In every society, education serves as a “livelihood tool” for its members. The primary role of education is to provide all individuals with the essential tools to become productive members of society. Education should also serve as a vehicle that creates opportunities and maximizes “life chances” for every individual. In an ever-changing and fast-paced global economy, developing critical thinking, communication and collaboration skills are crucial. Education should foster inquiry, exploration and discovery, while generating and nurturing a passion for lifelong learning. A school must shoulder the responsibility of safety, providing a haven where students feel accepted and able to take risks. Diversity must be embraced and every child should feel celebrated. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayAlthough education is considered primarily for its contribution to job placement, it also serves to function in a society as: holder of the socialization process, transmitter and transformer of social personality, and historian - narrator of cultural heritage. The Superintendent: Strategic, Instructional, Operational, and Policy Leadership Public education is intended to ensure “equal” access to a quality education, leveling the playing field for all individuals to achieve lifelong success. This is no small commitment and an immense responsibility! Leaders within the professional education community do increasingly demanding and demanding work, with the primary goal of maximizing the potential of every child. While a leader is simply defined as “someone who guides or directs others,” the role of the school district leader is described as much broader. The job of a district-level leader is to “develop, support, facilitate, articulate, collaborate, respond, collect and analyze data, and design and implement programs” (Green, p. 26). Embodying these responsibilities and challenges, the role of superintendent involves the leadership of the school district as a whole! The superintendent may be given credit for progress or discredited for lack of progress toward achieving a district's educational mission, short-term goals, and long-term vision. Within this immense position there are four distinct leadership domains that a superintendent must manage: strategic, instructional, operational and political. Continuous improvement is a vital organ in the growth body of any organization. This is especially true in education, as the goods produced are human (skills, aptitudes, attributes, and competencies) and high-stakes (lifelong implications). A superintendent must embrace strategic leadership with a growth mindset, a keen eye for opportunity, and a commitment to effecting change that benefits STUDENTS and the organization. This requires using progress monitoring and evaluation tools to determine whether a program, policy, practice, or implementation plan is effective and supports the district's vision and current priorities. The strategic leadership lens dictates that a superintendent consider these two key questions: Is the organization making adequate progress in achieving the school's vision (specific to academic achievement, school culture, student safety, continuous improvement, etc. )? If not, what actions can the district leverage formaximize progress and close deficit gaps where they currently exist? Before engaging in a cycle of change, a superintendent must seek to understand the dynamics of the district by taking into account variables such as student performance data, staffing configurations, pride and areas of concern, norms, current culture, and cultural history , traditions, etc. Additionally, the superintendent must listen, observe, ask questions, note and develop appropriate evaluation tools to identify growth opportunities that span the organization in areas such as: organization, curriculum and instruction, budget and finance, human resources, facilities, transportation and relationships policies with interested parties. Finally, a superintendent must possess, demonstrate, and employ strategic leadership skills, taking a long-term approach to problem solving and decision making through analysis of trends and data. These skills include the ability to identify, clarify and resolve obstacles to achieving the common purpose, both short and long term. Regardless of the organizational area of ​​focus, strategic leadership begins with the recognition that an opportunity for change exists within the organization. . After identification, the superintendent must invest time and energy to develop a thorough understanding of the current situation, involving as many stakeholders as possible in the exploration. Detailed action plans that are specific, measurable, achievable, outcome-focused and time-bound must be agreed for implementation as a "strategic action", but only after the stakeholder team has developed a shared understanding of the problem to face. Collaborative partnerships with stakeholders in the action plan phase are critical to developing ownership and accountability on the part of faculty, staff, and families (as appropriate). It also promotes a greater likelihood of successful implementation of the action plan, initiative or solution. The implementation of any strategic action should be followed by an evaluation period. The superintendent and stakeholder groups should determine a timeline for benchmarking and then explore: 1) Has the strategic action produced benefits? If so, the superintendent should lead the celebration of his success, regardless of the value-added measure! 