The Relationship between Distributed Leadership and Principal's Leadership Effectiveness in North Carolina

GRANT, CARL PATRICK. The Relationship between Distributive Leadership and Leadership Effectiveness in North Carolina. (Under the direction of Drs. Thomas L. Alsbury and Tamara V. Young.) As principals’ responsibilities increase in quantity and complexity along with accountability demands for improved student achievement, some researchers argue that one person can no longer successfully lead a school; rather schools should be led in a collaborative manner with school staff members in shared decision-making through a distributed leadership model (Gronn, 2008). According to Leithwood and colleagues (2006), the core leadership functions in school systems that often get ‘distributed’ by principals using distributive leadership include setting the school mission, professional development programs, redesigning the organization, and managing instruction. The purpose of this study was to understand the extent to which these components of distributed leadership predict a principal’s leadership effectiveness in schools. Specifically, this study was guided by four research questions: (a) What components of distributive leadership exist in North Carolina schools? (b) What is the relationship between different components of distributive leadership? (c) What characteristics of principals are associated with the use of distributive leadership in schools? (d) What is the relationship between the teachers' perception of the principal’s use of distributed leadership and the principal's leadership effectiveness? The study draws on data from 70,811 teachers and principals who responded to the 2008 North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Survey. The results indicated that most teachers and principals in North Carolina schools agreed or strongly agreed that they had a role in three of the four components of distributed leadership: setting the direction, redesigning the organization, and managing the instructional program. The findings indicated that four components of distributed leadership were moderately related to one another. Multiple regression analyses and hierarchical linear modeling indicated that female principals were less likely than they male peers to be perceived as allowing teachers to play a role in managing the instructional program. Furthermore, when it comes to developing people component, female principals were more likely, compared to male colleagues, to be perceived as allowing teachers to play a role in fostering the development of people. The race/ethnicity of the principal also was a significant predictor of the principal’s use of certain components of distributed leadership. Most importantly, with the exception of redesigning the organization, distributive leadership components were related to leadership effectiveness. Of the different dimensions of distributive leadership, setting direction was the strongest predictor of leadership effectiveness. Overall, this study provides empirical evidence that distributive leadership is linked to leadership effectiveness in schools. The Relationship between Distributed Leadership and Principal’s Leadership Effectiveness in North Carolina