School District Climate Improvement: A Challenge to the School Superintendent. An Occasional Paper.

School district climate improvement is a challenging responsibility, and the options for the task spread across a wide range. This paper describes some options and tells how to begin exercising them. A first step is gaining a new understanding of school district climate and its components. Part I describes climate in practical terms and offers a brief climate assessment instrument the administrator can use to record his impressions of his school district's climate. A second step is examining the potential role of the school superintendent in improving school district climate. Part II describes the administrator's potential role weighted against his concept of it and against his strengths and deficienceis. A third step concerns providing leadership for the conduct of large- and small-scale climate improvement projects. The subsequent parts provide actual processes and programs that can be used to assess climate, plan projects, and improve administrative abilities. (Author/DW)