Foreword: The Superintendent : championing the deepest purposes of education / Paul D. Houston -- Introduction: The Landscape of the superintendency : from despair to hope / Paul Kelleher and Rebecca van der Bogert -- Confronting the universal disbelief that poor children can achieve at high levels / Paul Kelleher with Beverly Hall -- Attacking the achievement gap in a diverse urban-suburban community : a curricular case study / Allan Alson -- A Tale of two cities / Paul Kelleher with Larry Leverett -- A New superintendent embraces the role of teacher / Linda Hanson -- The Importance of a "good fit" / Paul Kelleher with Juan Martinez (pseudonym) -- Democracy during hard times / Rebecca van der Bogert -- Learning on the job : the education of a school board president in shared leadership / Becky Bair Hurley -- Educational leadership as civic humanism / John R. Wiens -- Commentaries -- Constructivist superintendents / Bena Kallick -- Making our own minds the object of our learning : three reasons to seek self-knowledge / Barry Jentz.