A comparative study of school climate and the leadership style of school principals /

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between school climate and the leadership style of school principals as perceived by teachers and principals in one school district. The population for the study was the teachers and principals in a suburban school district in Oklahoma. A randomly selected group of 66 elementary and 66 secondary school teachers, plus the principals of the 17 schools involved, comprised the sample. The Lead instruments (Lead Self and Lead Other) were employed as the measurement device for determining the leadership style of principals. A modified and abbreviated version of the CFK Ltd. School Climate Profile was utilized to measure school climate. A two-tailed t test, Tukey's studentized range (HSD) test for variance, and a Pearson Product Moment Correlation were employed to test the seven hypotheses. The .05 level of significance was the criterion used for accepting or rejecting each of the seven hypotheses. An analysis of the data revealed that: (1) All of the principals viewed themselves as employing a leadership style that was relationship oriented. (2) Principals tended to view themselves as being more effective in their leadership style adaptability than did the teachers. (3) There were significant differences between the way that teachers and principals perceived the climate of a school. (4) There were significant differences between the way that teachers and principals perceived the leadership style of the principal. (5) There were no significant differences between the leadership style of elementary and secondary school principals. (6) There was a significant difference between the climate of elementary and secondary schools. (7) There was a significant correlation between the leadership style of school principals and school climate.