Abstract: This study examined the relationship between principals' leadership behaviors and the level of shared decision making in the areas of Policy, Curriculum and Instruction, and Planning in selected Northeast Mississippi schools. This study researched leadership behaviors as they relate to shared decision making with the assumption that shared decision making is an essential element of a successful school culture. The relationship between leadership behaviors and shared decision making holds significance for those who seek to move school reform and renewal forward at the state, regional, and national levels. Thirteen schools were selected to participate in this study. A total of 386 teachers participated in the survey. The teachers were surveyed using two different instruments. The Leadership Practices Inventory [LPI] (Kouzes and Posner, 1997) and the Shared Education Decisions Survey-Revised [SEDS-R] (Ferrara, 1994) were the two instruments that were used to measure the teachers' perceptions of shared decision making behaviors exhibited by their individual principal. The five leadership practices measured by the LPI "Challenging the Process", "Inspiring a Shared Vision", "Enabling others to Act", "Encouraging the Heart", and "Modeling the Way" were correlated with the three areas of the SEDS-R "Planning", "Curriculum and Instruction", and "Policy". The findings were presented and analyzed to test each of the five research questions. Detailed statistics were used to present profiles of the participants of the study. The sample consisted of 386 participants representing an 80.4% return rate. Pearson product-moment correlations were produced to analyze the relationships between the leadership behaviors of principals in selected Northeast Mississippi schools as perceived by teachers. A total of fifteen significant relationships were identified; however, the strength of the relationships range from low to moderate positive relationships as defined by Hinkle, Wiersma, and Jurs (2003). This demonstrated a low to moderate relationship between teachers' perceptions of the principals' leadership behaviors and the level of shared decision making in the schools.

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