The Relationship Between Leadership Skills of Elementary School Principals and School Climate
The Relationship Between Leadership Skills of Elementary School Principals and School Climate

Author: Jeanette Diane Gerault

Publisher:

Published: 2013

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

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Gerault, Jeanette D. "The Relationship Between Leadership Skills of Elementary School Principals and School Climate." Unpublished Doctoral Thesis, University of Houston, May, 2013. Abstract As state and federal accountability standards demand that schools show adequate progress for school improvement, principals have found it more difficult to find the time and resources needed to adequately focus on school culture and climate. The purpose of this descriptive statistics study was to determine the relationship between elementary school principals' leadership skills and school climate. Perceptions of school leadership and school climate were measured by an employee perception survey developed within a large, diverse, suburban district in the state of Texas. The data were collected from elementary school campuses with varying demographics, located within the same school district. The design of the research involved descriptive statistics and frequencies to investigate the possible relationship between perceived school climate and perceived principal leadership skills. The intent of this descriptive statistics study was to clarify educators' understanding of important phenomena by identifying relationships among variables, school climate, and leadership skills. As previous researchers have related school climate to principal leadership and behaviors (Bulach, Booth, & Pickett, 1998; Peterson, 1990), this research concurred that there is, indeed, a relationship between the leadership skills of the principal and the school's climate. This study was significant because the behaviors of the building principal have been linked to the school climate, thus telling practitioners that effective leadership is critical. In order to develop a climate of autonomy, cohesiveness, adequate communication, and focused goals, principals must develop leadership skills focused on respect, instructional leadership, effective communication, shared decision making, and valuing the contributions of others.

The Relationship Between the Leadership Styles of Principals and School Culture
The Relationship Between the Leadership Styles of Principals and School Culture

Author: Shawn Terese Martin

Publisher:

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 127

ISBN-13:

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Author's abstract: While it may seem that in today's society, the leaders of the school should primarily concentrate on curriculum, assessment, and accountability, there is one significant missing piece that is just as important: school culture. Recent educational reform efforts have focused on creating effective school cultures as a means of improving student achievement. Because the role of the principal is viewed as being essential to the successful implementation of these efforts, the demands on school leaders have continuously increased, which have created a multitude of challenges for school leaders across the nation. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the leadership style of principals and school culture as perceived by faculty. A total of 250 teachers from 50 elementary, middle, and high schools located in five school districts in the state of Georgia were selected to participate in this study. Data for this quantitative study were collected using the School Culture Survey, which assessed the following six factors of school culture: collaborative leadership, teacher collaboration, unity of purpose, professional development, collegial support, and learning partnership. In addition, the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire Form 5X was used to classify the leadership styles of principals as transformational, transactional, or laissez-faire. The means, standard deviations, and Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were used to examine the relationship between the variables. The results of this study indicated that there was a statistically significant relationship between most of the factors of the leadership styles of principals and the factors of school culture. More specifically, the findings indicated that a positive relationship existed between all of the factors of transformational leadership and all of the factors of school culture. In addition, one factor of transactional leadership, contingent reward, was positively correlated with school culture. On the contrary, a negative relationship existed between all of the factors of laissez-faire leadership and all of the factors of school culture.

An Exploration of the Relationship Between Leadership Styles and School Culture in a Small Rural Southeast Missouri School District
An Exploration of the Relationship Between Leadership Styles and School Culture in a Small Rural Southeast Missouri School District

Author: Kimberley Blissett

Publisher:

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 82

ISBN-13:

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Principals who understand and nurture positive school culture often experience academic and career success. This dissertation focuses on leadership styles and their relationship to school culture in a small rural school district in Southeast Missouri. The study answers the following questions : 1. What are the critical functions of effective leaders as perceived by both teachers and leaders? 2. As perceived by leaders and teachers, what impact does the leader have on the culture of the school? There is a great deal of literature regarding leaders and school culture in large school districts. This study fills in the gaps in literature regarding leadership and culture in small, rural school districts. This study focused on a small rural school district in Southeast Missouri. The district has a K-12 enrollment of 330 students. There are 18 teachers and one building principal in the elementary school. The junior high and high school share 19 teachers. Data for this qualitative case study was collected using semi-structured interviews. Four teachers from each building were interviewed. The building principals from both buildings were also interviewed. The results of this study show that there is a significant relationship between the leadership style of the principals and the culture of each building. The findings indicate that the elementary principal is primarily an authentic leader. According to the data, her authenticity has led to a positive school culture. The staff also stated that the personal relationships sometimes interfere with student discipline. The junior high/high school principal is primarily a transactional leader. His focus was managing the school as a business. His staff attributed his business mentality to positive changes within the school and culture and success in achieving goals. While they appreciated his attention to professionalism, they would like to get to know their administrator on a personal level.

