The Relationship Between High School Teacher Perceived Principal Leadership Practices and Teacher Morale Levels

ii This quantitative study examined the relationhip between five teacher perceived leadership practices of high school principals and the morale levels of the teachers in their schools. Two high schools (grades 10-12) in the upstate of South Carolina participated in the study. One hundred twelve high school teachers were surveyed using the Leadership Practices Inventory to collect information about five teacher perceived principal leadership practices, and the Purdue Teacher Opinionaire to collect information about teacher morale levels. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to measure the relationship between the five teacher perceived leadership practices and teacher morale levels. One of the five predictor variables, model the way was excluded due to high zero-order correlations with the rest of the predictors. The statistical analysis provided a basis to support the assertion that the four teacher perceived leadership practices (i.e., challenge the process, enable others to act, encourage the heart, and inspire a shared vision) were related to teacher morale to a significant degree. However, the four teache