Current theory and research in educational administration
focuses primarily on the interaction of leader traits or styles with situational variables and their effects on performance in field settings. This effort to date has not been fruitful in discovering what type of leader fits what type of situation. Furthermore, the emphasis has been on "building level" leadership. With respect to the district superintendent, specifically what the leadership role is, and what desirable personality traits, technical skills, and professional competencies are needed within the context of a set of situational variables is not definitely known, despite elaborate claims by commercial purveyors of instruments, programs, and modules.
In the contemporary educational climate, scholars have, over a number of years, conceptualized the study of leadership within more interpersonal and cultureoriented paradigms (Sergiovanni & Corbally, 1984), and a body of research findings is now available for the guidance and information of staff developers with promising applications to educational administration.
Recent research sponsored by the University of Texas at Austin, under the auspices of the American Association of School Administrations (AASA), and assisted by funds provided by the Meadows Foundation, has made significant progress toward defining what skills and competencies superintendents require in order to be effective in their districts. Since early recourse to the relevant literature proved to be inconclusive, a nationwide survey of superintendents was undertaken in a series of preliminary exploratory studies (Collier, 1987;Sclafani, 1987;Burnham, 1989). Investigations were initiated to ascertain if there were generic skills and/or performance areas clearly associated with effective educational leadership in the superintendency. Findings did identify skills and performance areas, but these were not generally transferable across different contexts. Sclafani (1987) reported that on the basis of some key demographic variables, including school district location, size, and community characteristics, superintendents with quite different skill repertoires and competencies, specialized local knowledge, and who possibly