Children's spirit: Leadership standards and chief school executives

The purpose of this study is to increase awareness of the interactions among school leadership standards, cultural competence, and decision‐making practices for chief school executives.

To achieve this objective, 1,087 chief school executives, who were members of the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) in 2006, completed an electronic survey. Respondents rank‐ordered eight leadership standards, from most to least important. These standards focused specifically on diversity issues promoted through school leadership programs within the USA (American Association of School Administrators, National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium). Chief school executives also completed a 12‐item survey identifying what training they received during their graduate studies to help them meet the needs of diverse student populations.

Respondents ranked the three most important diversity standards that promoted the success of all school‐age children; the remaining diversity standards that focused specifically on marginalized populations were ranked as less important. The least important diversity standard was the ability and willingness to reject any arguments of a one‐to‐one correlation between race and culture or race and intelligence. Respondents indicated that their school districts do not promote culturally responsive professional development – also that their school leadership preparation programs did not prepare them for equity issues emphasized in the national standards.

The findings suggest that chief school executives might not have the ability or willingness to validate the cultural and ethnic experiences of the school communities they serve.

Understanding the implications of responding to marginalization as an institutionalized concept is just beginning to surface in scholarship and research. The study increases awareness of the interactions among school leadership standards, cultural competence, and decision‐making practices for chief school executives and makes recommendations for practice and further research.