Planning for Effective School Leadership: Teachers' Perceptions of the Leadership Skills and Ethical Behaviors of School Principals.
Schools need principals who have experienced the most current and compelling theories and practices of school leadership in terms of leading schools to success for each student. There is a considerable amount of research that proposes a definite link between the leadership abilities of a school leader and the impact such leadership has on student success (Darling Hammond, LaPointe, Meyerson, Orr, 2007; Heck Hallinger, 2014; Marzano, Waters, McNulty, 2005) School principals, like leaders in other fields, encounter differing levels of success, which can be influenced by the leadership abilities and ethical behaviors of the school principal. This quantitative study, which took place in a large metropolitan area of the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, examines the relationship between the overall leadership abilities of school principals with their ethical leadership behaviors, as perceived by teachers. This study found a strong (and expected) relationship between the overall leadership abilities of school principals and ethical behaviors, as perceived by teachers. However, statistically significant differences were found among the perceptions in the areas of gender, ethnicity, experience, types of school (elementary, middle, high) and jurisdiction (public, private, religious) INTRODUCTION Planning for the preparation for aspiring school principals and support for current school principals is of critical importance to policymakers and institutions of higher learning that have educational leadership programs. In particular, school districts need principals who have experienced the most current and compelling theories and practices of school leadership for both the current and future context of improving student achievement and the teaching/learning environment of schools. In addition, there is a considerable amount of research that proposes a definite link between the leadership abilities of a school leader and the impact such leadership has on student achievement (Darling Hammond, LaPointe, Meyerson, Orr, 2007; Heck Hallinger, 2014; Marzano, Waters, McNulty, 2005) In most cases, the preparation and support for school principals originates from colleges and universities that offer graduate level programs and degrees in educational leadership, management, and administration. Currently, such accredited institutions are guided by national and state educational leadership standards, such as the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL) (NPBEA, 2015) The state of Maryland, where this study occurred, replaced its own educational leadership framework with the PSEL to guide administrator preparation, licensure, and evaluation in Maryland. (Maryland State Department of Education, 2018, p. 4) Thus, it is quite obvious that planning, problem solving, and decision making are some of the most important parts of the contemporary school leader. And with this, school leaders are often faced with ethical and moral dilemmas. Fullan (2011) suggests that school leaders facing such dilemmas are