THE CHANGING-ROLE OF THE SUPERINTENDENCY IN RESTRUCTURING DISTRICTS IN KENTUCKY

Since the mid-1980s, major efforts to reform education throughout the world have been unfolding under the banner of school restructuring. Ce ntral to this agenda for reform are alterations in the roles of all ed ucational stakeholders. While a good deal of conceptual work, and some empirical analyses, have been devoted to the topic of role changes fo r teachers, administrators, parents, community members, and students a t the school level, considerably less is known about the effects of re structuring on the role of central office administrators. By analyzing the perceptions of 74 chief executive officers about how restructurin g is shaping the superintendency in Kentucky, the study reported herei n helps address this gap in the knowledge base. Three themes emerge fr om the analysis: (1) an enhanced role for superintendents in developin g community; (2) a redefinition of the type of leadership needed to ad minister empowered schools; and (3) a mighty struggle to help individu al schools deal with the process of systemic change.