Actual and Desired Attributes of Shared Decision-making as Viewed by School Board Chairpersons, Central Office Personnel, and Principals in the First Educational District of Tennessee

The purpose of this study was to identify actual and desired attributes of shared decision making by practicing school leaders in the First Educational District of Tennessee. This study examined the relationships between selected demographic variables, organizational decision-making areas, and the responses of school board chairpersons, central office personnel, and principals. The research design included five research questions along with six null hypotheses testing the relationship between actual and desired attributes of shared decision making for each of the three positions of school leader. One hypothesis tested the demographic variables--gender, age, educational level, and years of professional educational experience--as related to the actual and desired attributes of shared decision making. The instrument used included 10 areas of common organizational decisions related to the school setting. The Shared Education Decision Survey (SEDS) had 92 questions, with each having a two-part (actual-desired) response. A statistically significant difference ($p \leq .05)$ for central office personnel was found in all 10 organizational decision-making areas testing actual compared to desired participation in shared decision making. A statistically significant difference ($p \leq .05$) was found for principals in all 10 areas of organizational participation in shared decision making. The statistically significant difference ($p \leq .05$) for demographic variables by position and gender indicated eight areas of interest for principals and seven areas for central office personnel. The variable of age had significance ($p \leq .05$) in two areas for principals and three areas for central office personnel. The variable of educational level held significance ($p \leq .05$) for the overall population in three areas but none for the individual positions. The demographic of experience at the level of significance ($p \leq .05$) was found in the central office personnel in one area of organizational decision making. The nonparameter tests of Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney, and Wilcoxon were used to test the hypotheses