Administrator behavioral leadership practices : a comparative assessment of administrators and observers at selected community colleges in Texas /
The purpose of this study was to examine the leadership behaviors of administrators in community colleges in order to establish an understanding of current leadership practices and to provide constituents a model to which improvements can be made to better distinguish and disseminate the aim or miss...
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| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
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[Place of publication not identified] :
[publisher not identified] ;
2003.
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| Online Access: | http://proxy.library.tamu.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=765660301&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=2945&RQT=309&VName=PQD |
| Summary: | The purpose of this study was to examine the leadership behaviors of administrators in community colleges in order to establish an understanding of current leadership practices and to provide constituents a model to which improvements can be made to better distinguish and disseminate the aim or mission to all levels of the organization. The investigative procedures involved an analysis of the responses to Kouzes & Posners', Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) questionnaire, which exhibited five exemplary leadership practices. The survey instrument was distributed to 850 individuals at two Texas community college districts - 320 were retained for use in this study. Generally, community college administrators regarding this study population perceive themselves as capable and effective leaders. A substantial number perceive themselves as exhibiting exemplary leadership. Indeed, consistent scores of 8-10 for each behavioral statement, indicated administrators perceive themselves as "usually" to "almost always" practicing a specific leadership behavior. The mean score for all behavioral statements, as recorded from the LPI-Self was 8.6, indicating that administrators are closer to "very frequently" to "almost always" exhibiting the behaviors required for exemplary leadership. In contrast, the LPI-Observer scores revealed a broader distribution of the administrator's leadership characteristics, with scores consistently ranging from 3 "seldom" to 8 "usually". Apparently, knowledgeable observers view administrator's not fully engaged in all behaviors that indicate exemplary leadership. Moreover, knowledgeable observers barely reached the mean score of 7.1 for all behavioral statements. This indicates that a significant number of knowledgeable observers believe administrators "seldom" or "occasionally" practice the leadership behaviors that demonstrate exemplary leadership. The statistical data analysis revealed there is a significant difference between administrators' ratings and observers' ratings on each of the five practices of leadership. Administrator's perceive themselves as exhibiting most of the exemplary behavioral characteristics and enthusiastically committed to all five of the leadership practices. Conversely, knowledgeable observers offer much lower ratings on individual behavioral characteristics, indicating they believe the administrator's commitment to the five leadership practices is not as strong as administrators imagine. Fundamentally, observers do not experience the same level of leadership behavioral commitment, as administrators perceive themselves to offer. |
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| Item Description: | Vita. "Major Subject: Educational Administration". |
| Physical Description: | xiii, 189 leaves : illustrations ; 28 cm. Issued also on microfiche from University Microfilm Inc. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (leaves 160-173). |