This study examined the leadership style of high school principals and its effectiveness as perceive by teachers of a Mid-South school district. Particularly, this study explored the correlations between principal leadership style to teacher job satisfaction and overall school morale. Collectively, 60 teachers participated in the study across one Mid-South school district. The results were collected through online surveys and individual structured interviews. Descriptive statistics, independent samples t test, one-way ANOVAs, and multiple regressions were used to analyze significance. The relationship between administrative leadership style and teacher perceived job satisfaction was strong and significant. The relationship between principal support and positive school morale was moderate and significant. Lastly, the relationship between years of teaching experience and reported job satisfaction showed no significance.

This quantitative study addressed the idea that a middle school principal could possibly impact teacher effectiveness in the classroom through the relationship of the teacher- perceived leadership style of the principal to teacher job satisfaction and efficacy. The sample consisted of 142 certified teachers from 8 public middle schools in an East Tennessee school district. Teachers completed the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, (Bass & Avolio, 2004) and the Job Satisfaction Survey, (Spector, 1994). Findings from this study suggest that the middle school teachers' perceptions of their principal's leadership did not have a statistically significant relationship to teacher job satisfaction. A new insight from this study suggests that principals should find ways to lead beyond teacher perceptions to address the needs of teachers in order to promote and encourage higher levels of teacher job satisfaction. Furthermore, findings from this study suggest that the middle school teachers' perceptions of their principal's leadership style had a statistically significant relationship to teacher efficacy. Findings from the exploratory question at the end of the surveys further validated this study by indicating teachers perceived their need for principal leadership to help them become more effective in the classroom by incorporating elements of both transformational and transactional leadership. This research may assist in developing leadership style training for principals desiring to indirectly influence academic achievement by influencing teacher job satisfaction and efficacy within their schools.

Industry, business, military and other government agencies are increasingly recognizing the significance of human factors in the productivity of complex organizations. Educational institutions are no exception to this fact. It is assumed that morale and productivity are related to the managerial style of the supervisor. Leaders are faced with the challenge of directing the work group toward the target of increased productivity while at the same time maximizing member satisfaction. The basic research problem of this study was to investigate the relationship between leadership style of high school principals (in terms of their Concern for Production and Concern for People) and certain dimensions of teacher morale. The null hypothesis which guided this study was that there was no significant relationship between teacher perceptions of administrative behavior and teacher morale. A stratified random sampling technique was used to select 132 teachers from ten high schools in the state of Oregon. The results are based on 126 returns, 90 male and 36 female respondents. Principal Leadership Style Questionnaire was used to measure two dimensions (Concern for People and Concern for Production) of administrative behavior. Purdue Teacher Opinionaire was used to measure ten factors of teacher morale. All hypotheses were tested at .05 level of confidence. The first primary hypothesis asserting that there would be no partial correlation between administrative dimensions and Teacher Rapport with Principal was rejected. The second primary hypothesis that there would be no partial correlation between administrative dimensions and Satisfaction with Teaching was accepted. Partial correlation was 4ppliedto analyze the primary hypotheses by eliminating the effects of secondary hypotheses (Rapport Among Teachers, Teacher Salary, Teacher Load, Curriculum Issues, Teacher Status, Community Support of Education, School Facilities, Community Pressures, Age and Sex). T-test based on regression coefficients was applied to analyze the secondary hypotheses. Out of 20 secondary hypotheses tested, five of them were rejected. Analysis of the primary and secondary hypotheses concluded that Curriculum Issues, Rapport with Principal and Teacher Salary are positively related to both the dimensions of administrative behavior. Rapport Among Teachers was positively related to Concern for People but not Production. Satisfaction with Teaching, Teacher Load, Teacher Status, Community Support of Education, School Facilities and Services, Community Pressures, Age and Sex of the teachers are not related to the perceived leadership style of the principal. Teachers Satisfaction with Teaching is probably related mostly to those things that happen directly with pupils inside the classroom over which principals have little influence. Results of the two administrative dimensions indicated that a principal's leadership behavior is perceived by his faculty in various ways. However, on the average, administrators were rated high on both the "Production" and "People" dimensions of administrative behavior and perceived as having a "6,7" or "7,8" leadership style as described by Blake and Mouton (1964). Analysis of this research further suggest that educational administrators investigated in this study seem to have above average skills in the eyes of their faculty in promoting both goal achievement and member satisfaction. It is recommended that the design of this study be replicated on a larger teacher population and sample size in different geographical areas.

