Annette Lee

Date of Award

Fall 11-11-2018

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Curriculum, Instruction, and Leadership

First Advisor

Randy Parker

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine leadership behaviors of principals associated with public elementary schools that were either in the school turnaround process or had already transitioned out of school academic turnaround from 2011 through 2016. Transformational leadership guided the study to determine whether leadership behaviors differed among leaders of schools associated with academic failure. School accountability data were initially gathered through the Louisiana Department of Education website. Academically unsuccessful schools (AUS) were identified. Schools that were deemed failing at least one time during the 2012-2016 timeframe were grouped as follows: (a) Group A consisted of two schools that had been out of AUS status for at least two years, (b) Group B consisted of two schools that had fluctuated in and out of AUS status, and (c) Group C consisted of two schools that had never exited out of AUS status. Teacher and principal perceptions of leadership were compared between principals of the three groups, between teachers of the three groups, and between principals and teachers between the three groups. In this quantitative study, data were gathered using the Multi-Factor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) which measures leader and follower perceptions of leadership behaviors within an organization. The study participants were six principals, who used the Leader form of the MLQ, and 84 teachers, who used the Rater form of the MLQ. The MLQ contains 45 standardized items that are grouped into four categories: (a) Transformational Leadership, (b) Transactional iv Leadership, (c) Laissez-faire Leadership, and (d) Outcomes of Leadership. The results of the MLQ survey were converted into SPSS for analysis. One-way analysis of variances (ANOVA) and Mann-Whitney U Tests revealed significant differences between perceptions of leadership behaviors of leaders from schools that had exited out of AUS status, schools that had fluctuated in and out of AUS status, and schools that had never exited out of AUS status. Recommendations for future research and implications for practice are also included.

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