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This explanatory sequential mixed-methods study examines demographics and turnover trends across 600 rural Texas school districts, then interviews rural superintendents classified as “leavers” or “stayers.” Results highlight multifaceted personal and contextual factors shaping retention decisions and offer implications for policy and leadership preparation and development.",{"@graph":69,"@context":114},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/superintendent-turnover-and-retention-a-mixed-methods-study-of-leavers-and-stayers-in-rural-districts/590374/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/superintendent-turnover-and-retention-a-mixed-methods-study-of-leavers-and-stayers-in-rural-districts/590374.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Pentious","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-31","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":34},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What are the study’s main implications?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Findings inform policy and leadership preparation and development by clarifying the multifaceted, context-specific factors behind rural superintendent turnover.","Answer","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":116,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":118,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":120,"site_id":62},590374,1792160779,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":123},{"doc_id":120,"user_id":124,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":125,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":126,"file_id":127,"file_url":128,"file_type":129,"file_size":130,"view_count":34,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":46,"language":131,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":132,"faqs":133,"seo_title":134,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":135,"read_time":31,"preview_page_count":4},1374404730887,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","AERA Open  \nJanuary-December 2025, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 1–20 DOI: 10. 1177/23328584251357253  \nArticle reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)© The Author(s) 2025. [https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero](https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero)  \nSuperintendent Turnover and Retention: A Mixed-Methods Study Of Leavers and Stayers In Rural Districts  \nDavid E. DeMatthews  \nUniversity of Texas at Austin  \nAlexandra Aylward  \nUniversity of Nevada at Reno  \nTorri D. Hart  \nPedro Reyes  \nUniversity of Texas at Austin  \nSuperintendents play a vital role in the districts and communities they serve, which is especially true in many rural contexts that function not only as a site for PreK–12 education but also as a community hub for a range of supports and services. Instability in the role can be threatening to district improvement, but research on the topic has been limited and too often focused exclusively on large districts and relying only on large longitudinal datasets. Our explanatory, sequential mixed methods study begins with an examination of demographics and turnover trends across 600 rural Texas school districts to investigate the realities of turnover in Texas rural superintendency. However, we also identified and interviewed a sample of rural superintendents we classified as “leavers” or stayers” to examine how unique personal factors influence decisions to stay or go. Findings illuminate the multifaceted and idiosyncratic factors that contribute to rural superintendent turnover with implications for policy and leadership preparation and development.  \nKeywords: Administration, in-depth interviewing, mixed methods, policy, rural education, secondary data analysis, superintendency, superintendent  \nIntroduction  \nSuperintendents are executive leaders that play many important roles within districts and communities including that of instructional leader, manager, democratic leader, and communicator (Callahan, 1962; Björk et al., 2018; Fusarelli & Fusarelli, 2005; Kowalski & Brunner, 2011) . The job is complex, time-intensive, and stressful given the many demands, pressures, politics, and uncertainties (Gmelch, & Torelli, 1994; Robinson & Shakeshaft, 2015, 2016) . The COVID–19 pandemic and increased polarization in American society has added to the challenges and stress of the superintendency (Schafft et al., 2022; Schwartz & Diliberti, 2023) . Stable district leadership is critical for short and long-term district success under such conditions while chronic turnover can create instability, undermine reforms, and threaten coherence. Thus, superintendent turnover has been considered an area of concern for more than a century. A common narrative about superintendent tenure has emerged: it is rocky, short-lived, and subject to shifting  \npolitical winds tied to school board dynamics and intractable problems of local governance. More than 60 years ago, Callahan (1962) noted similar concerns:  \nTenure of the school superintendent is an uncertain one and his position is attended with vexatious conditions. These upheavals are so frequent and the discussions which find their way into the public press, so painful to the victim and disturbing to the school system, as to excite more than ordinary interest . . . That the official life of the superintendent is a short one has been amply demonstrated (p. 53) .  \nTekniepe (2015) noted comparable concerns for rural superintendents navigating “turbulent environments involving elected boards, faculty and staff, community stakeholders, and fiscal constraints” (p. 1) . Non-peer reviewed research and media reports add to the short-lived superintendent narrative. In the Life Of (ILO) Group (2022) reported that 37% of the nation’s 500 largest districts underwent or were undergoing superintendent changes between March 2020 and January 2022.1 Likewise, the media regularly  \nCreative Commons CC BY: This article is distribut","cbCaijKFSSHfbQtY","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaijKFSSHfbQtY","pdf",520398,"English","# Introduction\n## Superintendent roles and stressors\n## Historical narratives of tenure\n## Research gaps and study purpose\n## Research questions","[{\"question\":\"What are the study’s main implications?\",\"answer\":\"Findings inform policy and leadership preparation and development by clarifying the multifaceted, context-specific factors behind rural superintendent turnover.\"}]","Superintendent Turnover and Retention - A Mixed-Methods Study Of Leavers and Stayers In Rural Districts | PDF",1792069495]