared superintendent recognized the vital role they played in the linkage of their respective organizations. The next network participant professional affiliations. frequent the sional network of the as both Although not as direct and three primary network contacts, profes­ affiliations for identified is that of appear to be a very close and strong information exchange and support. superintendents were heavily involved All in 237 professional written organizations. communications frequent contacts A came large from portion such of sources. the Also, were made and maintained through these organizations. It gave the intermediate school district superintendents immediate others and sustained contact with in the profession in which to give and get inform­ ation and advice. support and contacts some that degree required superintendent official These contacts also provided for moral to of Unlike other the intermediate school district be either a supervisor, subordinate or representative gatherings informality. of his organization, these were with peers feeling the same pressures and the same problems. the intermediate Consequently, these contacts allowed school district superintendent to "let their hair down" and engage in some relaxed interaction. The final community affairs. a propensity Again, information from it this job Each to network of be is that of the superintendents involved in community provided the opportunity to gather influential forces within the community also serve as the intermediate school district repre­ sentative tion in organizations. demonstrated and player to flow intermediate importance intermediate the from community. the school district It allowed for an informa­ to the The district superintendent placed great on this communi ty linkage. school community. districts For the most part, are not as visible as the 238 local school limited and districts. contact Consequently, because there is between the intermediate school district the general public, the establishment and maintenance of these community contacts are vital channels of informa­ tion and influence. It also appeared superintendents were representation is to on particularly more than pick seemed that the intermediate school district prime target for educational area-wide boards and committees. true This of organizations that incorporated one local school district. Rather than trying and choose representation at the local level, it more district expedient to superintendent have the intermediate school representing the educational interest of all involved to serve on area boards. Issues of -> Job Content Patterns The third job content examination school content the of which were derived from an issues addressed by the intermediate superintendent dichotomy appeared during with his work day. two predominant A job domains emerging, that of internal organi zational management; issues of patterns, district content tion major component of the job profile is that the i.e., internal district, concerning the and issues concerning the opera­ constituent relationships affairs; i.e., between the inter­ mediate school district and the local districts. 239 The predominance issues casts the superintendent in the role of an organi­ zational The of these organizational maintenance manager as opposed predominance of issues written communication day-to-day to in an educational leader. personal revolved operations of around issues service issues and regulatory issues. to be actual Constituent revolved around two major topics, that of involved tions For the most part, and stressed the service issues over the More were delegated on and intermediate school district superintendent preferred regulatory. the the the organization. affairs the contacts often issues to than not, the regulatory func­ of compliance that were relegated and the appropriate staff member. In this way, super intendents strive to be wearing the "white hats" issues of service where the "black hats" were worn by administrative subordinates charged with monitoring with specific local requirements. Very the seldom addressed during the daily activities of intermediate instructional appear that relegated running school and/or district curr icular superintendent issues. It did were not the superintendents consciously or knowingly these to a lesser position, but in the crush of a school instructional district, technique and the topics educational of curriculum, outcomes were seldom discussed. But, content this researcher patterns was not content to explain job simply in terms of this dichotomy. The 240 researcher expanded his theory by explaining the intermediate school district superintendent's job content patterns relation in to levels of responsibility in specific content areas. Previous research, Organizations in organization These Action can organizational such be as (1967), considered levels James of Thompson's work, contend as that complex consisting of three responsibility and control. levels include: 1) technical; 2) managerial; and 3) institutional. (likely a functions The technical level involves one or more matrix) of core technical or operational which involve the processing of information and other resources, level services controlling, both human or nonhuman. the technical coordinating level The manager ial suborganization by and supplying resources to the technical core functions and by mediating between techni­ cal functions. core maintaining and the those The institutional level involves image and reputation of the organi zation individuals and/or institutions who depend on the organi zation (refer to Figure 4). These of an those respond researchers administrator organizational to relationship contend is to coordinate exchanges between levels and task environments and to uncertainties between that the primary activity which may disrupt the exchange organi zational related work environments. domains and their 241 FIGURE 4 W ORK ACTIVITY ENVIRONMENTS INSTITUTIONAL LEVEL MANAGERIAL LEVEL OPERATIONAL LEVEL 242 In this tendency encompasses technical dents level have employee of study, the work associated with the superin­ the task contracts as of of of At of tasks. At the preparing budgets, negotiating the managerial level they have the the district's service programs, such education, education. variety and selecting personnel for a variety managing special wide intermediate school district superinten­ positions. tasks a vocational education and general At the institutional level they have the task representing, supporting, and defending all organi za­ tional domains to all task environments. The that researcher identified the following content areas represent mediate school the major issues addressed by the inter­ district superintendent in the course of his work day; 1. Organi zational Maintenance/Operation 2. Instructional/Curricular Program 3. Constituent Affairs 4. Community Relations When on the the results In focus work activity environments, the following model (see Figure 5). the internal on the activity. wor k researcher superimposed the content domains operational and managerial level to of The majority of issues encountered in internal environment maintenance domain,thesuperintendent tends are centered and operational issues. around organi zational For example, most of 243 FIGURE 5 CONTENT D O M A IN S INTERNAL DOMAIN EXTERNAL DOMAIN ORGANIZATIONAL MAINTENANCE CONSTITUENT AFFIARS INSTITUTIONAL LEVEL MANAGERIAL LEVEL OPERA'IONAL LEVEL INSTRUCTIONAL CURRICULUM PROGRAM COMMUNITY RELATIONS 244 the issues district involving require operational issues the the the day to day operations of the superintendent or managerial level. of instructional intermediate school to function at the Also, the less frequent management district are also handled by superintendent at the operational or managerial level. Conversely, domain; the i.e., relations, require is, relations to the institution content found in the external those of constituent affairs and community superintendent That job intermediate function at superintendent in as the constituent opposed to school district the institutional level. tends to affairs operating represent and at the community the operational level It should discrete. be During intermediate one domain one task noted that the course school to district another. environment these of partitions are not the work super intendent day, the flows from At the same time, he moves from to So, not only does he address different tional maintenance etc.), he addresses them at different levels of responsi­ bility and functions control at the issues another. continuously issues, (i.e., (i.e., organi za­ community relations' issues, in certain si tuations, he technical level and at other times, at the institutional level). 245 Finally, an development process to be of interesting job phenomenon content patterns. emerged That in the is, the of picking and choosing and sorting of job issues addressed by the intermediate school district super intendent. In some those instances where the superintendent exercised degree ties, to of intermediate school district superintendents tended delegate concentrate sorting what most delegated they dislike or was on what they do like. process, delegated As an example, in this Superintendent curriculum most greatest unfamiliar and Alpha, Beta and Gamma business issues, and Superintendent Delta most participate the control over the content of work activi­ in sense issues. those of They tended to content areas that gave them satisfaction and had the highest degree of interest. For public in and example, speaking, workshopsand intermediate community educational school tended to educational and was attracted to involvement, participation districts Super intendent service Gamma involving inservice Beta was highly involved and representative Superintendent innovator legislative Alpha consulting with local school districts opportunities. in Superintendent was very in communi ty strived to be active as an organi zations. an educational was interested in program development, and choose leader activities within that the involved him as the intermediate school 246 district and tendent Delta in computer among the local school districts. was Superin­ a computer expert and highly involved technology and served as a computer consult­ ant and resource person for the local school districts. A review of the background of each superintendent (see Appendix 4) reveals that none of the superintendents were grounded the in broad humanities. ests and, based liberal arts or taught in It is not surprising that their inter­ consequently, their activities