School Superintendents’ Choices of Professional Periodicals

Abstract

In this national survey of public school superintendents, respondents indicated the “best” and the most read from a list of 34 periodicals in education leadership. Their top choices for both highest quality and most read were, in order, Educational Leadership, Phi Delta Kappan, School Administrator, and American School Board Journal. Their primary criterion for selecting these journals was practical utility, not refereed scholarship. Therefore, professors who conduct research and publish it solely in journals perceived as unfamiliar to practitioners are, at least in the field of education leadership, missing a broader audience and direct influence on practice. Additionally, other education periodicals were not ranked often, but at least one periodical outside of education— Newsweek—ranked second only to Educational Leadership, among the responding superintendents for actual usage.

Which Journals Are Educational Leadership Professors Choosing?

“…The survey instrument, modeled from Mayo and Zirkel's (2002) superintendent study, consisted of five items. Item 1 required a ranking from 1 to 5 of the respondent's five "best" choices among educational leadership periodicals from a list of 34.…”

An Exploratory Analysis of the Prevalence of Quantitative Research Concepts in Journal Articles

“…However, as access to such journals might prevent educational leaders from reading their content, it is advisable that future studies also examine accessibility to research. Moreover, it is recommended that researchers study the content of widely distributed and commonly read editorially reviewed periodicals such as the Phi Delta Kappan and Educational Leadership (Mayo & Zirkel, 2002;Zirkel, 2007). In addition to different sampling, researchers interested in extending this study might also study the prevalence of qualitative methodologies.…”

“…Moreover, memberships to libraries and professional organizations have reduced access barriers imposed by journal subscription fees. Despite increased access to journal articles, questions remain about educational leaders' penchants for (Mayo & Zirkel, 2002;Zirkel, 2007) and capabilities of (Hess & Kelly, 2007;Hochbein & Perry, 2013) participating in, consuming, or applying sophisticated research.…”