Effective Leadership: Perceptions of Principals and the Teachers They Lead

A small public school system in the piedmont of North Carolina was the setting for this study. Individual school data, as well as aggregated data from studied schools were analyzed in order to form overall conclusions of perceptions of leadership within the district. Schools were grouped according to the age of the student (elementary K-5, secondary 6-12) in an effort to provide the opportunity for further data analyses. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the principals\u27 self-reported leadership behaviors and the teachers\u27 perceptions of the principals\u27 leadership behaviors using Kouzes and Posner\u27s Leadership Practices Inventory based on the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership. The researcher disaggregated data to determine the area(s) in which principals perceive themselves strong or weak, and compared those perceptions to the views teachers hold. The researcher also disaggregated data to determine the relationship of perceptions of leadership at elementary and secondary levels. There was also a focus on leadership perceptions based on gender and teacher experience level to determine if either of those affect teachers\u27 perceptions of principal leadership. Through collecting questionnaire research and surveys of principals and teachers, these quantitative data were analyzed to determine if there was a gap between teacher perception of leadership behaviors and leaders\u27 self-perceived behaviors