Relationship between administrator leadership styles and new teacher attrition and retention in the public schools of Sumner County, Tennessee
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the significance of the relationship between principals' leadership styles and retention of new teachers. The study utilized two survey instruments, the Demographic Information Sheet and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) Form 5X Short (Revised), Rater Form. The study was conducted in the Sumner County Public School System in Middle Tennessee. The total population was 608 teachers with five years or less of teaching experience within the system. Of these, 595 were invited to participate in this study, and 417 teachers returned surveys, yielding return rate of 70.01%. A usable return rate of 66.7% (N=396) was used in the statistical analyses of this study. The study used the theoretical framework of Bernard Bass. Transformational, transactional, and laissez faire leadership were examined in this study. Pearson product-moment correlation, one-way ANOVAs/Scheffe post hoc tests, and unpaired t-tests were used to test for statistical significance. Statistically significant positive relationships were found between transformational leadership and teachers' satisfaction with principals, perceived effectiveness of principals, new teachers' willingness to exert extra effort, and new teachers' likelihood to continue teaching. Statistically significant positive relationships were found between transactional leadership and teachers' satisfaction with principals, perceived effectiveness of principals, and new teachers' willingness to exert extra effort. A significant relationship was not found between transactional leadership and new teachers' likelihood to continue teaching. Statistically significant negative relationships were found between laissez faire leadership and teachers' satisfaction with principals, perceived effectiveness of principals, and new teachers' willingness to exert extra effort. A significant relationship was not found between laissez faire leadership and new teachers' likelihood to continue teaching. There was insufficient evidence to support the firm assertion that transformational leadership leads to greater teacher retention; however, the data did support the conclusion that new teachers were positively impacted by their principals' use of transformational leadership and negatively impacted by their principals' use of laissez faire leadership.
Subject Area
Educational administration|Teacher education
Recommended Citation
David E Stafford,
"Relationship between administrator leadership styles and new teacher attrition and retention in the public schools of Sumner County, Tennessee"
(2007).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI3307556.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI3307556