are influenced by their training and past experience. Once the researcher the superintendent the researcher completed his analysis of what does, as proposed in the job profile, turned his attention to explore why the superintendent engages in these managerial behaviors. JOB ROLE Evolution this of Role. researcher position of incumbent that The opportunity available when Figure 6) an individual It appears to assumes the intermediate school district superintendent, in status. that (See individual to to position do things him due to is formal becomes authority and empowered and has the and meet people that are only the fact that he holds the posi tion. This tunity formal for and, authority and status provides the oppor­ often times, requires the establishment and maintenance of In the of case certain interpersonal relationships. the intermediate school district 247 FIGURE 6 EVOLUTION OF ROLE FORMAL STATUS & AUTHORITY INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS M ER M A i m BOARD MEMBERS ISD STAFF LEA STAFF m m GOVT/POLITICAL PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION GENERAL PUBLIC INFORM ATION PRO CESSO R SISIPUT/OUTP>UT INTERNAL <— ----------—► ISD SUPT / ---------- -y EXTERNAL 248 superintendent, these relationships are both internal and external. virtue holding By the position internal personal members, intermediate local school Likewise, tates is his position, the individual able to establish and maintain relationships school with board of education district staff members and district superintendents and staff members. the formal status and authority that facili­ the establishment of personal relationships creates certain the of contacts with intermediate external sources. school district include political and governmental sional association relationships and In the case of superintendent, they relationships, profes­ relationships, community organi zation certain relationships with the general public. Through mediate school strategic his these interpersonal relationships, the inter­ position. organization position. of inter information in system trict. its superintendent is placed in a becomes the vital link between environment by virtue of his That link is manifested through the processing position these He and information. the He, district Thus, the superintendent is placed in of information processor. That is, he uses personal relationships to access and process coming to and from him and his organi zation. essence, functions in the role of an input-output for his employer, the intermediate school dis­ 249 All these interpersonal relationships create networks established that in as a result of formal status and authority comes with the position. a This places the individual unique position to function as the nerve center and strategic one information possesses, the the processor. more valuable one becomes. intermediateschooldistrict access and information because network he role the is There The the an extensive, external agentsto tap intermediate that of an is a constant need by internal this top bulb those information source. school district superintendent's information conduit. much 1ike the neck of an hourglass i.e., can the entire organi zation established base. external Thus, has within superintendent Because to give and get information, he possesses a vital information and from The more information can He functions (see Figure 7). be visualized as external agents; individuals comprising contacts outside of formal organi zation, such as political and government figures, members organizations of professional associations, communi ty and the general public. the hourglass the school represents community, internal such The bottom bulb of agents, those within as board members, ISD staff and LEA staff. The sand information. in The the hourglass sand can represents the flow of take the form of verbal or written communications and can flow in either direction. Figure 7 Role of ISD Superintendent Information Conduit External Agents Internal Agents 251 Each of addressed dent grains of sand represent certain issues by the intermediate school district superinten­ in these the the course represent encompass of his work. organizational community relations More often than not, issues but could also issues or school program­ ming issues. The mines can position the be which direction the hourglass is kept deter­ and flow of information. This flow set in motion by the intermediate school district superintendent set in in himself, motion or or change more the often than not, can be direction of the flow of information at the request of other individuals. The bulbs purpose is school to give this flow of sand between the two or get information. The intermediate district superintendent plays a vital link in this information the of flow. He functions as a conduit to process milieu of inputs and outputs so the right information gets to the right people. conduit, the intermediate superintendent is in a strate­ gic position the appropriate for decision school Functioning as the information to access people making. the appropriate people and have access It him to give and get data also allows the intermediate district superintendent to make informed decisions because so much of the organi zational communication flows through him. He becomes the vital link in major decision making processes serves as a within gatekeeper, the organi zation. sorting and Further, he determining what 252 information He, will be disseminated within the organization. likewise, influences what information is disseminated to people external to the organization. However, having gatekeeper, of his see luxury or as the information have problematic effects. Because big picture. Consequently, he does not have the responding to a small component of the opera­ of without being information zation . that cognizant of the effect the decision might Because departments, sions also function strategic position, the superintendent is able to the tion can to he have on other parts of the organi­ of his has might connecting link with various multiple agendas to address. favorably Deci­ affect one of the constitu- encies might have an adverse effect on the other. is Also, the intermediate school district superintendent in position a consequences. information their where Individuals may limited make knowledge. superintendent, has information consequences of with inappropriate district the he must weigh alternatives and and actions The limited amounts decisions of based on intermediate school because of his role as conduit, responsibility and to weigh the determine how actions will impact each segment of the organization. In in conclusion, which the superintendent authority role the researcher has developed a model of the intermediate school district evolved incumbent sequentially. The status and in the position itself gives rise to 253 the opportunity superintendent holders. ships and, to The of position interact and, in function instances, This in certain other position of these working relation­ places superintendent primary with some information. obligation district some cases, obligation for the establishment creates exchange in the sequence of events and the a mandates intermediate strategic school position. becomes one of information conduit. His He fills the role of an input/output system processing infor­ mation once in and out of the organi zation. processed, process. help His the information increases vital in the decision making effectiveness in performing his role will determine right becomes This information, success in effective the of his organi zation. The right hands at the right time decision making internally and promotes a positive image externally. SUMMARY As noted voluminous generally there drawn base and was mediate previously a of school in Chapter knowledge on II, there exists a managerial administration, specifically. But research void involving the study of inter­ school district super intendents. in behavior The conclusions Chapter V were an attempt by this researcher to fill that void by offering a description of job character­ istics and job superintendent. role of the intermediate school district Although the conclusions were compatible 254 with Mintzberg's findings, the researcher believes his theories on job specific to the intermediate school district superinten­ dency and tional characteristics thus and job roles are more provide greater utility. research But this addi­ contribution should not be considered in isolation. By the integrating managerial existing behavior knowledge educational piece the findings of this study concerning base managers, of of ISD superintendents with the regarding the other categories of researcher believes a missing the administrative behavioral continuum is added. It that has been demonstrated in this and previous studies managers managerial jobs istics. that Various explain and judged in both the public and private sector have typologies describe based on exhibit certain generic character­ such their have been offered to help behavior utility and when each applied must be to the specific position under study. But, changing what has pattern istics. not been discussed previously, is the and This researcher proposes that by managerial behavior secondary principals, intendent and tendent, emphasis of these basic character­ a the of the elementary local the principals, the school district super­ intermediate school district superin­ continuum demonstrated. the examining of administrative behavior can be 255 A number of examples may be in order to illustrate the existence of this continuum. -Educational volumes and of pace managers work of at all levels at a hectic pace. this handle large But, both the volume work tends to decrease as one ascends the educational hierarchy. -All levels of school and However, work environment becomes less fragment and more unpredictable work exhibit fragmentation that an administrators environment. predictable for superintendents as opposed to build­ ing principals. -All levels maintain a contact Elementary dominated within other of school administrators establish and network but with a different focus. and secondary principals' network tended to be by internal their hand , school agents, that building. exhibited a mix is, those contacts Superintendents, on the of contact networks, both internal and external to the organization. -All to a levels of the school administration were subject blend building toward tendent of rights principal1s required and job the and duties. However, at the level , the job was heavily weighted responsibilities. The