K-12/Superintendent Handbook
Superintendent Standards and Indicators
Standard 1: Leadership. Possessing leadership skills includes the ability to:
- demonstrate executive leadership by shaping culture and climate and develop vision;
- provide purpose and direction for individuals and groups;
- demonstrate an understanding of issues affecting education;
- formulate plans, goals, and change efforts with staff and community; and
- set priorities in the context of community, student, and staff needs and serve as a spokesperson for the welfare of families and students in a multicultural context.
Indicators a superintendent should know and be able to demonstrate:
- Formulate a written vision statement of future direction for the district.
- Demonstrate an awareness of international issues affecting schools and students.
- Promote academic rigor and excellence for staff and students.
- Maintain personal, physical, and emotional wellness.
- Empower other to reach high levels of performance.
- Build self-esteem in staff and students.
- Exhibit creative problem-solving.
- Promote and model risk taking.
- Respect and encourage diversity among people an programs.
- Manage time effectively.
- Facilitate comparative planning between constituencies.
- Conduct school district climate assessments.
- Exhibit multicultural and ethnic understanding.
- Promote the value of understanding and celebrating school/community cultures.
Standard 2: Policy and governance. Possessing knowledge of policy and governance includes the ability to:
- develop and implement procedures for working relationships, and strategies for formulating policy for external and internal programs;
- adjust local policy to state and federal requirements and constitutional provisions, standards, and regulatory applications;
- recognize and apply standards involving civil and criminal liabilities;
- understand state and federal laws governing special education and related requirements;
- involve parents in the education of children; and
- understand labor relations and collective bargaining.
Indicators a superintendent should know and be able to demonstrate:
- Describe the system of public and school governance in our democracy.
- Describe procedures for Superintendent/Board of Education interpersonal and working relationships.
- Formulate a district policy for external and internal programs.
- Relate local policy to state and federal regulations and requirements.
- Describe procedures to avoid civil and criminal liabilities.
Standard 3: Communications. Possessing communication skills includes the ability to:
- articulate purpose and priorities;
- request and respond to community feedback and demonstrate consensus building and conflict mediation;
- identify, track, and deal with issues and formulate and carry out plans for internal and external communications;
- exhibit an understanding of school districts as political systems and align constituencies in support of district priorities;
- build coalitions to gain financial and programmatic support and formulating strategies for referenda; and
- relate political initiatives to the welfare of families and children, including parental involvement programs.
Indicators a superintendent should know and be able to demonstrate:
- Articulate district vision, mission, and priorities to the community and mass media.
- Demonstrate an understanding of political theory and skills needed to build community support for district priorities.
- Understand and be able to communicate with all cultural groups in the community.
- Demonstrate that good judgment and actions communicate as well as words.
- Write and speak clearly and forcefully.
- Demonstrate formal and informal listening skills.
- Demonstrate group membership and leadership skills.
- Identify the political forces in the community.
- Identify the political context of the community environment.
- Formulate strategies for passing referenda.
- Persuade the community to adopt an initiative for the welfare of students.
- Demonstrate conflict mediation.
- Demonstrate consensus building.
- Demonstrate school community relations, school business partnerships and related public service activities.
- Identify, track, and deal with issues.
- Develop and carry out internal and external communication plans.
Standard 4: Human resource management. Possessing knowledge of human resource management includes the ability to:
- understand staff evaluation and staff development;
- select appropriate models for supervision based on research; and
- understand employee benefit packages and the legal requirements for personnel selection, development, retention, and dismissal.
Indicators a superintendent should know and be able to:
- Develop a plan to assess system and staff needs to identify areas for concentrated staff development.
- Demonstrate knowledge of adult learning theory and motivation.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of comprehensive staff development programming to determine its effect on professional performance.
- Demonstrate use of system and staff evaluation data for personnel policy and decision making.
- Diagnose and improve organizational health/morale.
- Demonstrate personnel management strategies.
- Understand alternative benefit packages.
- Assess individual and institutional sources of stress and develop methods for reducing stress, (e.g. counseling, exercise programs, diets).
- Demonstrate knowledge of pupil personnel services and categorical programs.
Standard 5: Personal attributes and social context. Possessing knowledge of personal attributes and social context includes the ability to:
- understand the role of education in a democratic society;
- recognize multicultural and ethnic understanding and behavior and understand the needs of diverse constituencies;
- balance community demands in the best interest of constituencies;
- monitor opportunities for staff and students; and
- respond in an ethical and skillful way to the media and coordinating social agencies and human services.
Indicators a superintendent should know and be able to demonstrate:
- Exhibit multicultural and ethic understanding and sensitivity.
- Describe the role of schooling in a democratic society.
- Demonstrate ethical and personal integrity.
- Model accepted moral and ethical standards in all interactions.
- Describe a strategy to promote the value that moral and ethical practices are established and practiced in each classroom and school.
- Describe how education under grids a free and democratic society.
- Develop a strategy to ensure that diversity of religion, ethnicity, and way of life in the district are not violated.
- Formulate a plan to coordinate social health and other community agencies to support each child in the district.
- demonstrate an understanding of a school district as a system by defining processes for decision making, flow of data, framing and solving problems, and developing priorities and formulating solutions;
- assist others to form opinions and reach conclusions based on research and make decisions to meet expectations; and
- secure and allocate human and material resources, develop and manage the district budget, and maintain accurate fiscal records.
Indicators a superintendent should know and be able to demonstrate:
- Define processes for gathering, analyzing, and using data for informed decision making.
- Demonstrate a problem-framing process.
- Define the major components of quality management.
- Develop, implement, and monitor change processes in build capacities to serve clients.
- Discuss legal concepts, regulations, and codes for school operations.
- Describe the process of delegating responsibilities for decision making.
- Develop a process for maintaining accurate fiscal reporting.
- Acquire, allocate, and mange human, material, and financial resources to effectively and accountably ensure successful student learning.
- Use technology applications to enhance administration of business and support systems.
- Demonstrate financial forecasting. planning. and cash flow management.
- Perform budget planning, management, account auditing, and monitoring.
- Demonstrate a grasp of practices in administering auxiliary programs such as maintenance, facilities, food, services, etc.
- Demonstrate planning and scheduling personal time and organization work.
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