Darlington County School Superintendent Survey Report

Rainey H. Knight, Ph.D.

December 11, 2017

Darlington County School Superintendent Survey Report

As part of the superintendent search for the Darlington County School District, the Darlington County Board of Education requested a survey be conducted in order to determine the characteristics desired in the next school superintendent in Darlington County. The survey contained questionsrelated towhat personal attributes and professional qualifications a superintendent for Darlington County should have.

Respondents were asked to rate a list of characteristics as “Most Important”, “Important” or “Least Important”. In addition,respondents were asked to select the top five qualities s/he deemed as most important to consider in selecting a superintendent.

The survey was sent to all teachers, administrators, staff and board members in the school district. In addition, through School Connects and the district’s electronic flyer distribution system, Peachjar, parents were invited to participate in the survey. Invitations to complete the survey were also sent to members of the superintendent cabinets and members of the School Improvement Councils as well as local governments. Survey flyers were also mailed to all churches, barbershops, beauty parlors, and chambers of commerce.

The survey was open for responses from October 23, 2017 until November 17, 2017. A copy of the survey is attached in Appendix A.

A totalof 672 people responded to the survey. The subgroups and the respective number of responses and percentages are shown in Table A.

Table A.

Summary of Respondents

Subgroup / Percent of Total Responses / Number of Responses
Teacher / 49.55% / 333
School Support Staff / 15.18% / 102
School Administrator / 5.95% / 40
District Administrator / 3.13% / 21
District Support Staff / 4.91% / 33
Student / 0.74% / 5
Parent of a Student / 14.43% / 97
Community Member / 4.02% / 27
Business/IndustryRepresentative / 1.34% / 9
Board Member / 0.74% / 5
Total / 100% / 672

Note the percentages reflect the number of responses from a particular subgroup as compared to the total sample of survey respondents.

All responses to question 3 in the survey, “How Important are the following characteristics in the selection of a superintendent? “ are shown in Table B below. Based on each characteristic, respondents identified it as Most Important, Important or Least Important, which translated to a 3,2,or 1 on a weighted scale, respectively. The closer acharacteristic is to a score of 3, the stronger the respondents indicated its importance.

Table B.

Question 3 of the Superintendent Survey

The characteristics with the strongest level of importance for the new superintendent with its accompanying weights are:

  • Strong Communicator (2.92)
  • Putting the Needs of Children First (2.91)
  • Ability to Work with Diverse Groups (2.87)
  • Know How to Plan and Manage District Budgets (2.79)
  • Has Worked with Schools to Improve Test Scores (2.71)

Conversely, the characteristicsthe respondents indicated were of least importance are:

  • Has a Doctorate (2.15)
  • Lives in Darlington County (2.21)
  • Has worked as a superintendent/asst superintendent (2.23)

The data was furtherdisaggregated, by subgroups, for question 3, “How Important are the following characteristics in the selection of a superintendent?” The results were placed in a matrix to show, by subgroup, which characteristicsthe respondents indicated were most important. The results are shown in Table C below.

Table C.

Characteristics by Subgroup

Tea. / Sch. Staff / Sch.
Adm. / D. Staff / D.
Adm. / Stud. / Par. / Comm. / Bus. / Sch.
Board
Lives in Darl. / X / X
Leadership / X / X
PhD
Test Scores / X / X / X / X / X / X
Communicator / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
Super./Asst. Superintendent / x / X
Budgets / X / X / X / X / X / X
Been a Principal
Involved with
Community / X
Diverse Grps / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
Children First / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
Technology
Rela. Business
& Community / X / X / X
Gr 3 Reading / X / X / X / X
Accountable

Based on the results of the matrix, the characteristics identified as most important across all subgroups are:

  • Puts the Needs of Children First
  • Strong Communicator
  • Ability to Work with Diverse Groups
  • Has Worked with Schools to Improve Test Scores
  • Knows How to Plan and Manage District Budgets

(Note: Weights for the characteristics are not available when the data is cross-tabulated.)

It is worth noting no subgroup indicated the characteristics of having a doctorate, having been a principal, understanding of technology, or holding teachers/principals accountable as being a high priority.

All responses to question 4, “Please select the top five characteristics of a superintendent that are most important to you”, are shown in Table D below.

Table D

Responses to Question 4

Respondents ranked the following characteristics as most important.

