Validating a behavioral profile for effective educational leadership.

Abstract

The administrators as a whole were nearer the expected criterion than was a random control group. Oklahoma administrators were very similar to their national counterparts. Four distinct types of composite profiles were detected within the total sample representing orientations along a motivational spectrum from humanistic to operational. Hypotheses were tested using t-tests and a one-way ANOVA.

The Oklahoma Commission for Future Educational Leadership developed a consensus description of skills and competencies required for administrator effectiveness. To validate this profile prior to its use for selecting candidates or designing training programs for administrator preparation a research study was designed to compare the behavioral profiles of a sample of successful educational administrators to the expected criterion. Incumbent administrators were selected from Oklahoma and from a peer-nominated group of national administrators.

Conclusions include recommendations for the use of the expected profile for both selection and program development as a valid, although operationally oriented, criterion. Applications for organizational decision-making are discussed. Recommendations are made for future research.

Behavioral profiles were developed based upon the Appraisal of Personal Potential and the Job Analysis and Coding System. Both intruments use an operationally-defined set of categories based upon the Dictionary of Occupational Titles system of worker traits. Presence or absence of specific traits, as well as their rank order of appearance, are important for developing and interpreting results. Composite weighted index scores for the profiles were developed for comparison purposes.