.0 -n’ MSU RETURNING MATERIALS: Place in book drop to unmuss remove this checkout from -;—. your record. FINES win be charged if book is returned after the date stamped below. _,i e -,*.‘.I¢J: 001Ci4} i FEB 2 8 2004 ABSTRACT AN ANALYSIS AND IDENTIFICATION OF INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP ACTS AS PERFORMED AND PERCEIVED BY THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS by Bruce J. Dunn Statement of the Problem This study attempted to identify acts which, according to authorities in the field, could be considered instructional leadership acts which should be carried out by the super- intendent of schools. It determined how'many of these acts were actually being accomplished in selected school districts. Sub-Problems .A. To determine what specific acts could be defined as instructional leadership acts that are generally assumed to be the responsibility of the superintendent of 'schools. B. To determine if there was any relationship between the acts being performed by superintendents. C. To determine what relationship existed between the acts the superintendents were using in practice and the acts identified from the literature and rated by the panel of experts. F. Bruce J. Dunn To determine if the instructional leadership acts being performed in the field, by the superintendents, relate mainly to elementary education, secondary education, or both. To determine if the secondary school principal agreed with the superintendent as to what acts were being carried out by the superintendent. To determine if the superintendents interviewed in the field believe, under present conditions, they can and should serve as instructional leaders. To determine if any acts existed in the field which did not exist in the literature. Procedures in the Study A. A.review of the literature was made to determine what authorities identified as important instructional leadership acts. These acts were then submitted to a panel of experts to be rated. Superintendents and secondary school principals were interviewed from selected school districts in Michigan. Major Findings in the Stugx l. Thirty-one instructional leadership acts were identified as the responsibility of the superintendent of schools. Bruce J. Dunn 2. There is a relationship between the instructional leadership acts being performed by superintendents. 3. A.general relationship does exist between the acts the superintendents are using in practice and the rating a panel of experts ascertained for very similar acts. 4. Instructional leadership acts being performed in the field relate both to elementary and secondary education. 5. The high school principals agree with the superintendents as to what acts are being carried out by the superintendent. 6. The superintendents believe that they must be the instructional leader within their school system. 7. There may be acts in the field which differ from the acts found in the literature, but this difference would be a matter of degree and not of substance. In addition to these findings, conclusions and recommendations were drawn which may have significance for further research and for present and future superintendents. AN.ANALYSIS AND IDENTIFICATION OF INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP ACTS .AS PERFORMED AND PERCEIVED BY THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS By (3-0 Bruce J. Dunn A.THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION College of Education 196A ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The writer would like to express his sincere appreciation to Dr. William H. Roe, Committee Chairman, for his guidance, counsel, and encouragement. The writer would also like to thank Dr. Max Smith, Dr. John Useem, and Dr. Fred Vescolani, members of his committee, for their time and counsel during this study. A.special note of appreciation is extended to Mrs. Charles Harpham of Reese Public Schools for her kind assistance relating to the preparation and reproduction of this thesis. To my wife, Gloria, and children, Vicki, Bruce, and Teri, without whose help this study would not have been possible, and for their love and encouragement the wmiter is deeply grateful. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGVIENTS OOOOOOIOOOOI.OOO.CCOO0.0.0.0.... 11 LIST OF TABLES OOOOIOOOOIOOOOOOOOOOCOO0.0.0.0... v LIST OF APPENDICES .0.I...‘...I........OOOOOOII. 4 V1 CHAPTER I. STATm—ENT OF TE PROBLED’I 00.00.000.000. 1 Introductory Statement ................ 1 Statement of the Problem .............. u SUD—PPOblemS IOOQOOCOOCQ0.00000000IQOOO S Assumptions ........................... 5 Limitations oooooooooooogooooooo0...... 6 Importance of the Study ............... 9 MethOdOIOQy oacocoa-ococooooooooooooooo 12 The InteI‘VIQW COO-OOOOOQOCOOOOOOIOOIIO. 13 Definition Of Key Words oocoooooooooooo 16 smary 00.000.09.000000000000.0.0.0... 17 11. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE .......... 