Date

11-2012

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Chair

Deanna Keith

Primary Subject Area

Education, Administration; Education, General; Education, Secondary; Education, Sociology of; Education, Vocational

Keywords

Leadership Styles, Principal Leadership, Teacher Efficacy, Teacher Job Satisfaction

Disciplines

Education | Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration | Teacher Education and Professional Development

Abstract

This quantitative study addressed the idea that a middle school principal could possibly impact teacher effectiveness in the classroom through the relationship of the teacher- perceived leadership style of the principal to teacher job satisfaction and efficacy. The sample consisted of 142 certified teachers from 8 public middle schools in an East Tennessee school district. Teachers completed the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, (Bass & Avolio, 2004) and the Job Satisfaction Survey, (Spector, 1994). Findings from this study suggest that the middle school teachers' perceptions of their principal's leadership did not have a statistically significant relationship to teacher job satisfaction. A new insight from this study suggests that principals should find ways to lead beyond teacher perceptions to address the needs of teachers in order to promote and encourage higher levels of teacher job satisfaction. Furthermore, findings from this study suggest that the middle school teachers' perceptions of their principal's leadership style had a statistically significant relationship to teacher efficacy. Findings from the exploratory question at the end of the surveys further validated this study by indicating teachers perceived their need for principal leadership to help them become more effective in the classroom by incorporating elements of both transformational and transactional leadership. This research may assist in developing leadership style training for principals desiring to indirectly influence academic achievement by influencing teacher job satisfaction and efficacy within their schools.

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