1. Put the Needs of Children First

2. Strong Communicator

3. Ability to Work with Diverse Groups

4. Leadership Experience in a District of Similar to Ours

5. Knows How to Plan and Manage Budgets

6. Has Worked with Schools to Improve Students’ Grades and Test Scores

Ranked of least importance were:

  • Has a Doctorate
  • Has worked as a Superintendent or Assistant Superintendent
  • Understanding of Technology
  • Holds Principals and Teachers Accountable

The top five ranking of characteristics were analyzed by subgroups and displayed in a matrix. The results are shown in Table E.

Table E.

Ranking of Characteristics by Subgroup

Teach / SchStaff / Sch
Adm / D Staff / D.
Adm / Stud / Part / Comm / Busn / Sch
Board
Lives in Darl / 5 / 1 / 3 / 2
Leadership / 4 / 4 / 5 / 4 / 5 / 5 / 2
PhD
Test Scores / 3 / 4
Communicator / 2 / 2 / 2 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 2 / 2 / 3 / 3
Super/Asst Superintendent
Budgets / 5 / 3 / 4 / 4
Been a Principal / 5 / 4 / 5
Involved with
Community / 5 / 5
Diverse Grps / 3 / 3 / 3 / 2 / 4 / 4 / 5
Children First / 1 / 1 / 1 / 1 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 1 / 1 / 1
Technology / 4
Rela. Business
& Community / 1
Gr 3 Reading
Accountable

The results show all subgroup, except for one,perceives “Putting the Needs of Children First” as their highest priority. Next all subgroups share the perception that the next superintendent be a “Strong Communicator” followed by the “Ability to Work with Diverse groups” and has “Leadership Experience in a District similar to Ours”. Several subgroups shared the perception that the next superintendent should live in Darlington County and should know how to plan and manage budgets.

Conclusions

When asked the importanceof the characteristics listed for the new superintendent, respondents indicated the following characteristics were most important. (The accompanying weights are listed as reference with a 3 being the highest.)

  • Strong Communicator (2.92)
  • Putting the Needs of Children First (2.91)
  • Ability to Work with Diverse Groups (2.87)
  • Know How to Plan and Manage District Budgets (2.79)
  • Has Worked with Schools to Improve Test Scores (2.71)

For the same question, when the subgroup data was analyzed, the characteristics most frequently indicated by subgroups and deemed “most important” were:

  • Puts the Needs of Children First
  • Strong Communicator
  • Ability to Work with Diverse Groups
  • Knows How to Plan and Manage District Budgets
  • Has Worked with Schools to Improve Test Scores

Based on these results, the summary data for all respondents is identical to the subgroups data. Overall, the respondents valued communication slightly above the needs of children with the remaining characteristics in the same order of importance.

This suggests there is little to no difference in the perceptions of the various subgroups as compared against the total population of survey respondents. In other words, there is a match between the population of survey respondents and the disaggregated data of the subgroups.

When respondents were asked to rank the five most important characteristics of the next superintendent, the results show the following characteristics as the highest ranking.

1. Put the Needs of Children First

2. Strong Communicator

3. Ability to Work with Diverse Groups

4. Leadership Experience in a District of Similar to Ours

5. Knows How to Plan and Manage Budgets

When the data for this question was disaggregated and analyzed by subgroups, the following characteristics were identified as the highest importance.

1. Putting the Needs of Children First

2. Strong Communicator

3. Ability to Work with Diverse Groups

4. Leadership Experience if a District similar to Ours

5. Knows How to Plan and Manage District Budgets

5. Lives in Darlington County

When the data for all respondents was compared to the subgroup data, the top four charcteristics were identical. Two characteristics, “Knows how to Plan and Manage Budgets” and “Lives in Darlington County”, were tied for 5th place. However, the results suggest the perceptions of all respondents were similar for the various subgroups.

In summary, the characteristics listed on the survey each represent desirable attributes for the next superintendent of the Darlington County School District. The survey was intended to provide the Darlington County School Board with some insight into what the respondents perceived as being the most important characteristics they want to see in the next superintendent.

Over all, the respondents were consistent in their perceptions of the characteristics most important for the next school superintendent for Darlington County. The characteristics indicated with the highest importance were:

  • Strong Communicator
  • Putting the Needs of Children First
  • Ability to Work with Diverse Groups
  • Know How to Plan and Manage District Budgets
  • Has Worked with Schools to Improve Test Scores
  • Leadership Experience in a District of Similar to Ours
  • Lives in Darlington County

Appendix A.

SPONSES.

1

Superintendent Survey ReportPage