A Study of the Relationship Between the Servant Leader Principal on School Culture and Student Achievement in the Lower Kuskokwim School District
A Study of the Relationship Between the Servant Leader Principal on School Culture and Student Achievement in the Lower Kuskokwim School District

Author: Douglas Peter Boyer

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 113

ISBN-13:

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The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between teacher-perceived levels of servant leadership in principals, teacher-perceived level of school culture, and student achievement within the Lower Kuskokwim School District. The method of analysis was a quantitative approach. The researcher collected data through two surveys, school index report, and independent school report cards and determined (a) a statistically significant relationship existed between servant leadership and school culture; (b) a statistically significant relationship did not exist between teacher-perceived principal servant leadership characteristics and student achievement and graduation percentage rates; and (c) a statistically significant relationship did not exist between teacher-perceived school culture and student achievement. The researcher collected data from two surveys, school index report, and individual school report cards and determined the correlation between teacher-perceived levels of servant leadership in principals, teacher-perceived level of school culture, and student achievement in an educational setting. The Servant Leadership Assessment Instrument collected data about the principal's servant leadership traits as perceived by the teachers in their school. The School Culture Survey collected information on the current level of school culture from teacher perceptions. The School Index Value Score collected data on student achievement data from state assessments. The Alaska State Individual Report Card collected High School Graduation Rates. The study determined there was a tri-variable positive relationship. This study will add to the research in the area of servant leadership and its potential to impact organizations and people.

Analyzing Teachers' Perceptions on Principal Effectiveness Through Leadership Style, Gender, and Educational Level of a School Building
Analyzing Teachers' Perceptions on Principal Effectiveness Through Leadership Style, Gender, and Educational Level of a School Building

Author: Marie A. Netto

Publisher:

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13:

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Since a building principal is the most important employee in a school building with regards to setting educational standards and creating culture, it is important for this leader to consider leadership style and to recognize the importance of teachers' perceptions on effectiveness. The purpose of this ex post facto study was to explore the relationship between the leadership style of building principals and perceived effectiveness of those leaders. Subtopics of this study considered the relationship that gender, leadership style, and educational level of the school building (elementary vs. secondary) have on perceived effectiveness of leaders. Data were collected via Bass & Avolio's web-based survey entitled the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) from a sampling of elementary and secondary building principals in Nassau and Suffolk County districts and at least five faculty members from each principal's school. In total, 38 building principals and 236 teachers participated in the study. Descriptive statistics were compiled on the demographic data obtained, and two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) tests and an Independent Samples t-test were run using SPSS to understand if there was any significant relationship between gender, type of school and leadership styles or between leadership style, gender, type of school and the perceived effectiveness of the building principal. Further, this study explored if there was a statistically significant difference between the perceptions about leadership style and effectiveness between principal participants and teacher raters. Results of the study revealed non-significant associations for all research questions; however, statistically significant simple main effects found that at the elementary level, female principals were considered significantly more transformational than male principals. Findings also indicated that teachers on both educational levels perceived their male principals to exhibit more laissez-faire leadership behaviors than female principals, and there was a statistically significant difference in effectiveness scores between elementary and secondary school levels for male principals with elementary school teachers rating their male principals as more effective. Through these findings, certain strategies can be ascertained to help current leaders reflect on practice, to better prepare future leaders, and to contribute to the discourse about gender, school type, and leadership in education.

A Study of the Relationship Between School Culture and Standardized Test Scores
A Study of the Relationship Between School Culture and Standardized Test Scores

Author: Andrew Lee Smith

Publisher: Universal-Publishers

Published: 2008-06

Total Pages: 155

ISBN-13: 1599426730

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The purpose of this quantitative study was to discover the perceptions of school culture and correlate those perceptions with standardized test scores in elementary and secondary schools in southwestern Arizona. The intention of this study was to contribute to the field of education leadership related to student achievement and factors contributing to student achievement including organizational culture. A survey of teachers and administrators in participating schools in southwestern Arizona was completed and correlated with existing student achievement data for those participating schools. The School Culture Survey by Leithwood, Aitken, and Jantzi (2001) was used for the survey instrument, and the Stanford Achievement Test, Ninth Edition, was used to measure student achievement. The survey results and student achievement data were correlated and revealed that a relationship does exist between perceptions of school culture and student achievement.

Effective Leadership
Effective Leadership

Author: Pamela Murphy Helms

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13:

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A small public school system in the piedmont of North Carolina was the setting for this study. Individual school data, as well as aggregated data from studied schools were analyzed in order to form overall conclusions of perceptions of leadership within the district. Schools were grouped according to the age of the student (elementary K-5, secondary 6-12) in an effort to provide the opportunity for further data analyses. -- The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the principals' self-reported leadership behaviors and the teachers' perceptions of the principals' leadership behaviors using Kouzes and Posner's Leadership Practices Inventory based on the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership. The researcher disaggregated data to determine the area(s) in which principals perceive themselves strong or weak, and compared those perceptions to the views teachers hold. The researcher also disaggregated data to determine the relationship of perceptions of leadership at elementary and secondary levels. There was also a focus on leadership perceptions based on gender and teacher experience level to determine if either of those affect teachers' perceptions of principal leadership. -- Through collecting questionnaire research and surveys of principals and teachers, these quantitative data were analyzed to determine if there was a gap between teacher perception of leadership behaviors and leaders' self-perceived behaviors.