The relationship between teachers' personality factors and their willingness to comply with administrative directives is examined in this report. A random sample of 200 elementary school teachers in Mississippi received mailed questionnaires, of which 158, or 79 percent, responded. Survey instruments included the Wilkes and Blackbourn Zones of…

Communities with a flexible, open leadership structure may weather energy booms better than communities with old-guard leadership cliques, according to a study of community governance in two small Texas towns. Although similar in location, ethnic composition, population, access to transportation, economic base, and importance in the county,…

Leadership educators are constantly looking for new and inventive ways to teach leadership theory. Because leadership educators realize principles of androgyny and experiential education work well with leadership theories, instructors find movies are a great way to infuse leadership theory with novel teaching methodology. "Movies, like…

This study used qualitative research procedures to evaluate the learning impact of a long term (3.5 years) leadership education program on participants' cognitive models of leadership. Situated learning theory (Lave & Wenger, 1991) and communities of practice principles (Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder, 2002) were used to develop research…

This quantitative study was completed in order to gather initial data on the leadership practices currently being employed by county level 4-H educators in a northeast state. A survey instrument including the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ), the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI), and a demographics questionnaire, was sent to all…

The lack of a clear role definition for the special education supervisor has resulted in an interpretation of the position as that of a facilitator, planner, and legal rights guarantor for exceptional children. To determine whether differences existed between the self-perceived supervisory methods of special education administrators and their…

This paper examines the relationships among school climate, leadership styles, and group interaction as perceived by teachers, selected parents, and selected students in a medium-sized Mississippi Delta school district. Parent dissatisfaction with the behavior of a junior high school principal provoked this study. The total sample consisted of 86…

This short paper surveys some of the key concepts concerning the behavior called "leadership" and explores the role of leadership in the management of further and higher education. It recounts briefly six hypotheses held about the nature of leadership (the trait theory, the situational theory, the social influence theory, the functional or…

A model and instrument based on leadership as social control theory (LASC) to assess leadership qualities of high school principals was developed in this study. The LASC model, based on symbolic interactionist and functionalist paradigms, attempts to explain the process by which leaders reduce conflicts between individual and organizational…

This study sought to determine how student teachers perceived their cooperating teacher's leadership practices. The Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire Form was completed during the final week of clinical field experience by 212 student teachers. The questionnaire was based on four identified leadership styles used by mentors: (1)…

School districts have primarily stressed the instructional management aspect of the principal's role, while research has focused on principal effectiveness as a factor for increased student achievement. A synthesis of effective school characteristics identified by the literature is the first objective of this paper. A second purpose is the…

Over the years, researchers have defined "leadership" in myriad ways. On the whole, they have found that there are various kinds of leadership, that leadership works in many ways, and that it has distinctive requirements and processes. Leadership does not result merely from individual traits, but also involves attributes of the transaction between…

Presidential effectiveness is considered in the context of decision-making that shaped the mission of certain midwestern colleges as they moved toward adopting the American research university mission. The issue is strategic success: the extent to which presidents at a time of opportunity or adversity made decisions that led the college to…

Past research has correlated differential curriculum implementation outcomes at the classroom level with the actions of the key change facilitator at the school level: the principal. Accordingly, this paper reports the results of a study of three change facilitator styles among principals: responders, managers, and initiators. Working definitions…

The leadership styles of 15 directors at Bowie State College (Maryland) was examined, using the Leader Effectiveness and Adaptability Description (LEAD) Self Survey. The instrument presents situations that show the leader's concern for job relationships and tasks. Directors were defined as mid-level managers with key administrative and supervisory…