Abstract
The Problem. Research indicates that instructional leadership should be the first priority of elementary principals. This study examined the perceptions of teachers and principals in thirty-two elementary schools in a large urban school district. The components of instructional leadership were established as Curriculum, Staff Relations, Inservice, Performance Evaluation, and School/Community Relations. Research Methodology. Data for this study were gathered using responses of principals and teachers to a fifty item questionnaire which utilized two five-point interval scales. Participants scored principals according to perceptions of ideal and actual behaviors. The study examined the differences in perceptions of teachers and principals toward instructional leadership practices. Using arithmetical means, standard deviations, and correlations, the data were studied through t Tests, Pearson Product Moment Correlations, and Chi Square to examine the responses of the 352 participants. Findings. In comparing the responses of teachers in the demographics of age, experience, and grade levels taught toward the instructional leadership components for male and female principals, the greatest differences occurred between the perceptions of teachers and principals in the performance evaluation component. To a lesser degree, teachers and principals do not agree in their perceptions of inservice and curriculum practices. Female principals and teachers differed in perceptions more than male principals and teachers. In examining male and female principals' responses, principals did not show differences in their perceptions of ideal practices but did differ in their perceptions of actual behaviors. Conclusions and Recommendations. Implications of this study indicate that principals need to be more aware of staff perceptions of the instructional leadership practices of principals. Teachers are more concerned with the relative importance of the ideal practices within each component and principals are more concerned with actual behaviors. The School Situation Scale developed for this study should prove useful to individual principals in surveying perceptions of their staff toward instructional practices within their schools.