LEA super in­ ISD superintendent had more opportunity for discretionary job activities. -Daily behavioral "place job mobility continuum. bound" is also a variable in this The school principals were quite in their job. The LEA superintendents had 256 some discretion in their work location. The ISD superin­ tendent had a high degree of job mobility. -All offer these public increased positions exposure, as are public jobs and, as such, however, individuals positional visibility move from the principalship to the LEA superintendency to the ISD super intendency. -The scope processed and position. ISD and the decisions Generally of to ence and are information principals. upon made are speaking, superintendents sources consequences also information influenced by LEA superintendents and exposed than of to more elementary and and richer secondary Consequently, the superintendents are called make decisions that tend to have greater influ­ consequence for the total organization than do building level principals. It appears variable in control to this this behavioral administrative activities. nature of principal continuum is the degree of exert all subject manager ial as that the underlying managers Although characteristics, elementary researcher are work a and school to the over their daily to the general accompanying administrator secondary principal job moves from to local school district superintendent to ISD superintendent, he has tendency to a variables that changing nature characteristics assume greater control over the job impact his work activities and affect the of the job characteristics. These form a continuum that moves from the more 257 restrictive limited to to the less restrictive job activities, from mobility greater to greater mobility, from less control control and from limited visibility to high visibility. It is anticipated endeavor, not existing knowledge educational by add an additional base of the managers, but "piece" to the managerial behavior of it contributes a missing link including the intermediate school district superinten­ dent. This missing piece completes and demonstrates the changing when only that the results of this research nature applied of to the managerial different positions job characteristics within the educa­ tional hierarchy. IMPLICATIONS Researchers the must question, knowledge and endeavor?" continually be challenged to answer "What value or utility is contained in the information The resulting from the research researcher believes the results of this study may prove useful to three groups. For Current and Aspiring Intermediate School District Superintendents. strators typically The career path of educational admini­ in general, and superintendents specifically, is sequential in organizational size and responsi­ bility. Beginning individual usually with the teaching position, the rises through the chairs of assistant 258 principal, principal, superintendent individuals and may central ISD skip a office position, superintendent. step or LEA Although two along the way, it represents a typical rise to the ISD superintendency. Consequently, requirements help job these a and thorough understanding characteristics incumbents positions better and aid of of the job the position would understand the demands of the aspiring administrators in appropriate career preparation and selection. Although hours, exist most administrative it has been demonstrated that distinct differences between the job requirements of various educational administrators. one moves But, with from the between and positions require long from the building level to the central office. this the will of education.” intermediate into question lessening pace comes a greater isolation "process teachers enter The pace of daily activities lessens as school district superintendent and students. career the These characteristics should decisions. automatic Little contact exists The results lead one to assumption that a good teacher be a good principal? a good principal will be a good superintendent, or a good local superintendent will be a good intermediate school district superintendent. For Intermediate tion . It has school district organizational School been District demonstrated that the super intendent manager Boards than functions of Educa­ intermediate more as an educational leader. an The 259 position tional and places more operations direction. this factor the emphasis than Boards on day to day organiza­ long term educational leadership of education should be aware of when considering candidates. possibility of employing CE O 's It also raises from the private sector to head educational organizations. Also, is the intermediate school district superintendent placed in a very visible position, often acting as a representative of educational institutions to the community. The position requires the establishment and maintenance of numerous the effective individuals boards possess of working relationships and institutions. education to look with It would behoove for individuals who the interpersonal skills necessary to function in this heightened level of exposure. Finally, constituent the to service the Although local districts are more con­ to the general public and thus more visible, it is generally school requirement districts is a marked difference from the LEA superintendent. nected job a less informed constituency. The intermediate district superintendent, on the other hand, serves the educators in the local districts. are usually well informed and Consequently, they exhibit a high level of expectation. For Administrator researcher trict concluded superintendent Training that the Institutions. The intermediate school dis­ functions primarily as an 260 information vital its processor providing the strategic conduit for information to flow between his organization and environment. Consequently, emphasis placed required to curriculums on the perform should cognitive effectively be reviewed and and affective skills in this input/output mode. Additionally, skills are result of of it has emphasized the been over proposed that management educational demands of the job. expertise as a Therefore, some type interdisciplinary training might be in order to expose the individual to the principles because the actual of organizational management. Finally, difficult to classroom setting, an demonstrate internship candidates component to may administrative of or time, or articulate in a university it may be more appropriate to require work the be demands of the job are experience realities of required component the to expose position. This in the initial stages of the preparation program; so that large amounts money and energy are not expended before potential incompatibility is identified. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY Any researcher suggestions menon under to would be remiss if he failed to offer enhance study. the knowledge base of the pheno­ In order to foster a greater 261 understanding mediate of the school managerial behavior of the inter­ district superintendent, the researcher offers the following recommendations: of Follow Up Studies. claims in this study that warrant further investiga­ tion . fact Do the set of characteristics delineated here in have mediate validity for describing the work of the inter­ school district described be terms? Clearly, larger and district The researcher has made a number superintendent? Can the role specified in more precise, more operational more there is a need for more studies with diverse samples of intermediate school superintendents to test the validity of these findings. Studies merit in of focusing intermediate the inter More Specific profile the study the Job. There is on specific aspects of the of could the parts are not forgotten. be focused on a specific job such as job contact patterns or issues Additionally, more comprehensive analysis of superintendent conducted. of district superintendency; so long as relatedness component management. attention school detailed Aspects as an information processor could be Each aspect of the intermediate school dis­ trict superintendent's job requires intensive research. Studies of Superintendent's study the Intermediate Effectiveness. an The objective School District purpose of this analysis of work was to conduct activities to define work characteristics and work role. 262 No attempt tiveness useful was of to made to subjectively evaluate the effec­ the managerial behavior observed. investigate distinguishes what successful It may be it is in their actions that from unsuccessful superinten­ dents . CONCLUDING THOUGHTS The researcher reflecting have on concludes this dissertation by the impact and consequences these findings on the current state of public school administration and the future of Michigan schools. It has operate work at in their been a demands hectic short job pace, periods requires are planning. demonstrated that school administrators such processing large volumes of of time. ad hoc that The reactive nature of decision making and the job they do not allow for reflective The focus is on short term results rather than long range answers. Add to content tor’s these job characteristics the results of the analysis which reveal that the school administra­ day is dominated by issues involving organizational maintenance and sing the the process Little time is spent addres­ instructional and curricular issues that impact or superintendent operations survival. of product of education. Rather, the is preoccupied with issues that impact the the institution maintenance of the system. and focus on the 263 The job influence to a with the great viduals who the provide thoughts and actions of the superintendent extent is a function of access. the have the most frequent and prolonged contact information being students, being processed and impact the made by the superintendent. individuals closest teachers individuals who interaction with limited Those indi­ superintendent have the greatest opportunity to decisions those contact analysis reveals that the ability to and Ironically, to the instructional process, building principals are the same have the most restricted exposure to and the influence super intendent. on the Thus, they exer t superintendent's information processing and decision making. With this managerial the empirically behavior researcher based descr iption of the of the superintendent as a backdrop, explored the implications of these findings when addressing: -The current state of school administration -The ability of Michigan schools to improve -The contrasting nature of public