Abstract
The Problem: The central problem is that principals with high levels of participation in district decision-making have higher levels of satisfaction with the management team than principals with low levels of participation. The following comparisons were made in order to answer the central hypothesis: (1) Comparisons between the satisfaction scores of principals with low and high levels of participation in decision-making. (2) Comparisons among the participation and satisfaction scores of elementary, intermediate, and high school principals. (3) Comparisons between the participation and satisfaction scores of principals with low and high levels of administrative experience. Research Methodology: The methodology for study was to develop a Participation-Satisfaction questionnaire. This questionnaire was sent to 558 principals. The data derived from the responses of seventy-six percent of the sample were treated using the t-test and the one-way analysis of variance. Findings: (1) Principals with high levels of participation in decision-making have significantly higher levels of satisfaction with the management team than principals with low levels of participation. (2) High School principals have significantly higher levels of participation in collective bargaining than elementary principals and significantly higher levels of budget development than both elementary and intermediate principals. (3) Inexperienced principals have significantly higher budget development and satisfaction scores than principals with high levels of administrative experience. Conclusions and Recommendations: (1) Principals are satisfied with the district management team when it's perceived to be an effective avenue for increasing their participation in district decision-making. Principals' attitudes toward the management team are those of indifference or dissatisfaction when their participation in decision-making is insignificant. (2) High School principals have a greater impact on collective bargaining than both elementary and intermediate principals. High School principals are having an equally significant impact on budget development activities since district financing is closely associated with collective bargaining. (3) Future studies should accomplish the following: (1) compare the participation and satisfaction scores of principals who are members of management teams to principals who are nonmembers, and (2) identify the reasons for the differences between the participation and satisfaction scores of principals with low and high levels of administrative experience.