@EdWorkingPaper{ai26-1586,
title = "Revisiting Why Superintendents Turn Over: Understanding Pathways Out of School District Leadership",
author = "Jason A. Grissom, Kenton K. Shimozaki, Kaitlin Binsted",
number = "1586",
year = "2026",
month = "September",
URL = "http://www.edworkingpapers.com/ai26-1586",
abstract = {Research has examined many facets of superintendent turnover but offers an incomplete understanding of superintendents’ pathways out of the role. We pair administrative data on Tennessee superintendents over 15 years with hand-collected information about the reported reasons for their departures and jobs they took after leaving. Our data show that interpreting exits from state administrative data as synonymous with exits from the workforce (i.e., retirement) is misleading. More than a third of superintendents continue working after appearing to leave, including out-of-state. Even among superintendents for whom “retirement” is the publicly reported reason for leaving the superintendency, 22% hold future roles in or outside education. Age is the most important predictor of labor force exit. Superintendents are also more likely to exit following turnover on the school board. Low school district performance predicts neither exits nor moves within the superintendency but does predict “downward” moves into central office or school-level positions.},
}