Author's abstract: In this era of increased accountability and increased pressure to improve our public schools, elementary school leaders, working to meet the provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001, are focusing on developing effective leadership behaviors as they face the complex challenges of meeting organizational goals within their elementary schools and maintaining or increasing staff satisfaction. Leadership behavior has long been of interest in industry, business, military, and the government; on the whole, research shows that focusing on social factors such as morale, group interaction, and supportive relationships has a strong effect on productivity and success. The literature suggests that a relationship exists between leadership behavior and staff morale and job satisfaction. It hypothesizes that principals who consciously practice transformational leadership behaviors have a positive impact on the morale and productivity of their teachers. This study explores the soundness of the hypothesis and provides data for school leaders who strive to develop innovative leadership styles that will empower their teachers and improve morale. This study was conducted to determine if a statistically significant relationship exists between the principals perceived leadership behaviors and teachers morale. The two questionnaires used were the Excellent Principal Inventory and the Purdue Teacher Opinionnaire. Leadership behavior clearly impacts teacher morale, and a positive relationship between leadership behavior and teacher morale is evident in several areas. These findings support that teacher morale can be predicted on the basis of the leadership style asserted by the principal. Principals who use a participatory style of leadership are more likely to have more satisfied and productive teachers than principals who use an autocratic style of leadership.

Classroom teachers continue to be an integral component to the success of any school and to the success of its students. Numerous studies indicate that the morale level of teachers can have an impact on their effectiveness in the classroom. Furthermore, the leadership of the school principal can shape the culture of any school and thus have a direct impact on teacher morale. This study sought to determine if a relationship exists between self-reported morale of school teachers and perceived leadership style of high school principals. Additionally, the study attempted to determine if a relationship exists between self-reported morale of school teachers and perceived leadership style of school principals with regard to the teacher’s experience level. The study was framed by Maslow’s theory of human motivation, which describes a hierarchy of needs where ones most basic needs must be met before moving on to the next level of needs. The research hypotheses were evaluated using a standard multiple linear regression analysis. Results of the study suggest that there is no significant, predictive relationship between teacher morale and a linear combination of principal leadership style and years of experience in education. Recommendations for future research include replication studies using a larger sample population, different educational settings, or a qualitative approach.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the perceived leadership style of the principal and late career teacher job satisfaction. In addition, the impact of demographic variables including age, race, and gender were explored. The participants consisted of 70 late career K-6 teachers in 17 elementary schools across three school districts in Southern Arizona. The participants completed two survey instruments. Interview data was also collected. Pearson product-moment correlation tests were used to analyze the relationship between nine leadership variables describing transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership, and intrinsic and extrinsic satisfaction variables. Correlation tests were also used to examine the relationship between leadership variables and demographic variables. Multiple regression analyses were used to analyze the intercorrelations between leadership and demographic variables and extrinsic and intrinsic satisfaction. The examination of the relationship between leadership variables and intrinsic and extrinsic variables produced several significant findings. The relationship between leadership variables and demographic variables also produced several significant findings. The multiple regression analyses identified a significant relationship between the perception of Idealized Influence and extrinsic satisfaction. A significant relationship was also found between Contingent Reward and intrinsic satisfaction. Qualitative data from individual teacher interviews supported these findings. The overall findings from this study suggest that late career teachers' perceptions of their principals' leadership styles impact intrinsic and extrinsic satisfaction. More specifically, some transformational and transactional variables had a positive impact on job satisfaction. These findings suggest that a balance of transactional and transformational leadership styles may be most effective for school leaders wishing to improve the satisfaction of late career teachers. A model was developed to describe the findings of the study. The Leadership-Satisfaction model provides an additional perspective on the relationship between perceived leadership and satisfaction by illustrating that perceived leadership impacts extrinsic and intrinsic factors which affect the overall picture of satisfaction.