school management and private sector management The Current State of School Administration Putting of They of the are all data together, we paint a portrait individuals who manage our public school systems. harried education, reacting this to the individuals, isolated from the process who spend diverse the majority demands of of their day individuals, both 264 internal and portrait of external an to the organization. organizational manager, We see a rather than an educational leader. These operate more superintendents in this control do manner. over not consciously choose to As noted earlier, they exhibit the job variables, than do most other educational managers. great they are continually required to react to the that But, the demands of the job are so ebb and flow of events that surround them. Consequently, tured and nantly leaders our managed reactive are struggling public in rather school systems are struc­ such a way that they are predomi­ than proactive. Our educational drowning in a sea of organizational inertia, just to maintain little time the The job allow provide instructional leadership or exhibit foresight and which the quo. demands vision for status superintendent to would enable the superintendent to plan for meaningful, long term change. The Ability of Michigan Public Schools to Improve In public its light of this assessment of the current status of education management, and this the role of the superintendent and researcher raised the question of the ability of Michigan schools to improve. Left through the to own devices, the public school system its administrator will change little. nature generate its of change managerial internally. Because of work, there is little time to The system grinds along, 265 dealing with self generated maintenance issues that drain all the of However, time the nationallyto Michigan, School for and the creativity out of its leaders. researcher induce this more change demand Improvement believes change public movement. awareness our alleged Our business to prepared, bottom for under line. justify the large burden of school Thus, unchallenged, the time internally. and the But, PA 25 in this by the media regarding academic competitiveness. structures cry of an ill this demand is external to the it fits the modus operandi of the public it is reacting system energy to a stimuli. Left and its leaders can't generate necessary to effectuate change There are too many factors within the system job wor king against internally generated change. the reacting height­ is a growing demand for change and But, the and There is a motivated work force, which impact their There system; in corporate improvement. system. In There is public pressure generated deterioration and a movement is manifested in the local property taxes on its citizens. ened is in the public schools. for accountability there super intendent and his system are more adept at to demands. In Michigan, through the passage of and its so called "Quality Issues", public schools state will be forced to change and implement the quality measures to retain or expand funding. The issues researcher are infused believes into that the once these existing quality system and 266 structure, they maintenance issue externally the will which generated a will primary demand organizational attention. gets measured, forefront. If funding funding than and student student emphasis done" The old adage, will come to the organizational survival is determined by and, outcomes on gets is outcomes superintendent This requirement will be internalized by school system and its superintendent. "what on become determined by student outcomes, will thus, become a priority the school system. of the The focus will necessitate more attention and the instructional process. Changes, such as teacher empowerment, site based management and measurable student outcomes will evolve, not because the super inten­ dent or the school system planned for and initiated such changes now for improvement sake, but because these issues become organizational maintenance and survival issues that demand the time and attention of the superintendent. The Contrasting Nature of Public School Management and Private Sector Management As noted previously, the nature of managerial work as described is also by Mintzberg when studying private sector CEO's applicable to educational managers. Although this researcher proposes the nature of these characteris­ tics exhibit a behavioral continuum when applied to the educational hierarchy, the sector. public they still demonstrate utility in However, the researcher believes 267 there is (Public an vs. inherent difference Private) that may in the impact institutions the managerial behavior of its leaders. In the private sector, there is a direct relationship between risk change with and reward. Risk involves implementing the chance to gain a competitive edge. competitive edge translates Although the adverse consequences, into greater This profits. risk of change might result in failure with there is a tangible benefit associated with taking risks. In the public associated with the risk of change are in evidence. the rewards For the there associated with taking no taking. competitive Funding is But, risks are minimal. most part, public schools are a monopoly. is pupils, sector, all the negative consequences Thus, advantage to be gained by risk based on inputs (i.e., numbers of millage rates and tax base), rather than outputs, (i.e., student achievement). gained by attempt the to superintendent by risking failure in an improve student performance. superintendents change. Consequently, little can be exhibit little It is no wonder propensity to initiate The risk associated with failures far outweighs the potential benefits of success. But, a the researcher believes that we are experiencing change in public education in Michigan that will impact the their motivation of school superintendents and, thus, alter managerial behavior. I believe we are entering an 268 erawhere it will be more of a risk than a risk to implement not to attempt change change for the sake of school improvement. I will believe create the competition districts. The innovation motivate implementation among public schools of choice schools and among school will through increased of reward diversity enrollment. This and will educational managers to risk change in search of that competitive edge. I believe that school districts will become "flatter organizations” as their in the private sector have tional hierarchy and structured bureaucracy will manifest itself through teacher empowerment, site based management and the become. counterparts inclusion making process. 1. It will This dismantling of the organiza­ of student input into the decision This will accomplish two things; spread the organization. intendent’s risk of change throughout the It will no longer be the "super­ call." There will be multiple inputs regarding proposed change. 2. It will in the players the create success in outcome success. a vested interest or "ownership” of the recommended change. Many the organization will have a stake in and, thus, will work towards its 269 Finally, schools That I will is, shift the financial critical As superintendents experiment essence, for than to in school operations, by districts them, instructional public to output based. determined school head will be improve will be delivery attempt encouraged to student and forced systems the to and In take risks in an their financial base. superintendent to be Michigan based variable will who for components to improve student achievement. they the input such, with curriculum funding from resources, outcomes. attempt believe Consequently, to do nothing will be more risky change. This has always been a reality in the private sector. The work researcher together Michigan's The job change but, of to bring public superintendent result believes schools will all of these factors will about change and improvement in and their leadership. The be a facilitator of such change as a these external demands placed upon the system. profile and role of the superintendent will not significantly from the one proposed in this paper, the social and political education operates will change. context in which public APPENDIX APPENDIX 1 STtUCTUBEO OBSgBVAYIOH HEC080 - A Supe. Paco toy of Observation — pp. staucYuasp os8«>vatiom tgco»o * a of 8upt. » "T "T «y "T “ r “T S stare Tias A c e iv i c v "T TT Tt T7 YT TT TS TT IV Tf IS ACTIVITY • b u c e e io a (Matsu tee) Oats Day of Oboocvetloa — ^ ^ p p . SSPLAPATZOa/PUBPOSB OP ACTIVITY of 18808(8) 1 2 ACTIVITY 3 Yours 4 S geo* Mock/Solf 6 7 P e r s o n a l' a LOCATION — ymm 6 i! if ic e IfEC. bUD. OSC. O cher o r e . a re a bcK er i s e a i . b l'i's 6'eB er k c s . i . 3 d . ."teaeer i 1 1 j 1 I 9 n. ^ii... I I 1 16 11 12 i i. ? e © rs -S u o e . 13 i . - j c e i A daan. 4 . . m e d i a t e Sue b . w etter A da/Sun 6. T e a c h ers K o th e r su b . S . ie u d e n e S. d u t s i b a t H i. bnsnesm 14 IS ■ *•“ >'locit 16 17 uiTfATioa Op p osita nutuai 1 1I“T “ | 1 | i --------- 1 I 18 I I i 19 20 270 ^ess fciogfe/SQer Wave! APPENDIX 2 DATA CODING MANUAL 1.0 A new or activity begins media continued occurs, following activities and unless an the same activity interruption. is All contact are counted except instantaneous "hellos" other similar noncontact one when a change in participants activity minute greetings. to In count, in duration. order for a it must be at least Each activity is tagged by its starting time. 1.1 Concurrent Activities activities take place at the same time, such as when subject the traveling in primary his talks is when on car. activity rather occur the two or more phone while In this case, only the coded than Travel in this Call example). Priorities for follows: 1 = Tour; 2 = Scheduled Meeting; 3 = Unscheduled Concurrent (Telephone Meeting; 4 - Activities are as Telephone Call; 5 = Desk Work; 6 = Travel; 7 = Personal. 2.0 The Duration between the of an activity is the difference starting and ending time appearing on a digital clock (no second hand). 271 Contact activities 272 that occur during minuteindicator duration; time remains thus, activities the to it is begin which unchanged possible or the end for at digital have two zero or more the same recorded time. 3.0 Activities are are the basic categories of events. contact Unscheduled activities Meetings, Four (Tours, Scheduled Meetings, and Telephone Calls), and the remaining four are noncontact activities. 