Interpersonal Behavior Traits and Their Relationship to Administrator-to-Teacher Feedback: A Quantitative Study

The purpose of this study was to explore what, if any, relationship exists between the interpersonal behavior traits held by administrators and the quality of the feedback they provide to teachers. The Interpersonal Behavior Survey (IBS) was used to develop interpersonal behavior profiles for all the school-based administrators from a moderately sized school district who consented to participate in the study. Additionally, the comments submitted as feedback to teachers by the participating administrators were reviewed and scored using a rubric. Multiple regression analysis was performed to determine what, if any, relationship exists between the traits measured by the IBS and feedback quality. The IBS is divided into four scales: validity, assertiveness, aggressiveness, and relationship. These groupings were used to formulate the four research questions that guided this study: (1) what, if any, relationship exists between assertiveness traits and feedback quality, (2) what, if any, relationship exists between aggressiveness traits and feedback quality, (3) what, if any, relationship exists between relationship traits and feedback quality, and (4) what, if any, relationship exists between scores above the cut-off for reliability on any of the three validity scales and the quality of feedback given. No significant relationship was found to exist between any of the four IBS scale groupings and feedback quality; however, power analysis showed the lack of significance observed in this study could be due to the size of the population and not a true lack of significance. The study did find a significant relationship between age and years of experience in administration and feedback quality. This study is valuable in that it contributes to the conversation regarding teacher effectiveness ratings, feedback, and sheds light on the role interpersonal behavior traits held by the administrator play in the feedback giving process. This study suggests there is reason to continue exploring the important role conflict avoidance may play in teacher evaluation and teacher effectiveness ratings