Date of Award

1997

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Education

First Advisor

Richard Fossey

Abstract

This study examines teachers' perceptions of the relationship between transformational leadership behavior of principals and teacher participation in decision making in site-based managed schools. Site-based management was defined as the shift of decision making responsibility from the central office to the local school. Transformational leadership behavior was defined as the behavior of principals that helps build new relationships between teachers and principals. Teacher participation in decision making was defined as the participation of teachers in deciding issues related to school improvement and student achievement. Five main results emerged in the study. First, this school district does not contain components of site-based management. This district had intentions of restructuring but after years of planning, the school board voted against pursuing the initiative further. Second, results substantiate findings that the constructs of transformational leadership behavior and teacher participation in decision making are multidimensional. Transformational leadership behavior consists of three dimensions and teacher participation in decision making contains four dimensions. Third, one canonical correlation was found to be significant between transformational leadership behavior and teacher participation in decision making. Results of the canonical correlation indicate that the "instructional behavior" dimension (e.g., staff development) contributed more to the leadership behavior variate than the other two dimensions. Fourth, a significant difference was found in teacher participation between schools rated high and schools rated low in transformational leadership behavior. Principals in schools rated high in transformational leadership behavior encourage teachers to participate in decisions related to the "managerial procedures" dimension (e.g., student assignments, budget development) more than teachers in schools rated low in transformational leadership behavior. Fifth, case study results indicate that teacher participation in decision making is low in this district. It also indicates that teachers in schools where the principal was rated high in transformational leadership behavior participate more in the decision making process than teachers in schools where the principal was rated low in transformational leadership behavior.

ISBN

9780591532791

Pages

168

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_disstheses.6458

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