Leadership Practices of Elementary School Principals

Leadership Practices of Elementary School Principals - "The researcher surveyed elementary principals and teachers in South Carolina from academically successful and unsuccessful schools to assess leadership practices. The principals and teachers assessed the leadership practices on the five Kouzes and Posner (2003) tenets of leadership.

Based on the findings of this study there was no statistically significant difference between the leadership practices of elementary principals of academically successful schools and unsuccessful schools, as perceived by the principal.

However, an analysis of the results of the teachers’ surveys indicated there was a statistically significant difference between the leadership practices of elementary principals in academically successful schools and academically unsuccessful schools. The findings of the data indicated that principals of academically successful schools embraced the five leadership practices espoused by Kouzes and Posner (2002).

The results of this research indicate that college preparation programs for aspiring principals can play an important role in helping link principals to others’ perceptions of their leadership behaviors. Helping aspiring principals recognize that their teachers will connect their leadership practices to the school’s academic success can help broaden their perspective."