Teacher Leadership Styles - Dissertation Example

?Chapter 3 – Methodology Introduction Identifying leadership styles that lead certain teachers to have a greater impact on test scores thanothers is a matter of great urgency in a country that struggles with educating all of its children equally. Increasing awareness about what should be the style of leadership used in classrooms will tend to motivate students to reach their full academic potential and will provide more effective instructions (Webb, 2007). These reasons justify additional formal research, in depth study, and analysis Hence, the purpose of this quantitative correlational evaluation is to examine the relationship between leadership styles used by classroom teachers and student scores on state-mandated tests in fourth- and fifth-grade in an elementary school in Missouri City, Texas. The guiding research question for the study asks whether there is a dominant leadership style (i.e. transformational, authoritarian, or laissez-faire) used by classroom teachers that helps students score 2400 or higher (commended status) on annual state-mandated assessments and if there are other factors that explain why scores are high under one teacher and why the same set of students can perform with low scores with another teacher. Statement of the Problem Scholars do not know how and to what extent classroom teachers using transformational, authoritarian, or laissez-faire leadership styles impact fourth- and fifth-grade elementary school students in consistently scoring 2400 or higher on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), currently known as the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STARR); the Texas annual state-mandated test. The objective of the proposed study is to investigate the relationship of leadership styles of elementary teachers and fourth- and fifth-grade students’ state-mandated test scores. With the continuous emphasis placed on education today, understanding which leadership styles work best, alone or in combination with other factors, is imperative for administrators in strengthening the performance of classroom teachers. Purpose of the Study The purpose of this research, study, quantitative correlation of variables, and analyses is to examine the relationship between teaching leadership styles and student scores along with other variables. Three alternatives may be used by classroom teachers, namely, the authoritative style, the laissez-faire style, and the transformational style. Students’ scores on state-mandated tests in fourth- and fifth-grade in an elementary school in Missouri City, Texas, will be utilized. Some students, for example, may have scored above the norm (i.e., 2400 or higher) in fourth grade on state-mandated tests, and the following year, those same students may have scored well below the norm, within the same school setting but with a different classroom teacher. The other variables under consideration are those which facilitate the learning process of students. See Figure 1. Researchers such as Jeanpierre (2004) have examined the topic of leadership styles in the classroom. However, they arrived at limited findings on the direct impact of leadership styles on students’ state-mandated test scores in elementary schools. In addition to elementary schools, community leaders, stakeholders, and business leaders also have public education systems under scrutiny to find evidence of leadership styles that motivate students to score consistently. The results of this study may reveal evidence regarding the correlation of leadership styles and student capabilities and achievements as measured by standardized testing. Logical Procedures In order to determine whether or not leadership style in teaching 4th and 5th grades will have a better impact on the level of learning based on test results of students, initial survey of available authoritative studies on this issue would have to be done. The term “teacher leadership” should first be defined and distinguished from other types of leadership. If initial research leads to a discovery about any great difference between the two, then the difference must be disclosed. Since three types of leadership will be considered in this paper, each style (authoritarian, laissez faire, and transformational) will first be described and rationalized in terms of how such a leadership style works and why. The popular information nowadays is that teacher leaders do make a significant difference, according to Lieberman, A, and Miller, L. (2011). This paper seeks to discover which leadership enables 4th and 5th graders to achieve the desired test results equivalent to 2400 point. The ultimate methodology that can attempt to pinpoint the preferred leadership style of teachers for a set of elementary school students will be the correlation quantitative technique. But this would have to be done after clarifications of terminologies. Furthermore, steps have to be taken for the purpose of filtering the other possible factors that were identified to have an impact on the learning performance of students. And these are the personal background of students that can guide the school into discovering how each of the students can learn the most. Step 1 would have to be a definition of teacher leadership. What are the ingredients and why are they important? Step 2 involves describing what each of the leadership styles actually refer to. The disclosure of relevant studies about teachers’ leadership styles that were already published and made available to the public will serve as Step 3. Once all these are presented for the purpose of clarifying terminologies, the characteristics of students who were taught in the 4th and 5th grade and who experienced leadership styles will have to be researched. These characteristics are available from assessments conducted by the school to know the personalities being taught. There are studies that reveal how students can learn faster given their personal traits. The school strives to know the background of students for the purpose of recommending applicable methods that will facilitate the learning process. But no leadership style has been matched with those methods and students’ personalities. In this paper, a matching process will be initiated, although not yet for the purpose of intentionally deriving best results, but for the purpose of knowing what will be the outcome of matching one leadership style with students having different personalities. Eventually, the correlation between leadership style and most preferred methods of learning corresponding to the greater majority of students will guide the school administration to define the right leadership style at the right time. A grid