Superintendent Trustworthiness: Elementary School Principals’ Experiences and Perceptions

While teachers’ trust in principals is the most commonly studied trust relationship between and among school stakeholders, left largely unexplored is trust between leaders within a school system.

Findings presented answer the question: What are indicators of superintendent trustworthiness as experienced and perceived by elementary school principals?

Four broad themes were found to capture superintendent characteristics relating to trustworthiness:

1. the nature and strength of a superintendent’s support;
2. the extent to and ways in which a superintendent engenders a sense of autonomy in a principal’s school-level leadership;
3. a superintendent’s presence in the work of the principal and the principal’s school; and
4. a superintendent’s openness.

Principals’ perspectives of the role of superintendent trustworthiness in their school leadership is explored.