Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to determine the differences in the leadership orientations of public and nonpublic school special education principals and teachers of students with severe emotional disturbances. It also determined whether a relationship existed between these leadership orientations and variables of school success as measured by student absenteeism, suspensions, expulsions/transfers and teacher absenteeism. Methodology. Descriptive and causal comparative research was used. Bolman and Deal's Leadership Orientations Questionnaire was mailed to 430 public and nonpublic school principals and teachers with a response rate of 72 percent. Responses to the four leadership orientations were related to student absenteeism, suspensions and expulsions/transfers, and teacher absenteeism. An analysis of variance, independent t-test, and Pearson Product-Moment Correlation were used for the statistical analysis. Findings. Public and nonpublic school principals and teachers were human resource framers. Public principals' secondary frame was structural, while the nonpublic principals were symbolic framers. Lower student expulsions/transfers were related to the public principals' greater use of the political and symbolic frames and the nonpublic principals' higher use of the symbolic frame. Lower student suspensions and expulsions/transfers were related to the nonpublic principals' use of the human resource frame. Higher levels of the public teacher's human resource frame related to lower student absenteeism. Higher levels of the nonpublic teacher's structural frame related to lower student expulsions/transfers, Recommendations. The results of this study suggest that a caring and nontraditional school environment positively influences lower SED student suspensions and expulsions/transfers. Public principals need to view and emulate the school cultures created by nonpublic principals, if public schools are to meet the needs of these students. Student absenteeism (whether voluntary or involuntary) should be viewed as an influence to, and not just an outcome of, school success. Professional training programs should emphasize the elements of political and symbolic frames as they applies to current educational problems. SED students present nontraditional problems for both public and nonpublic schools. Schools will need to come up with nontraditional solutions to meet these problems.