Asking Policy Questions of Political Elites: A Descriptive Comparison of Superintendent and School Board Member Survey Response Patterns in Tennessee

In the United States, superintendents and school board members serve an important role in the local implementation and enactment of policies in schools. Recently, these roles have received increased attention, both in media and in research, due to a nationwide trend of increased partisanship and focus on nationalized issues. However, conducting studies of members of the politically elite can be challenging. This mixed-methods descriptive case study investigates the accessibility and response patterns of superintendents and school board members in Tennessee through a survey of policy perspectives administered in Spring 2023. Overall, superintendents were more accessible and more willing to begin the survey; however, they were also more likely to end the survey or skip potentially contentious questions once the survey required respondents to share policy perspectives.