First Advisor

John F. Heflin

Date of Publication

1988

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Public School Administration and Supervision

Department

Educational Leadership and Policy

Language

English

Subjects

School principals, Leadership

DOI

10.15760/etd.1310

Physical Description

1 online resource (3, viii, 144 pages)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the leadership behavior of principals as perceived by the teachers and principals of one suburban school district. Research questions asked were: (1) Are there significant differences between the perceptions of principals and teachers concerning principals' leadership behavior on the twelve subscales of the LBDQ-XII? (2) Are there significant differences in viewing the leadership role when teachers' age, gender, teaching experience, level of training, or teaching assignment is considered?

This descriptive study invited 350 randomly selected teachers and all of the principals from 35 elementary, intermediate, and high schools in one suburban school district to participate on a voluntary basis. The perceptions of the principals' leadership behavior was measured by the twelve subscales of the Leadership Behavior Description Questionnaire--Form XII: Representation, Demand Reconciliation, Tolerance of Uncertainty, Persuasiveness, Initiation of Structure, Tolerance of Freedom, Role Assumption, Consideration, Production Emphasis, Predictive Accuracy, Integration, and Superior Orientation. A biographical data questionnaire was also used.

Results obtained from the LBDQ-XII were displayed in tables with the twelve subscale means and standard deviations of teachers and principals' perceptions of the principals' leadership behavior. The teachers' perceptions according to age, gender, years of teaching experience, levels of training, and teaching assignment subscale means and standard deviations were also calculated. A multivariate analysis of variance was performed for each of the teacher characteristics and the teachers and principals as independent variables. The subscales of the LBDQ-XII served as the dependent variables. All hypotheses were tested at the .05 level of significance.

The following conclusions were based upon the data collected and analyzed in the study. The perceptions of teachers of their principals' leadership behavior did not differ significantly according to gender, age, years of teaching experience, level of training, and teaching assignment. On all perceptions of twelve subscales tested, principals tended to rate themselves higher than the teachers. There were four areas in which principals and teachers differed significantly on the LBDQ-XII. They were Tolerance of Freedom, Consideration, Predictive Accuracy, and Integration.

Recommendations for further study using a larger population sample and different instruments to assess the areas in which principals and teachers differ in their perceptions of principals' leadership behavior were suggested.

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Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/4289

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