Leadership Practices of Elementary Principals and Parental Involvement in Their Schools

OBJECTIVE
To determine if there is a difference in the principals' leadership practices in schools that have low parental involvement as compared to schools with middle and high parental involvement.

METHODOLOGY
Random sample of Michigan's elementary school principals completed the LPI-Self (N=337; 55% response rate), Long Parental Involvement Scale (19-items), and provided demographic information (170 men and 154 women; 89% Caucasian, 10% Black; 33% rural settings, 55% suburban and 12% urban school districts; 30% fewer than 5 years experience as principal, 36% between 6-12 years, and 34% more than 13 years).

KEY FINDINGS
LPI-Self scores significantly correlated with levels of parental involvement; ANOVA indicated significant differences between low, moderate and high levels of parental involvement. No differences due to type of population served or principals' years of experience. Female principals had higher LPI scores, regardless of parental involvement levels, than did their male counterparts. "This study demonstrated the impact of leadership practices that challenge, inspire, enable, model and encourage (the five LPI-Self factors) on implementing parental involvement activities in elementary schools" (130).