for analysis will eventually be utilized. That grid is shown in Figure 1. Figure 1 – How Students With Different Learning Abilities Perform Under Each Teaching Leadership Style How Children Learn in 4th & 5th Grades % of students Authoritative Laissez-faire Transformational By listening By discussing By taking down notes By doing By watching visual aid and listening By just reading The major assumption is that the teachers are applying the three (3) learning principles and are following the recommendations of latest research findings for effective teaching of elementary grade subjects, e.g. the recommendations of National Research Council (2005) in response to findings about how students effectively learn mathematics, history, and science. Although the findings will not be discussed in this paper, the questionnaire should include two close-ended questions and an open-ended question to find out which recommended guidelines they are following in their effort to educate the elementary students. The close ended questions will be as follows: (1) Are you always aware of the three (3) principles of learning? The anticipated answer is yes. (2) Did you apply these three (3) principles of learning? The anticipated answer is also yes. (3) How do you normally practice application of those three (3) principles? Or what is your standard operating procedure in teaching your subjects? It is from the teacher’s answer to this question wherein the actual answers can be determined, since there are procedures that have to be done in order to have all three principles implemented. The three principles (U.S. National Research Council 2005, p.312) are : A] There are student preconceptions based on past knowledge acquisition that teachers must engage in for the purpose of building knowledge after considering the students’ understanding. B] Core concepts of knowledge and the procedures for the teaching of those core concepts are organized. And C] implement meta-cognition by interconnecting concepts with their practical use. In the event that these recommended principles are not being applied by respondents, at least there will be an explanation, other than teacher’s leadership, why the outcome of test results varied, and how they can be improved for that particular teacher. Another assumption would be that the teachers are aware of the organizational context of the leadership roles they have to play. That means they follow the available guidelines of the school policies. With all their qualifications, teachers must adjust to certain requirements of the school administration in connection with standards of teaching. There is no need to provide questions pertaining to this assumption because the school regularly checks on the teachers’ compliance with policies and procedures. Unlike the awareness of principles presumed by the school administration, these are monitored regularly. It is further assumed that teachers realize the need to differentiate their methods in order to meet the preferences of learning given the variety of students in a classroom. Nonetheless, to confirm this, (4) a question asking teachers whether or not they practice differentiation in their teaching methods, will be included. This will eliminate one other reason why educational performance went down or remained up. Tomlinson, C.A.(2000, p.1) had said: There is ample evidence that students are more successful in school and find it more satisfying if they are taught in ways that are responsive to their readiness levels, (e.g., Vygotsky,1986), interests (e.g. Csikszentmihalyi, 1997) and learning profiles (e.g. Stemberg, Torff, & Grigorenko, 1998). Another reason for differentiating instruction relates to teacher professionalism. Expert teachers are attentive to students’ varied learning needs (Danielson, 1996), to differentiate instruction then is to become a more competent, creative, and professional educator. However, because the act of initiating a means to excel is part of leadership skills, the questionnaire will include an inquiry about (5) whether or not the teacher tried to find out from available student assessments, what are the percentages of students corresponding to preferred ways of learning. See Figure 1 for the list of preferred ways of learning. This is just to eliminate another possibility why students learn more with one teacher. The anticipated answer is yes, they check on student profile in order to help students learn the most. Finally, it is assumed that all teachers are qualified with sufficient teaching skills. Theoretical Framework The theoretical framework to prove which teacher leadership will work best will thus be as follows: Tabulate questionnaires for students’ perceptions of their teachers Tabulate questionnaires for teachers’ perception of their teaching leadership. Questions to be presented to students will be simple and direct, answerable by yes or no. For example, each one can be asked to answer the following sample questions: a. Do you prefer to follow whatever your teacher tells you what to do? ___Yes or ___No b. Do you prefer that your teacher will listen to suggestions? ___Yes or ___No c. Do you want to be guided more often to see if you are doing well? ___Yes or ___No d. Does your teacher sound like an authoritarian? ___Yes or ___No e. Does your teacher give you enough freedom of choice how to learn? ___Yes or ___No f. Is your teacher trying to change your way of learning? ___Yes or ___No g. Do you feel that your teacher is strict and firm? ___Yes or ___No h. Do you feel some rules of your teacher are relaxed or flexible? ___Yes or __No i. Do you feel you are being guided by your teacher to the way you teacher prefers you to learn? ___Yes or ___No The answers to these questions will identify the perception of students about their teachers, while the answers of teachers to the MLQ Questionnaire will identify the leadership style projected by the teacher from the perception of teachers. The objectives will be to know what the leadership styles are from the perspective of respondent teachers and from the students’ perception. Once known, there will be an attempt to correlate actual scores in the tests of students with the leadership styles. Validating / confirming assumptions will filter the analysis of a correlation between leadership style and actual student performance of those who experienced the teacher’s leadership. The MLQ should also be modified to replace the questions pointing at the transactional leadership style, with questions that will point at an authoritative style instead. After all, the hypothesis does not include consideration of the transactional leadership style, and instead includes the authoritative style of leadership. The hypotheses