Date of Award

1992

Degree Name

EdD Doctor of Education

Dissertation Committee

Edward Kujawa Jr., PhD, Director; Patricia W. Anderson, PhD; William P. Foster, EdD

Keywords

children & youth, leadership behaviors, Leadership studies, perception, principals, rural schools, Saskatchewan (Canada), school effectiveness

Abstract

Recognizing the important role of the principal in Saskatchewan Rural school effectiveness, the study addressed the following four questions: 1. Are there significant differences in the behaviors of principals in schools that have been identified as effective compared to those principals in schools that have been identified as noneffective? 2. Are the leadership behaviors as identified by the Leadership Practices Inventory Self and Other (LPI-self and LPI-other) found in a set of Saskatchewan schools? 3. Are there differences in the principals' perceptions of their leadership behaviors as identified by the LPI-self and those perceptions of other staff members as indicated on the LPI-other? 4. Are there significant differences between the leadership behaviors of principals as identified by the LPI-self and the LPI-other in the various schools within the province of Saskatchewan, based on grade organization and location? Saskatchewan schools were divided into rural and urban schools and 130 sample schools were chosen to represent the five different grade structures common to Saskatchewan. Principals' and teachers' perceptions of the effectiveness of the school and the leadership behaviors of the principal were determined using the San Diego County Office of Education Effective Schools Survey and the LPI-self and the LPI-other. All statistical analysis was done through the use of the SPSS, Inc. (1986) statistical analysis program. The data suggested that: 1. There is a significant difference in the behaviors of principals in schools that are identified as effective compared to those behaviors of principals in schools that have not been identified as effective. 2. The behaviors identified by Kouzes and Posner and tested by the LPI-self and LPI-other were found in the various schools in Saskatchewan. 3. There are differences in the principals' perceptions of their leadership behaviors and those perceptions of other staff members. 4. There were no significant differences found in the leadership behaviors of principals within the various school structures except between the urban elementary and high schools, where there was a significant difference found in the one variable inspiring the vision, and also in the mean of the five behaviors measured. The data also revealed that almost 50% of the differences between effective and noneffective schools can be explained by the differences in the leadership behaviors of inspiring a shared vision and enabling others to act.

Document Type

Dissertation: Open Access

Department

Education

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