EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP: A FIELD TEST OF HERSEY AND BLANCHARD\u27S SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP THEORY

Numerous situational theories have been suggested to explain effective leadership. The purpose of this study was to examine leadership in an entire school district and test the validity of Hersey and Blanchard\u27s Situational Leadership Theory. A field test was designed with 50 leaders (principals and supervisors) and 275 followers (teachers). Each follower completed the Leadership Style and Maturity Scale instruments relative to a specific task generated by a locally developed but state mandated teacher evaluation process. A panel of 7 superiors (central office raters) provided leader effectiveness data by completing the Leader Effectiveness Scale. Followers (teachers) also provided leader effectiveness data. The results of the study showed the follower population to be, relative to the tasks chosen, at a very high level of maturity. All leadership styles were reported with style S3 the most prevalent (45.1%). Most followers (64.0%) rated the effectiveness of the leadership they received as very good or excellent. Followers rated leadership styles of S2 and S3 as most effective; superiors rated leaders most effective if they used leader styles S1 and S4. In some cases, leadership style/maturity level matches were correlated with high leader effectiveness; in other cases, style-maturity matches were associated with low leader effectiveness. An analysis of the data concluded that either the Maturity Scale does not discriminate levels of maturity or that, in the situation in which it was used, the vast majority (82.2%) of the followers were at M4, the highest level of task relevant maturity. All leadership styles were reported. Followers rated styles S3, S4, and S2 effective in some situations. According to follower perception of leader effectiveness, styles S2 and S3 were considered most effective, style S4 was considered the least effective in many cases, even when matched with M4 maturity level followers. High relationship behavior from leaders appears to be needed by followers, independent of their maturity level. Low relationship behavior by leaders appears not to be desired by followers at any maturity level. The data also supports the conclusion that superiors and subordinates often view the same leader very differently in terms of effectiveness. The most effective leader styles from the followers\u27 perspective (S2, S3) appear to be not as effective as styles S1 and S4 when superior perception of high leader effectiveness was considered. These conclusions suggest the need to conduct future research in various education settings with improved methodology and refined instrumentation. Further, Situational Leadership Theory should perhaps be adapted for use in public school districts by compensating for the apparent need of the followers for high relationship leader behaviors. Also, the concept of degree of difficulty should be integrated into the task relevant component of the follower maturity level portion of the theory to encourage followers to report lower levels of maturity. In addition, the past and/or present leader/follower relationship should be factored into the leadership style portion of the Situational Leadership Theory