When Nebraska's 310 superintendents were asked to discuss critical incidents experienced with a school board or board member, they noted 151 incidents involving family and friends, board member's roles, who's elected to the board, failure to support the superintendent, the board itself, athletic coaches, individual board members, employee…

This study explores conflict between school superintendents and board members as perceived by superintendents. A critical incident methodology as elaborated by Flanagan was used to isolate and examine conflict. Common types of conflict include problems with family and friends, personal agendas, hiring and firing problems, and role uncertainty.…

This paper examines the degree of superintendent turnover in Nebraska, a state dominated by rural school districts. It also lists the causes of turnover as reported by short-term superintendents. This study finds that turnover is higher in the subject rural districts than the national average. Superintendents report that they leave these rural…

A survey of 80 Nebraska superintendents found that "critical incidents" involving these superintendents and board members can irreparably damage professional relationships and lead to dismissals. Of the 12 categories of incidents, those related to board members' children, relatives, and friends formed the largest category, with role…

According to a recent survey of Nebraska school board presidents, superintendencies most often fail because of poor people skills, failure to communicate, questionable ethics, and skirmishes over staffing. Fully 28 out of 75 incidents cited concerned problems with superintendents who were intimidating, reluctant to share information, publicly…

Of 239 Nebraska school board presidents surveyed, 68 percent had experienced a critical incident with their superintendents. The most frequently cited incidents involved communications or human relations (37 percent), followed by staffing issues (15 percent), and ethics (11 percent). Over half of the incidents resulted in superintendent…

School board presidents identified what they perceived to be critical incidents in their work with superintendents. The study was a sequel to previous research concerning superintendents' perceptions of critical incidents with school board members. Researchers conducted telephone interviews with 59 school board presidents and asked them to…

The superintendent's role may be difficult to manage simply because of the existence of a school board. To identify critical incidents that superintendents experienced in their work with boards of education, the superintendents of all 310 K-12 districts in Nebraska were mailed letters asking if they had experienced a critical incident with a…