3*1 Tours to occur when the subject leaves his office inspect or organization. is defined other parts of the For Tours, the subject's office as the immediate area where he, his secretaries, are observe his staff, and his conference room located, provided that these are contiguous with one another and on the same floor. 3.2 Scheduled Meetings appointments that refer were to made meetings by at least the day ahead. Thus, if a meeting is on the subject's calendar at considered the beginning to be scheduled. of the day, it is Meetings which are 273 put on the calendar the same day that they take place are coded as Unscheduled. 3.3 Unscheduled Meetings meetings, as to contact, be a when nonscheduled In order the subject must talk to or to the person. enters the subject's any to someone drops in. listen without refer exchange For example, if someone office of and words, then leaves there is no contact. 3.4 Telephone Calls refer to incoming and outgoing telephone calls, intercom calls, and two-way radio conversations. 3.41 Outgoing Telephone answer, busy person not Calls signal, being resulting in no wrong number, or in the office all count as Desk Work. 3.42 Incoming Telephone Calls which are wrong numbers count as Desk Work. 3.5 Desk Work subject specified role. refers works to periods of time when the alone or with his secretary or a person who is acting in a secretarial 274 3.51 Working alone sorting includes and writing such processing, things reading as: and reports, preparing a tape-recorded message, replying to correspondence, signing letters, and writing speeches. 3.52 Working with a secretary includes: exchang­ ing papers, giving receiving dictation, letters, interactions secretary people shall will phone matters. between forms calendar, regarding business sorting mail, signing reviewing discussions other and the calls All and and and business subject and his count as Desk Work. Other who can serve in a secretarial role be identified separately for each observation site. 3*6 Travel occurs office go (as when defined directly the subject leaves his in Section 3.0, (Tours) to to another location to conduct any other business occur between activities. Travel can also sites of business activities and on return trips to the office. 3.7 Personal is a included in Time content. nonbusiness Studied activity which is but not coded as to 275 3.71 Personal coffee or time consists of visits to the machine, writing personal material, balancing one's personal checkbook. also of includes nonorganizational It contacts a nonbusiness nature, such as conversa­ tions with wife or family, one's personal attorney, doctor, personal friends, etc. 3.72 All contacts personnel, with whether of organizational a business nature or not, are bandied as business activities. 3.8 Observer ject of Interaction and the ongoing explains observer talk about explanations activities, what signing. takes place when the sub­ This as when the forms time will are the that subject he is be assigned to the activity under discussion. 4.0 Number of activity Participants of any face-to-face contact is the number of persons a subject comes in contact with. Whenever contact already in unless left the the early. maximum contact. someone joins or leaves a progress, a new activity occurs person is deemed to The number size of the of people have arrived late or group is recorded as present during the 276 5.0 Type of Participants are classified according to their organization title: 1) 2) 3) Superior (ISD Board Member) Peers (Other Superintendents, Local or ISD) Local Administrators (other than Superinten­ dents ) 4) Immediate Administrative Subordinates (those reporting directly to the Superintendent) 5) Other ISD Administrators 6) Teachers 7) Other Subordinates (non administrative) 8) Students 9) Outsiders (individuals not associated with ISD or LEA) 10) Unknown 5.1 Participants of their their who act usual regular those role in a capacity not typical are coded organizational predetermined at any according to position, except site to have secretarial role capabilities. 6.0 Form of Initiation refers to the person who initiated any contact activity. 6.1 There are four forms of initiation: Self is initiation of the contact activity by the subject. Opposite is initiation of the contact activity by other parties. Mutual is where the initiator is indeterminate. Clock is Meeting. a regularly occurring Scheduled 277 6.2 For purposes ignored. coding, previous contacts are For example, if a subject returns a Call in response to an earlier phone initiated by the other party, the subject Telephone call of is now the initiator. 7.0 Location of an activity can be: 1. The subject's office, 2. an immediate subordinate's office which is proximal to the subject's office, 3. other office areas within the administration building, 7.1 4. other ISD school buildings, 5. other locations. When a subject different has more locations,both than one office at count as the split between two where the "subject's office." 7.2 When an locations, activity only the is one location majority of time was spent will count. APPENDIX 3 EVENING ACTIVITY LOG SUPERINTENDENT: DATE: To be completed by Super intentent: Beg. End Type of Activity Time Time Duration To be completed by Researcher: Location Others Present Initiation Purpose Issues 278 APPENDIX 4 THE SUBJECTS Superintendent Alpha Superintendent is married daughter of 1975 to 1962. He 1962 Elementary attended 1962, a 29 and 13, and a Northern majoring to the He Michigan in Elementary Bachelor of Science Degree in then continued at Northern Michigan through 1965 receiving a Masters Degree Education. between aged He 1969 and attended Michigan State 1972 where he received his in Curriculum and Educational Administration. doctoral of 1958 received University sons, He and University Ph.D. two 26. from Education in has aged University June and Alpha is a 48 year old white male. From present, Superintendent Alpha has done post work at Wisconsin, the University of Michigan, University Michigan State University and Appalachia State University. Superintendent January June of 1962 of 1962 District. In University Assistant Alpha began his professional career in as a teacher and coach in Escanaba. he taught 1967, serving he in moved the to as a consultant. Iron River Northern In School Michigan In 1968, he was the Superintendent of Menominee Public Schools with a staff of approximately 150 and student enrollment of 279 280 3,200. East 375 In Grand 1971, Rapids students. Superintendent Grand Rapids student with he became an elementary principal in with a staff of 25 and approximately In 1975, he was appointed the Assistant for Instruction with a school count of 3,000. and Personnel district in East staff of 150 and In 1979, he began his employment the Intermediate School District as Associate Super­ intendent with enrollment tendent has a district of 90,000. staff of 200 and a student In 1984, he was appointed Superin­ of the Intermediate School District. He currently a staff of approximately 300 and a student population of 90,000. The local ized Intermediate public value district to school of runs School District is comprised of 20 districts with a total state equal­ $7,067,401,921. from The range of SEV per a low of a district with $59,933,730 a high of a district with $1,875,393,000. The average SEV per district is $353,370,096. The $30,767 districts range in SEV per pupil from a low of to a high of $146,030. The average SEV per pupil is $78,846. Currently, tion of the ISD has an estimated student popula­ 89,636 students with a range of district enroll­ ment from a low of 1,050 to a high of 30,702 students. 281 Superintendent staff of Alpha's district has an administrative of 21 people and a noninstructional support staff 50. It employs an instructional staff of 73 and an instructional support staff of 90. Superintendent with 2 administrators Associate the has an organizational structure reporting Superintendent Associate Also Alpha of directly to to him, the Administrative Services and Superintendent reporting directly of the Educational Services. Superintendent is an administrative assistant and a personal secretary. In terms authorized general 3 fiscal millage levy operations, as ISD follows? Alpha has an .1 mill levy for operational purposes, a special education levy of mills, debt of a vocational retirement levy education levy of 1 mill, and a of .1 mill, for a total authorized levy of 4.2 mills. The for following is a recap of revenues and expenditures Alpha Intermediate School District for recently audited fiscal year: General Ed Revenues Local State Federal Transfers In TOTAL $ 747,717 1,664,667 1,475,480 195,761 $4,083,625 % 18.3 40.8 36.1 4.8 %100 the most 282 Expenditures Instruction_________ $______ -0Support Services 2/346,912 Community Service 776,747 Capital Outlay 279,022 Transfers Out 542,395 TOTAL $3,945,076 0 59.5 19.7 7.1 13.7 %100 Special Ed Revenues Local State Federal Transfers In TOTAL Expenditures Instruction Support Services Community Service Capital Outlay Transfers Out TOTAL $ 7,571,591 624,260 2,704,981 357,968 % 67.3 5.5 24.0 3.2 $11,258,800 %100 $ 22,354 1,249,517 __________ 0 ____ 195,882 9,791,047 % $11,258,800 %100 $6,391,711 915,499 179,996 119,204 % 84.0 12.0 2.4 1.6 $7,606,410 %100 $3,281,949 2,486,096 18 737,974 379,451 % 47.7 36.1 0 10.7 5.5 $6,885,488 %100 0.2 11.1 0 1.7 87.0 Vocational Ed Revenues Locai State Federal Transfers In TOTAL Expenditures Instruction Support Services Community Service Capital Outlay Transfers Out TOTAL 283 REMC Revenues Local State Federal Transfers In 13,102 150,829 TOTAL $ 2.7 31.5 0 0 315,088 65.8 479,019 Expenditures Instruction Support Services Community Service Capital Outlay Transfers Out % %100 0 358,873 90.0 0 39,800 0 TOTAL $ 398,673 10.0 %100 Programs/Services Offered: The services Alpha in Intermediate three broad School areas, District General offers Education, Vocational Education and Special Education. General division Education - provides The Alpha the ISD following General Education educational administrative services to local school districts: - Instructional Computers - Regional Educational Media Center - Graphics and Media Technicians - Audio-visual Repair - Teacher Certification - Truancy Services - Cooperative Purchasing - Data Research (REMC) and 284 - Out of classroom experiences - (Close Up, Howard Christensen Nature Center, Instructional Television, Inservice Training, Staff Development) Also included in General Education are the following services mandated by state law: - Child Accounting - Transportation Audits - Food Service Consultation General nates Education's a wide development and Staff Development department coordi­ variety activities of inservice serving and professional more than 5,000 teachers 300 administrators and support staff in the following areas: - Curriculum Development - Gifted and Talented Education - Substance Abuse Prevention/Health Education - Microcomputer Lab for Educators - Howard Christensen Nature Center - Administrative In-Service Vocational skills Education centers approximately one and - The Alpha ISD operates two which train over 2,000 students daily and 1,000 two-year adults each week. The centers offer programs in 34 vocational areas. Stu­ dents are offered job placement services upon graduation. 