2) If the strategic action has not yielded benefits, the team should use the evaluation process as an opportunity to address unanticipated deficit areas in the solution model. An effective strategic leadership model is recursive and offers the superintendent and school district a model for continuous improvement. This model also lends itself as a scaffold and natural follow-up to the development of a strategic planning tool, the School Improvement Plan, which captures an overview of current achievement levels and the plan for achieving desired levels of efficiency, effectiveness and proficiency levels in result. A superintendent serves as the instructional leader for a district, spanning K-12 and across all content areas! While this leadership responsibility may be distributed and shared with leaders in other roles, ultimately the superintendent is the primary student and responsible for ensuring that the district has a sound curriculum, sound instructional practices with continuous assessment practices, respectful and rigorous assignments for all students (including adults!) and a safe and supportive learning environment. A superintendent's instructional leadership must be strategic by design. The data onAcademic performance must be leveraged to fuel and drive change in teaching practices and pedagogy. A data-driven instruction cycle includes the elements of evaluation, analysis, and action. This is a key framework for considering a district-level systems approach to student success and allows a district to identify areas of strength and target areas of deficit. It is the responsibility of district leadership to use data from multiple measurements and develop action plans to close achievement gaps. Superintendents, designees, and/or instructional teams may identify deficits in the areas of: achievable curriculum and programming, vertical alignment and/or horizontal alignment of a curriculum's scope and sequence, engagement, support models, and/or extension of teaching delivery, assessment, rigor of instruction, etc. An identified area of ​​deficit may lead to consideration of numerous action steps, which are likely to have implications for teachers and possibly need professional development. In John Hattie's review of more than 1,200 meta-analyses, the two primary variables related to student achievement were teacher expectations of student achievement and teacher effectiveness. Since Hattie's original 2009 work, effect sizes have not changed considerably over time. This is compelling research/evidence that suggests that instructional leaders need to develop teachers' capacity to implement highly engaging teaching and work with a diverse range of students. In addition to the deficit areas mentioned above, factors such as different ethnic, cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, as well as variability in students' preparation, interest and learning style must be considered. A superintendent may rely on student achievement findings, APPR observation data, and examination of current instructional practices to determine and guide professional development learning needs. Along a parallel line of best practices in the delivery of student learning, professional development opportunities should be research-based and customized to meet the needs of professionals who are in the trenches. Another consideration for the superintendent as an instructional and strategic leader is creating a safe and supportive learning environment. The district's culture must exemplify the idea of ​​high expectations for all students and staff. The culture must be ripe for learning and exude a feeling of safety (physical, emotional and mental) for students and staff. It should also include attention to one's sense of belonging, social power and competence, freedom and autonomy, enjoyment and physical needs. In the event that the learning environment does not meet the criterion of being safe and supportive, the superintendent has the responsibility to engage as a strategic leader in support of a safe and supportive learning environment that is ready for learning. The role of the superintendent includes leadership of the organization as a whole. This position is broad and all-encompassing, including responsibility for the management and supervision of countless areas. Therefore, one aspect of the superintendent as an organizational leader includes general management skills such as planning, organizing, time management, and prioritization. Effective management involves the development and implementation of a "plan" that enables the organization's leader to initiate, analyze, react, and respond effectively to all aspects of responsibilityprofessional. A second aspect of organizational leadership includes the development and implementation of integrated systems and structures for various organizational constructs, such as communications, (internal – district, faculty, staff and students, and external – Board of Education and community) collaboration opportunities between various stakeholders (leadership team members, faculty, district, data team, teachers and their support staff, etc.), organizational meetings (Board of Education, Budget, Technology, Facilities, Transportation, etc. Capital Improvement ) and professional development (Superintendent Conference Days, Evaluation Days, Faculty Meetings). The superintendent's organizational leadership includes identifying, articulating, and/or managing and supervising the district's leadership hierarchy and its related professional responsibilities. This organizational hierarchy includes assignment of other district administrators (ASIs, principals, etc.), building-level leadership (ES, MS, HS levels), pupil personnel services, human resources, business office, transportation, facilities , food service, and athletics. The superintendency performs a political task unparalleled by any other role in the educational community. Political office is experienced from both internal and external loci of control. A superintendent