The self perception of leadership efficacy of elementary principals and the effects on student achievement

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on June 7, 2010 ).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Dissertation advisor: Dr. Paul Watkins.Vita.Ph. D. University of Missouri--Columbia 2010.The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship existed between the perception of self-efficacy by elementary school principals and student achievement. One hundred twenty-three Missouri elementary principals completed the Principal Sense of Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran & Gareis, 2004). MAP scores from spring 2009 testing were used to determine if a relationship existed between those scores and the perceived self-efficacy of principals. The self-efficacy scores were placed in three groups, low scores, moderate scores, and high scores based on the nine-point range for answers. Likewise, MAP scores were placed in two groups, based on the percentages of students scoring in the Advanced/Proficient levels on the MAP. The chi-square test of significance was used to compare frequencies occurring in each of the groups to determine if a relationship existed between the communication arts and math MAP scores and the perceived efficacy scores. There was no indication of a relationship between the MAP scores and the perceived efficacy scores of elementary principals. Eighty-six principals participated in instructional leadership professional development topics, however, no significant differences in the mean scores of perceived self-efficacy existed between this group filtered by professional development topics and the whole survey sample.Includes bibliographical reference