Secondary Education Principals/Superintendents
OBJECTIVE Determine if leaders (principals) in public schools selected as National Blue Ribbon schools possess Transformtional leadership traits, and whether their followers perceived them as Transformtional leaders.
METHODOLOGY The National Blue Ribbon Secondary Schools in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, receiving recognition in the last five years, included one middle school and two high schools. (The country included a total of 49 middle schools, 8 junior high schools, and 54 high schools). The researcher personally administered the LPI-Self to the principals completed the LPI-Self and their faculty members completed the LPI-Observer during a group session.
KEY FINDINGS Based upon both the (limited) quantitative and qualitative data the author concluded that the “principals considered themselves as possessing and practicing Transformtional leadership behaviors. The faculty members of the middle school agree with the principal's assessment of his Transformtional traits. Results from the survey conducted with the faculty members at the high school site correlated with the results of the previous assistant principals' perceptions of self. However, there was a major discrepancy in the results form the survey related to the retired high school principal's self perception and that of the faculty.” (p. 97). Furthermore: “It is conclusive to the researcher that the key components of Transformtional leadership behaviors as represented in the literature, practiced by the principals in this study, and desired by teachers within the schools were as follows: (a) opportunities to take risks; (b) recognition of the accomplishments of others; (c) team sharing; (d) collaborative opportunities; (e) exhibition of consistent professionalism, data sharing, and inservice opportunities; (f) availability of resources; and (g) leadership modeling the way” (p. 116).