Teacher Perceptions of Leadership Styles in Distinguished Title I Schools and the Effect on Teacher Satisfaction and Effort in a South Central Texas Major Suburban School District

Abstract

Leadership in schools makes a difference in the school climate, culture, and in student achievement. There are several studies related to this topic but none focused on the leadership styles in Distinguished Title I schools. Title I schools face significant challenges when educating students and schools that are successful need to be examined more closely. The purpose of this quantitative survey research was to determine common styles of leadership in Distinguished Title I schools and the outcomes on teacher satisfaction and effort. Research questions focused on three leadership approaches: transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership and how they are applied in the Distinguished Title I schools. The theoretical framework was grounded in the full leadership model (Avolio & Bass, 2004), principal application of transformational leadership (Wallace Foundation, 2013), and the actions of transformational principals (Griffin & Green, 2013; Klar & Brewer, 2013; Leithwood et al., 2004; Wallace Foundation, 2013). Data were collected with the Management Leadership Questionnaire 5X (MLQ) in order to determine the leadership approaches used in Distinguished Title I schools and the impact on teacher satisfaction and extra effort. Data were analyzed by using multivariate analysis of the variance (MANOVA) and multiple regression. Findings show transformational leadership to be the leadership style used the most frequently in all of the Distinguished Title I schools in the study. Transformational leadership impacted teacher job satisfaction and extra effort the most. Transactional leadership had positive effects but not as strong as transformational leadership. Laissez-faire leadership proved the least effective with negative effects. It is recommended that school districts examine leadership practices and train leaders in approaches that have been proven to be more effective, such as transformational leadership. If school districts critically examine leadership practices increases in teacher satisfaction and effort may assist in teacher retention and positive climate at schools. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)