285 The Vocational federal Education funded Youth department also operates programs Employment for disadvantaged youth: - School-year employment training - Summer work experience - Summer Career Exploration Program Special Education Department, working Offices and the special education - The in cooperation twenty Alpha Special with Education four Regional constituent districts, provides programs and services to over 8,000 handicapped students. - Instructional Services Classroom and teacher consultant programs - Support Services Diagnostic and consultant services Inservice planning and coordinating - Direct Services Occupational Therapy Physical Therapy Homebound/Hospitali zed Service - Monitoring Special Education Programs Professional/Community Involvement Superintendent Alpha is active civic organizations. These include: in professional and - American Association of School Administrators - Association for Supervision and Development Board of Directors, 1980-89 - National Principals Association National Community (Charter Member) for School Curriculum Elementary Education School Association 286 Michigan Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, President 1978-79; Secretary, 1977-78; Board of Directors, 1974-Present Michigan 1965 Michigan Principals Education Association, Chapter, President, Association of Elementary School Michigan Association of School Administrators Council for Basic Education Michigan Association Administrators Michigan Community (Charter Member) of Intermediate School Education Planning Committee, 2nd State Individualized Instruction, 1971 School Association Conference Co-chairperson, 1st State Individualized Instruction, 1971 Conference on on County Curriculum Council, President, 1977-78 County Reading Association County Elementary Principals Association Planning Committee, MASCD Escanaba, 1968; Grand Co-Chairperson, 1968 and 1973 Drive-in Conference, Rapids, 1972-79; County Superintendents Association County Association for Gifted and Talented Phi Delta Chapter Kappa, Grand Valley State University Job Corps Center, Advisory Board County Juvenile Court, Citizens Advisory Council Menominee-Marinette Executive Board mental health Clinic, Menominee County Administrators Organization Menominee County Act 54 Board Inc., 287 - Upper Peninsula Committee Education Television - Kiwanis Club of Grand Rapids - United Way - Board of Directors Advisory - Lions Club - Roger Chaffee Scholarship Fund, President - County Private Industry Council - Close Up Foundation - Citizens Bee National AdvisoryBoard - County and State Board of Directors - Krause Scholarship Fund, Chairperson - County Emergency Needs Task Force Physical Environment Superintendent Administration office with immediately restroom Alpha's Building. his attached. or the is located in the He occupies a single entrance personal outside office secretary's entrance. desk positioned There is a private Visitors normally stand in front of his desk are invited to sit at the conference table. The predominate features of the office are the new office furniture and equipment noted included a phone, a dictation machine and a calculator. the art work on the walls. The office 288 Figure 8 Supt. Alpha's Office Layout O P hone CREDENZA Dictaphone TABLE DESK FILE FILE REST ROOM CLOSET SECRETARY 289 Superintendent Beta Superintendent male. all is a sixty-four year old, white He is married and has four sons and two daughters, adults. receiving He Beta his continued receiving a continued post sity in He attended BS Degree in Speech and English in 1950. his formal education at Western Michigan, Masters Western Michigan University, Degree Masters Educational in Speech in 1956. He has work at Western Michigan Univer­ Administration and also did post graduate work at Columbia University. Superintendent 1950 as a trict. Beta began his professional career in in the Coldwater Public School Dis­ teacher He taught Speech and English in Coldwater for two years, then returned to September left teaching for one year to sell cars. teaching of 1953 in and the He Sturgis Public Schools in taught Speech and English until 1959. From Director 1959 of Schools. tors high in Sturgis of 3,200 students. in Beta was the the Sturgis Public responsibilities involved the plans for a new high school, working with and a Superintendent Education major senior high administrators and instruc­ improving had 1965, Secondary His development junior to instruction and curricular offerings. staff of approximately 250 members and 290 From 1964 to 1965, Superintendent Beta was the Deputy Superintendent of St. Joseph County Intermediate School District with a students. the staff 100 and approximately 16,000 His major responsibilities included assisting Superintendent, ties of directing Special Education activi­ and conducting a Community College feasibility study and holding an election creating a Community College. From 1965 to1973, Superintendent Beta was the intendent of the St. District with a students where District. Super­ Joseph County Intermediate School staff of 100 and approximately 16,000 he was the Chief Executive Officer of the From Superintendent 1973 of to the the present, he has been the Beta Intermediate School District with a staff of approximately 175 and 33,200 students. The Intermediate twelve local equalized district to a SEV public value runs high School District is comprised of school districts with a total state of $1,485,442,448. from The range of SEV per a low of a district with $35,920,256 of a district with $299,550,333. per district is $123,786,871. The average The districts range in SEV per pupil from a low of $23,813 to a high of $96,557. Currently, tion of ment from of ISD has an estimated student popula­ 32,989 students with a range of district enroll­ a Superintendent staff the low of Beta's eighteen 625 to district a high of 8,021 students. has an administrative people and a noninstructional support 291 staff of twenty-five employees, an instructional staff of eighty-eight and an instructional support staff of thirty. Superintendent with a The Deputy Director Business intendent. tary has an organizational structure Superintendent reporting directly to him. of and Beta Data Finance Processing and the Director of also report directly to the Super­ The Superintendent also has a personal secre­ and a State Affairs Consultant reporting directly to him. In terms of fiscal operations, ISD Beta has an author­ ized a of .5 mills for general operating purposes and special education levy of 2.5 mills for a total author­ ized and levy levy of 3.0. expenditures for The following is a recap of revenues the Beta School District for the most recent audited fiscal year; General Education Revenues; Local State Federal Transfer In Total Expenditures; Instruction Support Serv. Comm. Serv. Capital Outlay Transfer Out Total $ 804,585 712,931 81,171 427,234 % 39.7 35.2 4.0 21.1 $2,025,921 %100.0 i 121,365 1,717,518 % 6.0 85.7 0 0 85,776 80,217 4.3 4.0 2,004,876 %100.0 292 Special Education Revenues: Local State Federal Transfer In Total Expenditures: Instruction Support Comm. Serv. Capital Outlay Transfer Out Total Programs/Services School District Special Information Services, % 35.2 42.1 10.1 12.6 $10,980,797 %100.0 $ 2,171,947 2,100,955 ________ 456 2,110,422 5,866,580 17.7 17.2 ___ 0 17.2 47.9 $12,250,360 %100.0 Offered offers Education, $ 3/864,329 4/626,683 1,113,053 1,376,732 - The services in Education, Data Beta Intermediate General/Vocational Media, Technology and Processing, Business/Finance and Executive Administration. General/Vocational Education Vocational in Consortium - Eight districts cooperate providing vocational offerings to eleventh and twelfth grade the students. local works While the program is operated by one of districts, closely with the the Beta ISD Vocational Director Consortium and assists in the administration and coordination of the program. Academic and wish Consortium - The Beta ISD employs staff operates this program on behalf of K-12 districts who to make selective interested students. academic courses available to 293 Talented help K-12 and Gifted districts - A consultant is available to develop programs which better serve talented and gifted students. Fine assist Arts - K-12 The Beta districts ISD provides a consultant to in developing and enriching opportunities in the area of fine arts for all students. Professional tium for Beta ISD, sional Development professional which in The state funded consor­ development is coordinated by the also acts as fiscal agent. Development activities - Consortium K-12 funds districts The Profes­ staff and improvement sponsors numerous inservices. Nutrition and - preparing To assist wholesome, local districts in planning economical school lunches, the Beta ISD provides the services of a nutrition consultant. Health project Education - The Beta ISD has a state funded which assists local districts in implementing the Michigan Health Education Curriculum Model K-8. One Room operates a School one - The Beta ISD has restored and room school as a historical site for the students of the area. Special Education The ship, and Department coordination monitoring for of Special Education provides leader­ and curriculum programs consultant services, serving the handicapped 294 within the programs Beta for physically the the The department directly operates severely impaired, impaired. to ISD. Special routes, mentally and the impaired, severely trainable mentally Education transportation, as related equipment, and student scheduling of center programs is coordinated by the department. Media, Technology and Information Services The Regional neighboring Through Educational Media Center counties operates its auspices, out school of districts (REMC) serving the Beta ISD. receive 16mm films, video cassettes, and other instructional media to enhance classroom teaching. to acquaint teachers technology. A-V maintained with Workshop activities are held advances equipment through a in instructional from local districts can be media repair service available through REMC. Data Processing The Beta continually data ISD a computer center which is striving to upgrade the number and quality of processing able. operates applications which can be made avail­ With users having on-line capabilities, enhance­ ments which needs are provide under greater potential consideration. for individual Assistance is available to help local districts resolve data processing problems. 