19 Definition of Leadership and Leader- Ship ACtS coco.ooooootoooooooococooo 20 The Critical Incident Technique ....... 3h Studies in the Field of Education ..... 38 Different Applications of the Basic Principles of the Critical Incident TeChnj-que O0.0.0.0...OIOOQIOOOOQOOOO LLB Summary coo-coo...oogoooooooopooooooo.o 50 III. PRESENTATION OF DATAoooooocouooooo.ooo 51 Formulating the Instructional Leadership Acts .................... 51 Rating the Instructional Leadership .ACLS Coo...000.000.000.000.009.00... 56 iii CHAPTER Page ' The Acts as Rated by the Panel of Experts 0.0.0.0...IIOOOOOOCOOOOOODOO 57 Data Obtained Through Use of the Critical Incident Technique ........ 65 The InterVIew ooooooooooooooooooboo.o.. 65 Data Obtained from the Interview ...... 68 Grouping the Incidents ................ 68 Data Obtained from Principals ......... 78 Superintendents as Instructional Leaders OOOOOOOOIOOO....O....CUODOO0 85 Summary ............................... 86 1v; ANALYSES OF THE DATA .................. 88 The Instructional Leadership,Acts ..... 88 Acts Being Carried Out by Superin- tendents in the Field .............. 92 Relationship of Acts Being Performed by Superintendents ................. 9h Relationship Between the Acts ......... 97 Relationship of Acts Between Elementary and Secondary Education coco-0.0.09.9...uoooooooon 100 Determination of Agreement Between Superintendent and Principal ....... 107 Superintendents as Instructional Lead— €FS 000.000.0000...00.000.000.000... 109 Acts in the Field and in the Literature coo-oooooovoooooooogg...g 113 Summary 0...0.0.00.0...OQOCOOOIOOIIIODQ 116 V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOWIENDATIONS cooOOOOODOOoOOOOOOOO 118 General Summary of the Findings of the Stfldy 00.0.0.0....OQDIOOOOOOO'.I 118 Recommendations ....................... 124 Areas of Needed Research .............. 126 COHCIUS1OHS uococooooosoooooooooooo-ooo 128 BIBLIOGRAPHY o.o...ooooooooooooauoOOblto00.00000 131 iv LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Categories Where 80% or More Agree- ment Was Reached by Panel of EXperts 000.000.000.000.0000009000.O 63 2. Categories Where 100% Agreement Was Reached by Panel of Experts ........ 63 3. Categories Not Reported Upon by All Members of the Panel ............... 6h h. Categories Where Total Range of Scale Was Rated cocoa-oooooooooooo-o 6h 5. Groups of Incidents Gathered from superintendents QOOOOQOO0.0..O0.0000 71 6. Groups of Incidents Gathered from superintendents .oooooooooooooooooo- 72 7. Groups of Incidents Gathered from superintendents coo-cocooooooooooooo 73 8. Groups of Incidents Gathered from superintendents OIOOOOOOOOOOOOOIOOIO 79 9. Incidents Principals Listed That Were Outside the Fifty Groups Listed by Superintendents .......... 8h LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix A 00.00....0.0.0.000000000000o Appendix B nococooooooboooooooo0.00000. Appendixc 00....OOOOOOOOOOOIO0.000QOIO vi Page 142 151 153 CHAPTER I STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM I. Introductory Statement Today in professional literature and at professional educational meetings a great deal is heard about the necessity for the superintendent of schools to be an instructional leader. Most professionals agree that instructional leadership is both good and necessary. There seems to be confusion between the professionals regarding instructional leadership. There does not seem to be clarity of opinion as to what instructional leader— ship really is, who is involved, or what specific acts should be taken to bring this instructional leadership to bear on current problems. The researcher, a superintendent of schools for several years, has seen a need for a better understanding of one of the most important aspects of the superintendent's job—-instructional leadership, what it is and what it does. The wide divergence of opinion relative to the concept of leadership and the lack of specificity as to what it really is is borne out in the statements of some of our nationally recognized educational leaders. 2 Walter D. Cocking asserted in a published article on leadership: Once again it has been borne in on me that the one element beyond all others which determines the dynamism of any educational situation is the quality of its leadership. If education is to be the force which thoughtful people predict it will be, our colleges and schools must have more dynamic, intelligent, and forceful leadership than we have had in the past.1 Walter D. Codking indicated the importance of leadership but he did not define leadership. It becomes difficult, if not impossible, from his statement to work within the realm of the definition of leadership, as there is none. Holland presented the following statements for consideration: When dynamic mature leadership is not exhibited nowadays, our teachers feel justified in complaining. The first fundamental iS that all those concerned must accept the fact that the gifts of leadership are unequally divided. Most people do, indeed, prefer to be led. This implies the necessity of intelligent followership. The second fundamental has to do with broad characteristics peculiar to leadership: Courage heads the list. Impatience with failure. The leader looks upon motivating his group as a primary responsibility. The third fundamental has to do with the leaders capacity to take orders.2 IWalter D. Cocking, "Educational Leadership," Overview, 1:9H, September, 1960. 