Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of the study was to determine whether there was a relationship between the leadership functions of principals and student achievement at the middle school level. This was a replication of Terry Larsen's study of 1984. Methodology. The entire population of 168 middle schools in the State of California was surveyed. A survey questionnaire was used to obtain data regarding the principals' leadership behavior. Findings and conclusions. (1) In examination principal self-reports, there were no significant differences in the frequency of implementation of leadership behaviors between principals in high and low-achieving schools. (2) Teacher descriptions of their principals showed significant differences with teachers from high-achieving schools reporting greater implementation of leadership behaviors by their principals than teachers from low-achieving schools. (3) There was significantly greater discrepancy between teachers' descriptions and principals' self-ratings at low-achieving schools than at high-achieving schools. (4) When examining individual leadership behavior items, there were no differences between high and low-achieving schools for principals' self-reports, but teachers at high-achieving schools reported higher implementation of leadership behaviors by their principals on nearly all of the leadership behavior items. (5) Teachers' descriptions of their principals indicated higher implementation on all six leadership function categories for high-achieving school principals. (6) Regarding agreement on leadership function categories, there was greater discrepancy between teachers and principals at low-achieving schools on five of the six leadership function categories. (7) The principal's involvement in staff development/interpersonal relations may be more important for student academic achievement than the principal's role in evaluation and supervision. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.).