295 Business/Finance Aside from involving school to its state lunch, school ment, reporting, etc., in processing management needs. and auditing attendance, functions transportation, this department provides assistance districts data budget regulatory fiscal matters, budget develop­ applications, and other financial Internally, services include payroll, development, budget control, accounts payable, insurance and the coordination of personnel functions. Executive Administration While the offices of the Superintendent and Associate Superintendent Beta ISD, support provide they to educational also local for the general management of the provide administrative/educational school community districts which and the broader complement services through various Beta ISD departments. Professional/Community Involvement Superintendent civic Beta organizations. is active His in professional and professional activities include: Past President, Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators Past President, Michigan Administrator Associations Congress of School Past Member, Board of Directors, Michigan Association of the Professions 296 Member, Council of the Michigan Congress of School Administrator Associations Member, American Association of School Administrators Member, American Agencies Association of Educational Service Past Member, Board of Managers, Michigan Congress of Parents, Teachers and Students Past Chairman, Michigan Education Hall of Fame Dinner and Induction Ceremony Member, Legislative Committee, Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators Vice-President for Membership, Phi Delta Kappa, Grand Rapids Chapter 1027 His civic activities include: Past President, Chapter of the American Red Cross President, Goodwill Industries of County, Inc. Member, County Committee Member, Committee Economic County Growth Community Member, Children and Executive Committee Alliance, Education Foundation Adolescents Education Service Council Member, Area Community Forum Committee Member, Area African Planning Committee American 1992 Celebration, Physical Environment Superintendent Beta’s Intermediate School He a occupies secretary's private desk office District's single is housed in the Administrative Building. entrance office with his personal positioned at the entrance. rest room attached (see office layout). There is a Visitors 297 are always seated at the chair in front of Superintendent Beta's desk. the amount The only The of office predominate feature of the office is storage and equipment hand held calculator. filing space in the office. noted was a telephone and a 298 Figure 9 Supt. Beta's Office Layout SHELVES Q Phone SHELVES RLE CAB. STORAGE DESK FILE CAB. COUCH CREDENZA \ REST ROOM Clock 299 Superintendent Gamma Superintendent male. and is a forty-six year old white He is married and has two daughters, aged fourteen eleven. receiving He attended Delta College from 1961 to 1963, his Associates Degree in June of 1963. continued his University in in Gamma the formal 1963, Department Political present Science education of in Social Studies, June of 1969. Michigan and a minor in From 1969 until the Gamma has attended Michigan State receiving his Masters Degree in Educational Administration in 1973 Ph.D. at Michigan Program Central receiving a Bachelor of Arts Degree superintendent University, at He then and is currently working in the State in Educational Admini­ stration . Superintendent 1969 as began a his Schools Assistant from 100 to 1979 Public 1974 and approximately school Grand Ledge Public Schools. Grand Ledge Public He had a staff of approxi­ From 1977 was the High School Principal at Hopkins 600 a staff students. supervision building Superintendent in He High School Principal and Athletic to 1977. with and career approximately 2,000 students. he Schools leadership for administrative mately to teacher as Director Gamma began his professional career in program. of Hopkins of approximately He was 30 and responsible for of all In 1979, he was promoted to Public aspects of the high Schools and served in 300 that capacity members was and until 1981. approximately selected mediate has as School a He had a teaching staff of 45 staff the students. In 1981, he Superintendent of the Gamma Inter­ District of 1,100 where he presently serves. approximately He 135 members and approxi­ mately 15,000 students. The Intermediate local, state per K-12 The districts equalized district r uns to average $47,087 to a and is comprised of 7 1 K-6 district, with a total from high SEV range District value of $763,660,086. district $38,705,104 School per in a low of The range of SEV a district with of a district with $155,571,064. district SEV per is $109,094,298. pupil a high of $60,628. runs from The a low of The average SEV per pupil is $54,524. Currently, tion of the has an estimated student popula­ of district enrollment from a low of 872 to a high of 2,786. Superin­ tendent 14,124 ISD Gamma1s 10 people It employs district with an students a with a range has an administrative staff of noninstructional support staff of 30. instructional staff of 60 and an instruc­ tional support staff of 31. Superintendent with him: the Gamma following has an organizational structure administrators reporting directly to Special Education Director, Instructional Services Director, Financial Administrative Services Director, 301 Cooperative Center an Program Director. Director and Vocational/Technical In addition, he has a support staff of administrative secretary and an Information Services Coordinator reporting to him. In mill terms levy education of for levy fiscal general of operation, operating ISD Gamma has a .14 purposes, a special 3.75 mills and a vocational education levy of 1.78 mills for a total authorized levy of 5.67. The for the following is a recap of revenues and expenditures Gamma ISD for the most recent audited fiscal year: General Education Revenues: Local $ 127,787 State 389,719 Federal 547,359 Transfer In_______ ____ 13,381 Total Expenditures: Instruction Support Serv. Comm. Serv. Capital Outlay Transfer Out Tota! $1,078,246 $ 482,968 531,894 3,154 32,003 $1,050,019 % 11.9 36.1 50.8 1.2 %100.0 46.0 50.7 0.3 3.0 %100.0 Special Education Revenues: Local $1,014,482 State 1,022,297 Federal 526,297 Transfer In_______ ______ 2,120 Total $2,565,196 % 39.5 39.9 20.5 .1 %100.0 302 Expenditures: Instruction Support Serv. Comm. Serv. Capital Outlay Transfer Out $ Total 636,430 1,373,884 0 95,142 257,505 % 26.9 58.2 0 4.0 10.9 $2,362,961 %100.0 $1,497,267 707,047 113,549 940,980 % 45.9 21.7 3.5 28.9 $3,258,843 %100.0 $ 752,982 1,012,783 76,122 93,408 1,038,728 % 25.3 34.1 2.6 3.1 34.9 $2,974,023 %100.0 Vocational Education Revenues: Local State Federal Transfer In Total Expenditures: Instruction Support Serv. Comm. Serv. Capital Outlay Transfer Out Total Programs/Services Offered The Gamma General ISD Education, offers services in three broad areas: Vocational Education and Special Education. General Education The Gamma ISD General Education division provides the following educational and administrative direct services: Planning, Data Collection, Program Evaluation/Monitoring, Grant tions Writing/Administration, and Curriculum Student Population/Projec­ Review; Staff Development/ 303 Inservice: Administration, Parenting; Programming: Curriculum General Activities, Home Support Staff and At-risk, Alternate Education/Other: Association, Teacher, Education, Gamma Schools, Gifted/Talented, County Preschool; School Board Parochial Schools, Title IX, Business/Community. Special Education The by following are special education services provided the Gamma ISD. in programs Emotionally for for school Mentally these Educable and Multiply County Mentally Autistic Programs Severely Impaired Development Impaired, Impaired. county-sponsored districts. Impaired, Severely Gamma the Impaired classrooms local Students with greater needs are served programs for the Mentally The are in Trainable Impaired and students are provided at the Center operated by the Gamma ISD. In addition to center programming, the Gamma ISD also provides for special visually occupational and worker infant teacher services, and transportation, consultants hearing impaired, physical therapists, therapists, social programs. education speech therapy services, school school trainers and psychologist pre-primary services, impaired 304 Vocational Education The that Gamma offers direct training instructional training in careers, also ISD operates a vocational technical center job in 16 programs, programs. skills, addition to The center also provides work habits, and employability skills. include in basic skills, The center’s services a Student Services Area, Industrial Staging Area, Business Lab. In addition to the vocational/technical center, the Gamma ISD also vocational seven grant of and Industry Training, Lecture Hall, PALS operates shared the and academic and time programs which are offered in all constituent writing coordinates and school skill districts, as well as training for business and industry. The Gamma ISD Super intendent’s professional activities include: Michigan (MASSP) Association of Secondary School Principals American Association of School Administrators (AASA) Michigan Association of School Administrators - Region III Vice-President (MASA) County Superintendents' Association - Former Chair Michigan Association Administrators (MAISA) Association for Development (ASCD) of Intermediate Supervision and His civic activities include: Local Lions Club - Has held all offices School Curriculum 305 Area Future Farmers of America Alumni Association Area Queen Pageant - Master of Ceremonies Area Businessman's Association - Board of Directors County Probate Court Advisory Council County Association for Retarded Citizens - Board of Directors (member at the present time) Local Private Industry Council - Executive Board County Emergency Preparedness Committee Treasure Island Lake - Treasurer Property Owners Association, Higgins County Family Planning - Board of Directors County Promotional Treasurer Alliance (Economic Development) - County Economic Development Directors and Executive Board Corporation - Board of County Groundwater