Contributors Brian Sheehan, Marc Ferrara, and Carolyn Vanasse surveyed a sample of superintendents regarding the effectiveness of the superintendent preparation programs they experienced. The writers conclude that “hands-on, experiential learning, practical experience before entering the job, quality internships, and mentors are a few of the key preparation skills required for the job.”
March 23, 2026
We recently spoke with a group of superintendents to discuss preparation programs and best practices. The position of the superintendent is no longer a job for one person and, based on the opinions of these district leaders, there are specific issues that must be addressed. Hands-on, experiential learning, practical experience before entering the job, quality internships, and mentors were a few of the suggestions made when we asked these superintendents the question, “Are superintendent preparation programs and initiatives getting the job done?”
SUPERINTENDENT 1:
“Are preparation programs getting the job done? No; at least not the ones that I am familiar with. They are improving, though, and I will speak to that. The bottom line, I believe, is that they continue to be too focused on theory and not on practice. There’s simply not enough hands-on, experiential learning.
As a sitting superintendent with almost a decade of experience, I recently went through a doctoral program in which there were a lot of aspiring district leaders . . . I remember at one point we were discussing Piaget, just from a theoretical framework, and remember thinking to myself, “I don’t know how that’s going to help me in my job tomorrow.”
If we’re really training superintendents to be effective leaders, we simply need more practical experience. I always use this example with people: Every doctoral program or university preparation program offers extensive classes on school law, to which I have always jokingly said, “When I became a superintendent, all I needed to know about school law was the phone number for the school’s attorney.” That’s honestly what the reality is. I could have taken 10 classes on school law, but from my experience as a superintendent, I don’t need to rely on the theoretical component or the foundation of law. So much of my training was on the job. I mean, probably 90% of what I know today came from on-the-job training during my years as a superintendent. Maybe 10% came from formal coursework and preparation.
As I’ve said, I’m doing a doctoral program later in my career—I’ve been a superintendent. I can say without hesitation that neither my professional development nor the preparation I had beforehand has contributed as much as my on-the-job experience. To be more effective, I think the universities providing the preparation programs for superintendents could do either more case studies or more scenario-based education. Perhaps a practicum, you know, or an internship like other professional models. A doctor is a great example, where doctors get their experience by doing rotations in hospitals.”
SUPERINTENDENT 2:
“Based on my contact and association with the university programs I am most familiar with, I would say yes. People in these programs are doing good, solid, field-based research dissertations on timely leadership topics, and I think people in that program benefit from not only the coursework but also from the field-based research that they’re doing. Both will improve their practice in the future.
As a superintendent, I feel the programs could provide new leaders with more practical experience that they can apply directly to their daily work. For instance, if stuff comes up on the job that could be as simple as, “I went out in the marketplace for the following administrative position, and the screening committee has only sent me two candidates, do you think that’s sufficient for me to proceed?” Or maybe it’s something of a more serious nature, perhaps a car accident that has affected your district, and you want to read the message that’s going out to my community. Just having an independent person to lean on is so important. As a mentor for new superintendents, I can say unequivocally that internships/mentors are vital to the preparation of superintendents. The cohort model that most university programs rely on is so important because it encourages future district leaders to rely on others for support. Successful programs encourage their students to seek out other district leaders and form cohorts of their own for support and sharing.”
SUPERINTENDENT 3:
“This is a tough question because in order to be a superintendent in most states, all that’s really required is typically a master’s degree and certification in administration. So, I would say to you, if you were talking about university-based preparation programs that are master’s level, then no. I have my master’s in administration, and there’s very little in that program that I’m applying as a superintendent now.
Right now, we have principal leaders in our building that do not have a master’s in administration, and what’s happening is, those people are going to be our next superintendents, and they’re not going to have on-the-job training. And if they don’t have the foundational skills provided at the university level as principals, then they’re not going to have those skills as superintendents and district leaders.
