Instructional Leadership Behaviors of Principals and Teachers\u27 Professional Zone of Acceptance

The purpose of this study was three-fold: (1) to examine whether there is an association between teachers\u27 perceptions of principals\u27 instructional leadership behaviors and teachers\u27 professional zone of acceptance (their willingness to comply with principals\u27 educational directives), (2) to discover whether results of the teachers\u27 perception survey would be verified by on-site interviews with ten of the sample schools\u27 principals, and (3) to determine which instructional behavior items were the best indicators of principals\u27 instructional leadership behaviors. This study examined principals\u27 instructional leadership behaviors and teachers\u27 professional zone of acceptance among teachers and principals of 65 elementary schools in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee by utilizing two research methods: (1) a survey of teachers\u27 perceptions concerning the two main variables, and (2) on-site interviews with ten of the 65 schools\u27 principals participating in the study. Ibrahim\u27s Instructional Leadership Behavior Description Questionnaire (ILBDQ) and Kunz\u27s Professional Zone of Acceptance Inventory (PZAI) plus four demographic questions comprised the survey instrument. Five interview questions provided the basis of comparison among the ten principals. Data from the surveys and the interviews were compared using the Comparative Analysis Checklist (CAC) which consisted of ILBDQ items having factor loadings of 650 or more. Item analysis and frequency of response analyses were employed to determine the best indicators of instructional leadership among the principals in this study. Pearson correlations between the main survey variables and the demographic variables were not sufficiently high to confirm that associations exist between any of these study variables. Although the Pearson correlation coefficients between the two main variables were not of sufficient magnitude to meet the criteria established for this study, they were statistically significant, which suggests that there may be an association between instructional leadership behavior and professional zone of acceptance. The Comparative Analysis Checklist verified teachers\u27 perceptions of their principals\u27 instructional leadership behaviors. All ten principals were placed among the five highest ranking or the five lowest ranking on both the ILBDQ and the CAC. Eleven of the 34 ILBDQ items were found to be the best indicators of principals\u27 instructional leadership behaviors and comprise a new construct termed instructional mentorship