of this study will be as follows: A.There is a correlation between the leadership style of elementary school teachers and the way most students prefer to learn. B.In order to identify the best leadership style that should be implemented, there should be individual student assessments before entering 4th grade, for the purpose of knowing which type of students (See Figure 1.) represent the majority in the classroom. C.Those students who do not belong to the majority will need the teacher’s leadership differentiation aside from teaching methods differentiation, in order to allow those not belonging to the majority to perform as well. D.Perception of students about their teacher’s leadership can be different from the intended projection of the style of leadership by the teacher. E.Because students have their own preferences in learning, there will always be the need to vary the leadership style of teachers each time the majority of students are found to have a different preferred learning pattern. F.The dominant leadership style of teachers should be adjusted to the majority of students with a preferred learning process, although differentiation of teaching methods should cater to all the students. G.In the absence of individual student assessments, and the preferred learning of the majority cannot be determined, there is no correlation or negligible correlation between leadership style and students in general, regardless of their learning preference. To prove the hypotheses right or wrong, test scores per type of student will be correlated with the leadership style. Another correlation will have to be done for the general results of test scores against leadership style. Limitations Only 12 elementary school teachers will serve as respondents to the MLQ. There is no certainty that each type of leadership will be represented. Each teacher has 20 to 25 students. The role of students will be very limited. They will only give whatever will be their perception of their teachers. There will be no right or wrong answers. No student will be asked to explain their answers. And their names will not be identified. Thus, in the event that the impression communicated by students differ from the type of leadership a teacher wanted to show, a complication in the analysis might take place. A correlation attempt with be done between the perception of students and their scores. However, in the analysis, the leadership style that a teacher wanted to utilize (as disclosed by the results of the MLQ tabulation) will be reported as such. At this point, it is not yet certain if the student assessments reveal the preferred learning process per individual student. In case it is not possible to identify such realities, this paper will recommend further studies and improvements in the way student assessments are summarized. Nonetheless, a correlation will be attempted. It will be between two variables, namely, the student scores and the leadership style identified by the MLQ. And in case the students’ perception of a teacher’s leadership does not match results of the MLQ tabulation, another correlation with the leadership style based on students’ perception will be performed. Instrumentation and Sources of Data The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) (5X Short) Rater Form was developed by Bass and Avolio (2000) to assess transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership factors. The MLQ is an appropriate measurement tool to assess the full range of leadership factors (Vandenberghe, 1999), and has been previously validated (Avolio, Bass, & Jung, 1999; Avolio & Jung, 1999; Bass, 1985; Bass & Avolio, 1994). Bass (1985) had originally referred to these leadership tools as the full continuum of leadership styles. The MLQ – Form 5X (Bass & Avolio, 1997) consists of a 45-item instrument containing nine leadership scales (five transformational, three transactional, and one laissez-faire) and three outcome scales (extra-effort, organizational effectiveness; and employee satisfaction). Each item will be on a Likert-type scale ranging from 0 (not at all) to 4 (frequently, if not always). The MLQ evaluates the incidence of nine factors which are idealized influence (attributed), idealized influence (behavior), inspirational motivation, and intellectual stimulation, individual consideration, contingent rewards, management by exception (active), management by exception (passive), and laissez-faire management. Most questions on the MLQ – Form 5X measure behaviors, while only a few assess attributes or effects (Bass, 1999). The MLQ – Form 5X assesses leadership style by averaging the scores for each leadership scale. The leadership style with the highest value represents the predominant perceived leadership style for the classroom teacher surveyed. Students’ test scores for the period 2008 – 2010 will be disaggregated numerically. Scores students earned in fourth grade will be compared with scores earned in fifth grade by those same students to determine increase or decrease of reported scores. The scores will then be linked to fourth - or fifth grader teachers’ leadership styles. If the students scored 2400 or higher in fourth and fifth grade, the leadership style of the teacher will be noted. The leadership style of the teacher will also be noted if the student scored 2400 or higher in fourth grade but less than 2400 in fifth grade (decrease). The style will additionally be noted if students’ scores remained the same from fourth to fifth grade. The question to be answered is whether or not classroom teachers’ leadership styles impact students’ academic achievement as reflected on state-mandated assessments. Determining and identifying leadership style may enable classroom teachers and principals to better understand and make adjustments to increase the number of students scoring 2400 or below. Results also will provide valuable information regarding the development of effective professional development programs. Results of the study may benefit classroom teachers and principals with a clear understanding of the best way to strategically expend their leadership talents to attract and obtain the optimal performances from fourth- and fifth – grade students which could become applicable to all students in the organization. References Lieberman,Ann and Miller,Lynn (2011). Teacher Leadership. San Francisco, CA USA: John Wiley & Sons, March 31, 2011. Tomlinson, Carol Ann (2000). Differentiation of Instruction in the Elementary Grades. University of Illinois Eric Digest August 2000. EDO-PS-00-7 U.S. National Research Council (2005). How Students Learn: History, Mathematics, and Science in the Classroom. Washington, DC, USA: National Academies Press. Read More