Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to compare the self-reported leadership orientations of elementary principals who have completed the California School Leadership Academy (CSLA) training program and a sample of California elementary principals who have not completed the CSLA training, and to compare those leadership orientations with the perceptions of administrative designees within the principal's school. The study also examined the effects of certain moderator variables on the leadership orientations of both groups of principals. This study was also a partial replication of a similar study on leadership orientations by Meade (1992). Methodology. Descriptive and "ex-post-facto" research methodologies were used in this study. A questionnaire developed by Bolman and Deal (1991) was used to measure the leadership orientations of the principals and the perceptions of their administrative designees in addition to the collection of demographic data. The final sample was composed of forty-seven CSLA graduates and their administrative designee pairs and fifty-one non-CSLA principals and their administrative designee pairs. Findings and conclusions. The two groups of principals were very similar in their demographic characteristics. There was a significant difference between the self-perceptions of leadership orientations of CSLA principals and their administrative designees in the areas of Structural and Political orientations. There was a significant difference between the self-perceptions of leadership orientations on non-CSLA principals and their administrative designee in the area of Political orientation. In both cases, the administrative designee rated the principal higher. This study found no significant differences in the leadership orientation between those who have and those who have not graduated from the CSLA program. Like the Meade study of 1992, this research found no evidence that CSLA training impacted the leadership orientations of California elementary school principals.