Date of Conferral

2016

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Philip Griswold

Abstract

Schools in Hawaii are continuing to struggle with low student performance on their state's mandated test. Principal leadership has been found to have a direct impact on school effectiveness and researchers have indicated that school effectiveness can also be predicted by teachers' perceptions of principal leadership. This quantitative study was an examination of the relationships between teachers' perceptions of their principals' leadership attributes and school effectiveness as measured by the Strive HI Index in the state of Hawaii. The theoretical framework was grounded in Leithwood's core effective principal practices. A 41-item questionnaire from Colorado Education Initiative with a Cronbach's alpha of .95 was given to 124 teachers from 15 elementary schools to rate leadership attributes of the principal. Multiple regression yielded several statistically significant predictors of school effectiveness. Positive predictors were (a) level of teachers' education, (b) teachers' years of experience, (c) prioritization of structured activities, (d) development and implementation of a process to analyze data to improve student learning, and (e) building a positive school climate. The negative predictors were (a) years principal served in the school, (b) years teachers served at the school, and (c) creation of structures for distributive leadership. The outcomes provide administrators with information about the relationship between teachers' views of leadership practices and the school effectiveness index. The potential for positive social change includes raising principals' awareness of teacher perceptions of leadership practices, which may increase efforts to improve practice and ultimately school effectiveness in the study district.

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