Superintendent/principal Perception of Effective Leadership Behaviors/practices in Small Rural School Districts in Wisconsin PDF Download

Author: John C. Lehnen
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Educational leadership
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Get Book Here

Book Description
People who serve in the dual role of superintendent and principal are very unique, typically serving as the lone leader in the smallest of rural school districts. Research on rural school district leadership tends to be lacking when compared to suburban or urban school leadership. The literature review highlights the demands and challenges of rural school district leadership in history to the most recent studies done on superintendents, principals and superintendent/principals. Although superintendent/principals may be small in number, they are no less important than large district superintendents. The purpose of this study was to provide an analysis of the perceptions of superintendent/principals on how they fulfill their dual role responsibilities with effective leadership behaviors/practices as one administrator in a small rural school district in the state of Wisconsin. The theoretical framework details the behaviors/practices that fulfill the areas of responsibility of superintendents and principals from two separate meta-analysis research studies. Additionally, the framework included support for the meta-analysis research on superintendent leadership responsibilities and practices from another major study done in a rural context. The researcher employed descriptive quantitative research methods using survey research aligned to the theoretical framework. Forty-nine superintendent/principals out of 53 possible participants in the state of Wisconsin answered a 115 item survey on behaviors/practices that reflected their actual behaviors/practices in their school district. Overall, the findings show, despite the numerous challenges of small rural district leadership, superintendent/principals perceived themselves positively, more completely meeting their superintendent and principal responsibilities with effective behaviors/practices than not. The researcher also analyzed the data for significant differences in superintendent/principal’s scores on behaviors/practices to compare/contrast with the research presented in the review of literature or theoretical framework. The most interesting conclusion was the importance of “Defined Autonomy” and what it means to a superintendent/principal for overall success in leading a small rural school district. This research study provided several implications for the future. Despite the challenges of the dual role, superintendent/principals must stay focused on effective behaviors/practices that meet their responsibilities, connect to their communities and parents, and develop trusting relationships with all constituents.