2Howard K. Holland, "Democratic Leadership~-Does It Abrogate Executive Responsibilityl", School Executive, 79:76-7, November, 1959. 3 Holland set forth some observations of what takes place when leadership is lacking. He listed one or two charac- teristics of leaders but failed to bring forth a definition. Morphet said, "Leadership in improving the educational program of a school system may be provided by the super- intendent, by someone designated by him, or by some committee with his approval."3 Morphet stated who may provide leadership. He failed to state or define leadership. A very careful search of the literature over the past five years, using the Educational Index as a guide, has been undertaken. The above statements are typical of some of the results. These statements have been made by people who are recognized as authorities in their fields. These statements would seem to indicate that a large number of people talk about leadership but very few are clear about what leadership really is. The purpose of this study, then, will be an attempt to clarify what is meant by leadership generally and instruc— tional leadership specifically; and to identify specific 7%\ acts performed by superintendents which could be considered leadership acts which produce better instruction. For the purpose of this study, it becomes necessary to determine what is meant by leadership. An explanation 3Edgar L. Morphet, R. L. Johns, T. L. Reller, Educational Administration (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: PrenticeaHall Inc., 1959), p. 31. u approaching a definition by Launor F. Carter, who wrote Chapter III in The Study_g£_Leadership_edited by Browne and Cohn, is useful in indicating the meaning of leadership as used in this study.)‘L Leadership is defined in terms of leadership behaviors. Leadership behaviors are any behaviors that experimenter wishes to so designate or, more generally, any behaviors which experts in this area wish to consider as leadership behaviors. The specific leadership this study investigates is instructional leadership. Following Carter's approach to leadership definition, this study goes to the experts to determine what they have designated as leadership acts or } 7R. behaviors. Therefore, for the purpose of this study, instructional leadership may be defined as: a set of acts, by the superintendent of schools, designed to guide and direct others to the formulation and performance of a good program of instruction. ll. Statement of the Problem This study will attempt to identify acts which, accord- ing to authorities in the field, are important instructional // leadership acts which should be carried out by the super— DA’ intendent of schools and to determine what acts are actually being accomplished in selected school districts. Itc. o. Browne, Thomas S.Cohn, The Study of Leadership (The Interstate Printers and Publishers,'Inc.:—DanvilTe, Illinois, 1958), pp. 22-5. The full context of the definition is found in Chapter II, p. 21. III. Sub—Problems .A. To determine what specific acts can be defined as instructional leadership acts that are generally assumed to be the responsibility of the superintendent of schools. B. To determine if there is any relationship between the acts being performed by superintendents. C. To determine what relationship exists between the acts the superintendents are using in practice and the acts developed from the literature and rated by the panel of experts. D. To determine if the instructional leadership acts being performed in the field, as perceived by the super— intendents, relate mainly to elementary education, secondary education, or both. E. To determine if the secondary school principal agrees with the superintendent as to what acts are being carried out by the superintendent. F. To determine if the superintendents interviewed in the field believe, under present conditions, they can and should serve as instructional leaders. G. To determine if any acts exist in the field which do not exist in the literature. IV. .Assumptions A. Instructional leadership can be defined. 