Date

4-26-2024

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (EdD)

Chair

Lisa Foster

Keywords

academics, leadership, principal, African-American students, achievement

Disciplines

Educational Leadership

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a relationship exists between the self-assessed leadership style of a building principal and the achievement of elementary African-American students on a state level reading assessment. The results of this study could have an impact on principal training and preparation, impacting decisions made by central office personnel, as well as improving the performance of the identified group of students in reading. The relationship between a principal’s self-assessed style of leadership and the combined pass rate of third through fifth grade African-American students in their school on the end-of-year state assessments. Principal leadership was measured through the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire and African-American student pass rate was determined using each state level Department of Education’s school report card. A Pearson product-moment test was conducted to determine the relationship between leadership style and combined pass rate. This study determined that there was no relationship between a transformational leadership style and African-American student pass rate on reading, no relationship between a transactional style of leadership and African-American student pass rate on reading, and no relationship between a laissez-faire style of leadership and African-American student pass rate on a reading assessment. Further research should be conducted to explore the impact of leadership style on other areas of achievement, as well as whether a relationship exists between leadership style and the length of time a principal works as a building-level leader.

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