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This study profiles superintendents in North Carolina public-school districts for academic year 2020-2021. We focus on superintendent gender, race, educational experiences, highest degrees earned, and professional longevity; and personal characteristics such as age and marital and parenting status, and the relationship between gender and race and geographic region served. Data sources included a survey of all of North Carolina's public-school district human resources directors; licensure and payroll records from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) for the years 2000, 2010, and 2021; and "The American Superintendent: 2020 Decennial Study" from the American Association of School Administrators. Despite progress, we found significant disparities between superintendent demographics and their communities. Amid growing diversity, only 26% of public- school districts were led by females and 22% percent by an African American or Latinx. We also noted high turnover, inexperience, and interim appointments as red flags. We recommend actionable steps for research, policy, and practice.

This article details the process of recruiting and starting a cohort to prepare Latinx school administrators to fill impending positions in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School district. The authors provide the context and steps of establishing the administrator preparation program.

This article details the creation and features of the Aspiring Principals Program, an intentional, mutually beneficial partnership between the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

Objectives: To compare the effect of delaying surgery on clinical outcome in patients with chronic sciatica secondary to lumbar disc herniation. Methods: Patients with sciatica lasting 4–12 months and lumbar disc herniation at the L4–L5 or L5–S1 level were randomized to undergo microdiscectomy (early surgery) or to receive 6 months of nonoperative treatment followed by surgery if needed (delayed surgery). Outcomes were leg pain, Oswestry Disability Index score (ODI), back pain, SF–36 physical component (PCS) and mental component (MCS) summary scores, employment, and satisfaction measured preoperatively and at 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year after surgery. Results: Of the 64 patients in the early surgery group, 56 underwent microdiscectomy an average of 3 ± 2 weeks after enrollment. Of the 64 patients randomized to nonoperative care, 22 patients underwent delayed surgery an average of 53 ± 24 weeks after enrollment. The early surgery group experienced less leg pain than the delayed surgery group, which was the primary outcome, at 6 months after surgery (early surgery 2.8 ±.4 vs delayed surgery 4.8 ±.7; difference, 2.0; 95% confidence interval,.5–3.5). The overall estimated mean difference between groups significantly favored early surgery for leg pain, ODI, SF36-PCS, and back pain. The adverse event rate was similar between groups. Conclusions: Patients presenting with chronic sciatica treated with delayed surgery after prolonging standardized non-operative care have inferior outcomes compared to those that undergo expedited surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a result of the Great Recession of 2007-2009, most states experienced declines in employment, consumer spending, and economic productivity (Alm, Buschman, and Sjoquist 2011). In turn, these events led to historic declines in state tax revenues (Mikesell and Mullins 2010; Boyd and Dadayan 2009), resulting in major cuts in public spending. Local governments, including school districts, have been severely impacted as well (Alm, Buschman, and Sjoquist 2011; Dadayan 2012), forcing them to decrease services, shed employees, or raise taxes. Recovery from the recession has been slow. For policymakers who seek not only to restore but also to improve their states' fiscal health, there exist differing schools of thought as to how best to achieve this goal. This article focuses on South Carolina and the application of two competing views of how to achieve greater economic growth and productivity, one that is more commonly referred to fiscal conservatism, or, in extreme cases, fiscal austerity, and a second that is grounded in maintaining a robust public K-12 public education system.

The focus of this study was to explore the relationships between the authentic leadership of building principals and the trust, engagement, and intention to return of their teaching staffs. School principals (n = 28) and their teaching staffs (n = 633) were surveyed. Teacher trust and engagement were found to be significantly related to principal authenticity. When schools were partitioned along a continuum of principal-teacher agreement about authenticity, the schools whose principals had lower ratings than their teachers had significantly more teacher trust and engagement, and their teachers expressed significantly greater intention to return. Results are discussed concerning implications for future research and improvement of practice. (Contains 3 tables.)

This study examined the relationships among the authentic leadership style of school principals and the trust and engagement levels of their teachers in a county school district in a Southeastern state. The authenticity of the school principal was found to be significantly positively related to teacher trust and teacher engagement levels. The participant demographic measures held no relationships of significance with any of the components of the study. The results are discussed with regard to their implications for future research and the improvement of practice. (Contains 2 tables.)