Superintendent preparation and training has remained substantially unaltered for a half century. State certification requirements drive the content and activities for preparation programs housed in higher education institutions. State agencies never participated in superintendent preparation beyond awarding certification to post master's educators completing an "approved" course of study. However, high stakes testing and accountability pressures are now causing a few states to reconsider traditional paths to superintendent certification. Illinois and Washington have "opened" the superintendency to individuals without educational, managerial, executive, or higher education backgrounds. What the effects of these attempts "to" provide local school districts with "superintendent choice" is unclear at this time.