is responsible for developing an understanding of the political climate and context of the educational arena external to the district. The superintendent is a leader in public education advocacy and should participate and be involved in local, regional, state, and national discussions as necessary and appropriate. Within the actual service district, the superintendent takes on the role of expert “leader,” administrator, teacher, professional, and community advocate. This brings immense responsibility, as the entire learning community looks to the superintendent for LEADERSHIP in the form of encouragement, honesty, support, feedback, and action. The superintendent must be visible, accessible and approachable. The superintendent must possess strong listening skills and the ability to engage in courageous conversations while maintaining integrity, professionalism and confidentiality. The superintendent must also possess the ability to interact effectively with stakeholders such as the school board, teachers association, support staff association, parents and teachers association, transportation and other special interest groups who emerge as “partners” in the work of public education. There must be a commitment to demonstrating responsiveness and thoughtfulness regarding stakeholder concerns and requests, while preserving the integrity of information that may not be available for public consumption. A primary objective of the superintendency must be the human element. Contemporary theories related to effective leadership incorporate the ideology that people in all positions have a necessary and legitimate role to play in achieving the school's vision. Effective district leaders must use a distributive leadership style to create a transformative culture of motivation and morality, using principles such as benefit maximization and equal respect. By cultivating strong interpersonal relationships and sharing authority, effective school leaders empower, inspire, and motivate others to work as a unified team toward a shared purpose: student success. Therefore, the skills and talents of staff and other education stakeholders are applied towards the common goal, which is learning. The head teacher must be a determined and “student leader”.confident. This can best be accomplished in an environment of open communication, shared responsibilities, accountability and trust. In Trust Matters, Megan Tschannon shares research on factors that influence the development of trust. Five elements emerge as integral to the development of trust: benevolence, honesty, openness, reliability and competence. A superintendent must strive to develop high-quality relationships with all stakeholders based on these attributes to achieve positive outcomes in the school organization. The school community must develop confidence in the integrity of the superintendent and in his or her ability and commitment to identify, clarify, and resolve problems that impede the achievement of the common purpose. In the event that the working relationship with any stakeholder group is less than effective or compromised, the superintendent must engage in strategic leadership practices – identify the deficit area, deliberate solutions, decide on an action step, implement and then evaluate – to remedy. Essentially, to gain stakeholder support for the school's vision or any new program or initiative, leaders must foster relationships; achieve effective communication and develop effectiveness in the working relationships of staff and the educational community. As the organization's elected governing body, the Board of Education represents the voice, values, heart, history, culture and priorities of the community it serves. The Board of Education works collaboratively with the Superintendent to develop and/or manage a district vision that reflects the heart of a district's work and simply captures the goal that all members of the organization collaboratively strive to achieve. A superintendent must work closely with the Superintendent Board of Education to ensure effective calibration and service as a steward of the district's mission and vision. The Superintendent must also work openly, honestly, and collaboratively with the Board of Education to ensure that community goals, as reflected in the district's mission, vision, priorities, and Improvement Plan, are valued and preserved, and to collaboratively establish a roadmap of actions to be taken to achieve the expected results. Additionally, the Superintendent must provide updates to the Board regarding staffing, programming and achievements, review and recommend policy reviews and revisions with the Board, and organize/attend policy, budget, capital improvement and facilities meetings with the Board . The superintendent is responsible for the prudent allocation of human and capital resources for the district. The superintendent must remain steadfast in commitment to the district's vision and, as such, prioritize budgetary responsibilities and requests to deliver and adhere to fiscally responsible budgeting practices. The development of the annual school budget should be in complete alignment with the goals and priorities of the Board of Education and include collaboration with representatives of various stakeholder groups. This approach will generate the greatest confidence in the educational community at large that all special interests are being considered, that the budget is functional, and that it supports continued movement toward achieving the district's mission and vision. Ultimately, the superintendent must adhere to the following questions when considering the district's finances and budget: What is best for the children? What is judicious and responsible in allocating funds? What can the community offer?.