This study investigated the leadership orientation frames of school district superintendents in Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi, which are the only three states in the United States with both elected and appointed school district superintendents. The theoretical framework for this study was developed by Bolman and Deal's (1997) four frame typology. The frames included in the typology are the Structural, Human Resource, Political, and Symbolic. The purpose of the study was to determine whether there was a difference in frame use between elected and appointed school district superintendents based on their method of selection. The study also investigated the effects of demographic characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, highest academic degree, years of experience in education, years of experience as superintendent, years of experience as superintendent in current district, and size of district) on the superintendents' cognitive frame use. Superintendent use of single and multiple frames was also investigated. Of the 348 "Leadership Orientation (Self) Surveys" distributed to the population of school district superintendents 145 (42%) were returned. Surveys were completed by 89 appointed superintendents and 56 elected superintendents. The demographic characteristics of the participating superintendents mirrored the demographics of the larger population of superintendents in these states. The pattern of frame use (Human Resource, Structural, Symbolic, and Political) proved to be the same for elected and appointed superintendents; however, elected superintendents had a statistically significant mean score for the Human Resource Frame. Frame use implied that the school district superintendents in these three states were effective school managers. Regression analysis results suggested that method of selection as well as demographics (age, gender, ethnicity, highest academic degree, and district size) had a statistically significant effect in the use of Structural, Political, and Symbolic frames when performed with appointed as the selection variable. The findings have implication for professional development of school district superintendents as well as those aspiring to the position. Further studies on superintendent leadership effectiveness and frame choice are indicated, especially those that include feedback from peers and colleagues. (Full text of this dissertation may be available via the University of Florida Libraries web site. Please check http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/etd.html) [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]