Commission Lake Monterey Highlands Property Owners Association Board of Directors Elks All Area Chamber of Commerce (6) Local School District Boosters Club Local Educational Foundation - Board of Directors County Human of Directors Services Coordinating Committee - Board Physical Environment Superintendent Intermediate School He a occupies Gamma's office District's single entrance is located in the Administration Building. office at the end of a 306 hallway. hall. His secretary is in a private office down the Visitors usually stand in front of the desk or are invited features to of recognition office computer machine. sit at the conference table. the office mounted includes and on an are the plaques and awards of the walls. office printer, fax The predominant The equipment in the phone, machine a private and a phone, dictation 307 Figure 10 Supt. Gamma's Office Layout ENCLOSED CLOSETS/STORAGE TABLE SHELVES CREDENZA FAX Phone Private P hone □ a O \ N Dictaphone BULLETIN BOARD DESK DESK Com puter STORAGE SHELVES 308 Superintendent Delta Superintendent is married sons, 23 University He and 18. He attended Northern Michigan from 1963 to 1966 majoring in Industrial Arts, a Bachelor continued through He and has 3 daughters, 27, 26 and 20, and three 24, receiving Delta is a 49 year old white male. at 1968, of Science degree in June of 1966. Northern receiving Michigan a University Masters Degree in Secondary Education/Industrial Arts professional as a teacher at Lakewood High School in St. career Clair transferred Shores. to In 1970, School Iron County as a teacher/ taught there from 1968 through 1970. moved to Gogebic-Ontonagon Intermediate District as Director of Vocational Education, then Assistant served Super intendent, and then Super intendent. in that district from 1970 through 1976. staff he he He June of 1968. He began his He taught from 1966 to 1968, then West administrator. in in 1967 of 40 and approximately 7,000 students. accepted the He He had a In 1976, superintendency at Delta County ISD and has served as its superintendent to the present time. He has a staff of approximately 70 and student enrollment of approximately 12,000. The Delta districts with $534,829,625. low of ISD is a comprised state of 5 local K-12 school equali zed valuation of The range of SEV per district runs from a $50,570,600 to a high of a district with 309 $126,708,233. The average SEV per district is $106,965,925. The range district $41,408 to $46,434. in SEVper a high of$54,845. The average SEV per pupil is Currently the ISDhas population of 11,518 students a high of3,060. to Superintendent staff and pupil runs from a low of with Delta's a an range district estimated from student a low of 1,151 has an administrative of 7 people with noninstructional support staff of 9, employs support an instructional staff of 34 and instructional staff of organizational reporting Special Superintendent structure directly to Education, Services, Delta has an with the following administrators him: Associate Superintendent/ Assistant Superintendent/Administrative and Assistant Superintendent/Vocational Technical Education. Human 20. In Resource addition, Development he has a Staff Administrator, a Director and a Gifted/Talented Consultant and an Executive Secretary. In terms of fiscal operations, ISD Delta has a .15 mill levy for tion levy agent general of for 3.00. the revenues of revenues and operating purposes, and a special educa­ In addition, Delta ISD is the fiscal Vocational Education consortium, with total $1.1 million. expenditures The following is a recap of the for the recently audited fiscal year available: Delta ISD, the most 310 General Education Revenues: Local State Federal Transfer In Total Expenditures: Instruction Support Serv. Comm. Serv. Capital Outlay Transfer Out Total $ 82,651 259,086 581,432 112,967 % 8.0 25.0 56.1 10.9 $1,036,136 %100.0 $ 10,705 521,658 309,998 129,164 83,486 % 1.0 49.5 29.4 12.2 7.9 $1,055,011 %100.0 Special Education Revenues: Local State Federal Transfer In Total Expenditures: Instruction Support Serv. Comm. Serv. Capital Outlay Transfer Out Total $ 638,434 886,277 330,961 18,427 % 34.1 47.3 17.7 0.9 $1,874,099 %100.0 $ 438,886 1,024,648 _______ 267 3,275 $ 495,475 % 22.4 52.2 0.0 0.2 25.2 $1,962,551 %100.0 Vocational Education Revenues: Local State Federal Transfer In Total $ 213,462 73,159 12,487 775,160 % 19.9 6.8 1.2 72.1 $1,074,268 %100.0 311 Expenditures: Support Serv. Comm. Serv. Capital Outlay Transfer Out Total $ 167,349 110,544 9,000 702,693 % 16.9 11.2 0.9 71.0 $ 989,586 %100.0 Programs/Services Offered The Delta ISD offers services in the following areas. General Services The ISD districts functions within its as a support boundaries. service for all Two types of support are provided: A. Regulatory required - includes by all administrative functions state or local regulation, with emphasis on auditing and reporting of all school records, such as financial accounting, academic status and teacher certification. school satisfy A districts these master computing system links all to a centralized ISD mainframe to requirements with a minimal startup cost and no annual fee. B. Permissive jointly either special - includes services cooperatively or run by individual districts or schools, based on a need to consolidate services or to offer programs. procurements Examples are special project for individual communities, obtained via grant writing and gifted and talented programming. 312 The ISD also provides its districts with an extensive Resource center Center, that which includes an instructional media features audio-visual instruction on current management, evaluation and instructional techniques. The ISD (ERS), Washington, districts studies free which information and of D.C., permits any of its computer access to a volume of nationwide and education range is a member of Educational Research Services training. financial relating to all forms of In addition, it provides a full and student management computer support services to its constituents at no charge. Vocational/Technical Education With pressure the advent of new technology and continued on matching personnel with job requirements, the Intermediate District has committed to an ambitious program. Operated Education the Consortium, vocationally juniors through approved and competency-based seniors. the county's Vocational/Technical program offers training in 14 programs to all area high school Task-based curriculum and testing are used to achieve results with the program monitored by local advisory committees. 313 Vo-Tech five preparation includes personal development in key areas: personal skills and attitudes; Communica­ tion, computational employability; plus and broad general technological and skills literacy; specific occupational skills, knowledge; and foundations for career planning and learning. Individual emphasized 1,200 effort in the students. governing which program which job annually search is serves over of the Delta County Vocational-Technical leads Vo-Tech training and The Voc-Tech program, monitored by the board Consortium, in into grads the gain ISD's Placement Program, in a high percentage rate of placement at potentially higher lifetime earning rates. Special Education The ISD oversees students and learning impairments. hospitals or a number of programs that assist individuals confronted with physical and/or other Services are available in-home, at institutions and within the local school districts. Supported the Special Education department provides both direct and coordinating students a by a county-wide staff of 80 professionals, direct services to all from birth through age 25. service, potentially eligible These include SHARE, early intervention and parent support 314 program old, that and begins with children as young as two months the Preprimary Impaired Program, a follow-up to SHARE which involves out-of-home classes. ISD's on-site directly east Freedom of full-day special multiply impaired the Acres facility, administration education for located offices, features those mentally and students who require full-time special education assistance. The ISD coordinates local district programs which are designed with in to provide a continuum of services for those physical, emotional or learning disabilities and are accordance with State and Federal regulations for providing special education services. Recreation The Delta fields, County including ISD maintains 12 softball/baseball two lighted fields, for both youth and adult summer programs. Nine ages via of the 6-14, an Over who fields participate agreement 700 men leagues. serve with and Both the women programs over 750 boys and girls, in organized weekly leagues Greater Delta Youth League. participate in weekly adult are funded through player/team fees. The nature ISD trail 150-acre site. also and has on-site informal playground cross-country equipment, a skiing on its 315 Superintendent Delta's professional activities include membership in the following: American Association of School Administrators Michigan Association Administrators (MAISA) of intermediate Michigan Association of School Administrators (AASA) School (MASA) Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB) Western Michigan Association Superintendents' Intermediate Michigan Negotiators' Association Michigan Pupil Accounting Association Offices held include the following: MAISA, Voc. Ed. Committee Chair, 2 terms MASA, Interorganizational Committee Chair, 2 terms His civic a®4*4»vi ties include: Elk's Lodge Rotary Club County Fair Board Chamber of Commerce D .A.R.E. Various Computer "User" groups Chamber of Commerce, Board Director, 1 term Offices held include the following: Rotary International, Board Member, 2 terms Rotary International, Youth Chairman, 2 terms Elks' Lodge, Past Exalted Ruler, Board Trustee 316 MDE, Chairman, terms State Board Advisory Committee - 2 County Fair Board, Member Board of Directors D.A.R.E., Board Member Physical Environment Superintendent Intermediate building. usually is noted in an office District's occupies stand predominant ter School He secretary Delta's a is located administrative in office single entrance office. adjoining private office. the His Visitors or sit directly in front of the desk. The feature of the office is the amount of compu­ equipment included and a data phone, storage. and a The office equipment computer comprising of a computer, printer and modem. workstation 317 Figure 11 Supt. Delta's Office Layout BOOK CASE 7 BOOK CASE TABLE Phone DESK BIBLIOGRAPHY BIBLIOGRAPHY Aguilar, F. J. 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