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The recent resignation of Prince George's County schools Superintendent John E. Deasy after less than three years on the job is frustrating for county parents and residents, but is not uncommon for large school systems, analysts say.

In fact, a 2006 study by the Council of the Great City Schools found that superintendents in large, urban school systems last an average of three years.

The short tenures can be detrimental to those school systems, according to education experts.

Three years as a superintendent "just is not long enough for districts to go through the process of implementing the interventions the leadership needs to make," said Daniel A. Domenech, executive director for the American Association of School Administrators.

"Look around at the school systems that are top-of-the-line. There is consistency with leadership and the board."

Last week, Deasy said he would leave the state's second-largest school system, with 130,000 students, in February to work as deputy director of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's education division.

All told, Prince George's has had four superintendents since 1999. The Baltimore city public school system, with its similar size and demographics, has had five superintendents during that time.

By contrast, Montgomery County, with the state's largest school system, has been led by Superintendent Jerry D. Weast for nine years. Prior to that, Paul L. Vance was the county's superintendent for eight years before he retired.

Superintendent turnover "makes it very difficult for major reforms to have impact and traction," said Matthew H. Joseph, executive director of the nonprofit Advocates for Children and Youth in Baltimore.

"If someone leaves, their successor may not pay as much attention to those reform efforts. The savvy superintendent realizes that it's going to take three to five years to get some results."

The statistics vary on superintendent tenures. In school systems with at least 100,000 students, superintendents last roughly five years, according to a study by the National School Boards Association.

For the nation's 50 largest cities, including Baltimore, the average tenure is 4.6 years, the data show.

Matching the talent pool with what a school system wants to achieve in the first term of a contract is crucial, said Reginald M. Felton, an NSBA executive and president of the school board that hired Weast. Some superintendents, he said, "miss the mark because of cultural differences with the community."

"People are still concerned with school performance. When those targets aren't met, they will immediately say you aren't doing your job."

In Anne Arundel, for instance, Eric J. Smith resigned in 2005 as county schools superintendent after disputes with school board members. Before coming to the state, he was lauded for closing the achievement gap between black and white students in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg [N.C.] school system.

Domenech, who was superintendent of the Fairfax County, Va., school system for seven years, said that superintendents in large districts may have to lead the school system with a limited budget and make decisions that aren't popular. And if test scores don't increase, the superintendent is the one blamed, Domenech said.

"Like with a losing team, you can't get rid of the team, you get rid of the coach," he said. "There has to be a commitment to a long-term relationship. It's almost like marriage. You can't expect to keep divorcing every two years and expect to live happily ever after."

Staff Writer Megan King contributed to this report.