6 B. Specific acts carried out in school to improve instruction may be identified as instructional leadership. C. Specific administrative and professional personnel are responsible for initiation of leadership acts which will improve instruction. D. Superintendents and principals are qualified to act as competent observers of instructional leadership acts within their school systems. E. Because the instructional leadership acts mentioned by the superintendents during interviews were based on immediate recall, it can be concluded that these were per— ceived by the superintendents to be the important acts. Refer to the Critical Incident Technique in Chapter II for a more detailed explanation. V. Limitations A. This study will be limited to selected suburban school districts in Genesee, Macomb, and Oakland Counties in Michigan, which operate only one secondary school (operating through the twelfth grade) with a minimum enrollment of 350 students in grades ten through twelve. These three counties are highly populated and yet, unlike Wayne County, schools are not close enough to Detroit to be overly influenced by this one district. A.minimum secondary school enrollment of 350 students was selected because enough students had to be available so that a reasonably broad and varied instructional program was 7 offered. It was believed, because the focus of attention of this study centered on the superintendent, a school system must be chosen that had only one high school. If two or more high schools existed in the same system, one with an excellent program of instruction, the other with a lesser program of instruction, it might be impossible to determine what part the superintendent had in developing both progrsms. B. While it is known that all phases of administration have a bearing on instruction, this study limited its investigation to the specific area of instruction, omitting acts which deal directly with finance, budget, building, et cetera. The heart of any institution of learning is instruction. All other phases are subsequent and essential only as they can enhance the instructional program. For this reason, this study was limited to the instructional phase of the entire educational program. C. The principals involved in the interviews were limited to principals of grades ten through twelve. The purpose of interviewing the principals was to corroborate the interview of the superintendent. Several elementary schools would exist in systems of this size, with varying degrees of instructional programs. It might be impossible to determine the leadership role the superintendent had in developing the several programs. 8 1' ~ 1.3 the acts selected from the literature and submitted to a The acts selected for this study were limited to panel of experts for their rating and approval. This panel was asked to add additional acts if, in their opinion, this was necessary. E. The school personnel interviewed in this study were limited to one—third of the schools in each county, as set forth in limitation A, carefully selected by random sample. F. During the interviews with the superintendents and principals, the data obtained from these people were intentionally limited to their immediate recall. They did not have an opportunity to prepare in advance for the interview, and therefore did not remember all of the instructional leadership acts they had performed over the past three years. The researcher did not, in all probability, receive all of the acts which had been performed because of this limitation of immediate recall. G. There was no attempt made in this study to determine the secondary principals' responsibility as an instructional leader. H. The instructional leadership acts gathered from the superintendents! interviews are acts they had performed and acts which had been perceived by these superintendents to be their responsibility. 9 I. The acts as identified by the panel of experts were not submitted to the superintendents, and no attempt was made to determine if those acts were being practiced. J. The acts identified from the literature and the panel of experts were not completely refined or defined. H. No attempt was made to evaluate the degree of excellence of the identified acts as to how they related to the superintendents' endeavor to perform these or other acts. 2 L. No attempt was made to evaluate the degree in which the acts performed by the superintendents were fulfilled. It was merely attempted to determine if an act had been performed. VI. Importance of the Study It is apparent from the literature and from professional meetings that a considerable amount of confusion exists regarding instructional leadership. Need for leadership is stated, and end results are sometimes cited. Seldom are specific methods to achieve these end results described. Expressions such as "motivate your staff," "move your staff forward," "bring groups with divergent viewpoints together," are found in abundance when studying various opinions regarding instructional leadership. There is little in the literature that states precisely how the above objectives may be accomplished. 