Four Questions Every New Superintendent Should Ask

Congratulations! You’ve just been named superintendent of a large, urban school district. You’re in good company: Dozens of districts—from Boston to Atlanta to Indianapolis—are seeking, or have recently hired, new leaders. Now you face an array of challenges that some will tell you are intractable, along with a slew of competing priorities and constituencies, each of which needs your urgent attention.

So you may be wondering, where do I begin?

As you work through the tangle of issues that you face, we suggest that you quickly home in on the resources—your people, time, and money—to meet the needs of the students in your district. How you use these resources says a lot about your vision for your district; it will also provide insight into the problems you are trying to solve and how your investments may need to change to address them.

In that context, here are four questions that, taken together, will help you quickly understand your resource situation and set you up to pursue the changes that are likely to have the biggest impact on your students.

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