Study: More Churn at the Top in Large Districts

Running one of the nation's largest school districts typically comes with prestige and pay that draw would-be educational superstars, but also pressure and political complexity that cause them to burn out far faster than leaders of the majority of districts.

A study published in the December issue of the American Educational Research Journal finds in 90 percent of 100 California districts studied, 43 percent of superintendents left within three years—but 71 percent of superintendents left the largest 10 percent of districts, which include those of 29,000 or more students, during that time.

"That is one of the more striking things that comes out of this research," said Jason A. Grissom, an assistant professor of public policy and education at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College, in Nashville, Tenn., and a...