Table of Contents
Glascock, C. H. (1996). Teachers’ perceptions of the principal/superintendent relationship and school climate: Do they correlate? PhD dissertation, Louisiana State University.
Comments:
The 14-item TAI examines the perceptions of teachers regarding the relationship between their principal and their superintendent. The TAI is currently being further refined.
Sample:
A multistaged sampling procedure was used to select elementary and high schools. Study one involved 252 teachers from five elementary and three high schools. Study two involved 270 teachers from 19 elementary and seven high schools.
Reliability:
For study one, the Alpha coefficient was 0.77 with items 1–5 and 7 deleted. For study two, the alpha coefficient was 0.78 with items 1–5 and 7 deleted.
Validity:
A panel of six experts analyzed the TAI on at least three occasions. According to the author, the purpose of study one was to establish the construct validity and reliability of the TAI, while the purpose of the second study was to validate the factor analytic results of the first study.
Factor Analysis:
A desired two-factor solution (independence and influence) was not confirmed. The TAI is a general measure of the relationship between the principal and the superintendent. The one-factor solution with eight items accounts for almost 31 percent of the variance in both studies.
Data Analysis:
Means and standard deviations by item (6 and 8–14) are included.
References
Hallinger, P., et al. (1990). What makes a difference in school context, principal leadership, and student achievement. NCEL Occasional Paper No.3. Nashville, TN: National Center for Educational Leadership.
Molm, L. D. (1990). Structure, action, and outcomes: The dynamics of power in social exchange. American Sociological Review 55:427–47.
Okeafor, K. R., and Frere, R. M. (1992). Administrators’ confidence in teachers, leader consideration, and coupling in schools. Journal of Research and Development in Education 25:204–12.
Smith, J. B., Maehr, M. L., and Midgley, C. (1992). Relationship between personal and contextual characteristics and principals’ administrative behaviors. Journal of Educational Research 86:111–18.
Whaley, K. W., and Hegstrom, T. G. (1992). Perceptions of school principal communication effectiveness and teacher satisfaction on the job. Journal of Research and Development in Education 24:224–31.
Teacher Attitude Inventory
1. When teachers in our school push for curriculum changes, principal must get the approval of the superintendent before agreeing to these changes.
2. If the principal thinks it’s better for our school, he/she will modify some district policies without consulting the superintendent.
3. The superintendent transfers teachers into and out of our school without consulting the principal.
4. When it comes to hiring teachers at our school, the principal usually gets who he/she wants.
5. The principal determines how some funds are spent at our school without consulting the superintendent; for ex- ample, funds raised by the school for staff development or supplies.
6. When parents, who have difficulty with a teacher in our school, go over the principal’s head to the superintendent, the superintendent usually intervenes and tells the principal what to do.
7. The principal must have the superintendent’s permission before raising money from businesses in the community.
8. Teachers can get needed resources, such as overhead projector and materials, because the principal has a good working relationship with the superintendent.
9. The principal’s explanations about parental concerns are disregarded by the superintendent when making decisions.
10. When teachers in our school want permission to try new instructional techniques, the principal is able to convince the superintendent to allow it.
11. When teachers ask the principal to request extra resources for our school, like new computers, the principal is able to get those resources from the superintendent.
12. The principal is able to persuade the superintendent to support new programs for our school.
13. The principal does not seem able to influence the superintendent in hiring teachers for our school.
14. The superintendent seldom supports the principal’s requests or additional funding for our school.
Scoring:
A five-point Likert scale ranges from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree. There is a No Opinion response that receives a score of zero. A low score shows that teachers don’t observe a high level of independence and influence occurring in relationship between the principal and superintendent.