The Effect of Leader-Member Exchanges and Informal Networks on School Leadership: A Judgment Experiment of Teachers' Perceptions about Principal Leadership Qualities

Enlightened school leaders recognize that schools must be addressed as heteronomous professional organizations whose members are highly skilled and educated professionals who expect and demand agency in designing and carrying out the work of their school. School leadership must be both transformative and transactional; its success lies in the effectiveness with which the school leader participates in leader-member exchanges (LMX) and engages with the schools’ social networks. 5 qualities of leadership that influence the effectiveness of school leaders were identified in the literature and included: (a) contribution; (b) loyalty; (c) affect; (d) professional respect; and (e) networking. Previous research has not considered the expert judgment of teachers regarding these factors. This dissertation represents an exploration of teachers’ perceptions of effective school leadership. A social judgment analysis (SJA) with a mixed-effects, multilevel model was used to analyze responses to an anonymous online survey (Ncases = 212, Nobservations = 7,632), identifying the judgment preferences of Grades K-12 New York State public school teachers regarding the effectiveness of school principals as reflected in their leadership qualities. Analysis confirmed minimally statistically significant covariate interactions between teacher characteristics and the 5 leadership qualities. 6 distinct judgment models and 4 discrete leader themes were identified, confirming the existence of unobserved heterogeneity in teachers’ judgment preferences. The final chapter discusses 10 paradoxes of school leadership and offers recommendations for resolving or reconciling them. The finding of this study can inform theory, policy, practice, and future research in the areas of effective school leaders and school building leadership