Now, when you talk about Ed.D. programs and Ph.D. programs, I think that’s a different story. I think that doctoral programs are making a healthy shift to better prepare us as leaders in the 21st century. I think there’s much more of a focus on 21st century skills in the Ed.D. and Ph.D. programs now than there probably was in the past. The program I went through was relevant for the foundational skills of leadership, management, and budget management, but not for those 21st-century soft skills like collaboration. Twenty years ago, there wasn’t a heck of a lot of talk about ‘shared leadership’ or ‘collaboration.’ Those weren’t the kinds of conversations that M.Ed., Ed.D., or Ph.D. programs were having a decade or more ago. There’s such a different shift in that today that I’m not sure I believe that doctoral programs from two decades ago necessarily would have prepared me to be an effective superintendent today.
I believe a big part of the problem with job readiness for superintendents falls on the state departments of education. Many of them have lowered the standard for certification because of a shortage of applicants and high turnover associated with the position. Sadly, a decade from now, we are going to see the effects of this in our district leadership personnel.”
SUPERINTENDENT 4:
“The doctoral program I went through helped prepare me for the position of the superintendent as it related to the knowledge I would need to have and the decisions I would be expected to make. After completing the program and securing a position, I realized quickly, however, that it would have been much more valuable for me had I been given more practical experience in a quality district. The lack of adequate clinical supervision during a quality internship was something I would have found invaluable.”
SUPERINTENDENT 5:
“Well, you are talking to an old-timer. I go back to a time when a doctoral program had no such thing as cohort groups. Once you were done with your coursework, you were really, at least in my situation, going it alone. I found that very, very difficult to do. I felt that the superintendent preparation program I went through had given me the tools to survive in the job, but not in any way reform or restructure my district. In this sense, I do not really think the current programs are meeting the needs of superintendents. I think, at this point, they’ve got a really well-organized program for new superintendents with a lot of support. The new superintendents that are coming on board need to be given a mentor to be able not only to be capable of handling all aspects of the position. As I reflect on my meetings with these superintendents, I am reminded of the old adage, “Everyone likes progress, but no one likes change.”
The university-based preparation programs for superintendents are charged with providing future superintendents with the preparation they need to lead their districts with knowledge and savvy upon hire. If successful, these programs will most likely have a positive impact on both superintendent tenure and student achievement; to be successful, however, the programs must be open to change.
There will be a significant number of new superintendents in the next few decades, and they will need two things: experience before entering the job and support once they are on the job. Redesigning or restructuring preparation programs to meet these very specific needs could mean incorporating supervised internships, creating partnerships with school systems, and developing district-based mentor support after hiring professors who have extensive experience in the district leadership position. These professors could be available in the district for the new superintendents to do walk-throughs, model best practices, and attend leadership team meetings. ‘Mentor’ professors could also attend school committee meetings to give the superintendent feedback on his or her skills in presenting issues. Professors could also help new superintendents realize that they are not going to improve practice in their district alone; they need to do that through the positions of their building principals, so strengthening superintendent skills around this practice are very important. As the new superintendents eventually gain confidence and find their own leadership style, professors can enjoy simply being there to applaud their successes.”
SUPERINTENDENT 6:
“Do I feel that I entered the position with the preparation I needed to succeed? No. I would say no. I’m not sure any administrative preparation program can help you to deal with things like the loss of a student, a teacher strike, or a fire in a school.
My formal training was in psychology; I think that sort of preparation helped me in many ways, but again, there are so many facets to the job. If you had asked me before I accepted my first position if I was prepared for the job, I would have said ‘yes.’ I had some good experience in professional development, curriculum and instruction, assessments, school evaluation, supervision, and strategic planning. I had limited experience in budget and finance, but I was confident that a combination of finding someone to rely on for help in this area and time on the job would provide me with the experience I needed. There are day-in and day-out occurrences that stretch you and cause you to develop new skills, but again, nothing prepares you for walking down the school [hallway] when there’s a critical incident. As society has changed, our world has changed, and those changes, I think, have colored the position of the school leader, be that at the school board or the superintendent level.”
Brian Sheehan, Ed.D (bsheehan@maldenps.org), Marc Ferrara (mferrara@maldenps.org), and Carolyn Vanasse are educational leaders in Malden Public Schools in Massachusetts.