10 Many superintendents of schools are concerned with bringing more instructional leadership to bear within their school systems. Precisely what or how this may be accomplished is not clearly stated or easily determined. Regarding this point Ramsey says: A.leader is successful not so much because of what he knows, as for what he does, e.g., Farley and Santosuosso, found that the actual effect of a leadership act is more important than either the knowledge leading to the act, or the nature of the act itself. Successful leadership, there- fore, appears to be more an art of application, and less an exercise in scientific techniques. What a leader knows about his speciality, and about the structure of his group is of prime significance, but the effect of what he knows and does remains the crucial test of success: In the area in which the highest order of professional preparation and competence in educational leadership is needed—-the Super- intendency-—disappointingly little improvement is being made: 1. Entrance into programs is primarily on a self-selection basis-~colleges admit students from those who apply. 2. Few "programs" in fact exist. Most colleges and universities offer a collegiate cafeteria of college courses, with almost no differen- tiation in sequence for the master's, sixth year, or doctoral student. 3. In spite of the tremendous significance of several of the social and behavioral disciplines for the complex function of educational leadership few reported programs of preparation reflect any direct or inter- related connection between the core school administration studies and the basic supporting disciplines. h. The "programs" can hardly be considered professional programs with small, part-time, and infrequent student bodies. ll 5. With small, fragmented programs, low financial support and low institutional priority, most programs are defensive holding actions--rather than aggressive new efforts in experimentation and preparation for leadership. 6. Of shocking significance-—beyond the academic nature of programs of educational leadership preparation—~15 the finding that no major institution (258 colle es and universities were part of the study reported courses in "Human Relations," "Interpersonal Relations," or such equivalent. In short, it appears we are not really learning anything about leadership preparation. Almost a quarter century of research and theory construction in the dynamics of leadership and focus on people in education has not been reflected in new program Heelgn to any significant degree! If learningy implies changed behavior (based upon internalization of new knowledge coupled with the will to act), we have not learned much about preparation for edu- cational leadership.5 Leadership is an intangible area. It varies from situation to situation. Different terms mean different things to different people. Communication in this field has a tendency to break down. There are a number of reasons why confusion exists and difficulty prevails in attempting to be specific about leadership acts. The situation that does exist, however, does not lend itself to aiding those with responsibility in the instructional leadership field. A It is important that answers be found which will specifically give guidance to instructional leaders. —5Curtis Paul Ramsey, "Leadership Preparation," Educational Leadership, 20:151—5h, December, 1962. 12 Specific acts are needed which will bring about better instructional leadership. Knowledge of what superintendents in the field are doing and how they feel about their positions as instructional leaders would be helpful. This study has attempted to establish some leadership acts which are specific enough to be used. It answers some questions currently being asked about who should be an instructional leader. It gives others interested in instructional leadership some acts and findings Specific enough to solve some immediate problems and at the same time produce information to build upon in the future. VII. Methodology; A, A survey was made of the Educational Index for articles pertaining to instructional leadership. From this literature, it was determined which specific acts were believed to be evident in instructional leadership. A.rating sheet was then developed.6 This rating Sheet of acts was then submitted to a panel of nationally recognized experts to be rated according to their importance. The panel, in addition to rating the acts, was requested to include and rate any additional acts they deemed important. The panel of experts was composed of selected members from the Department of Public Instruction, the Michigan 6The rating sheet is found in Appendix A, 13 Association of Secondary Curriculum Development, and University experts. B. Pilot interviews were held with one—third of the administrators in Tuscola County to perfect the use of the Critical Incident Technique which was used in the inter— view process to gather data from the superintendents and principals. This technique was used in this study because it was particularly adaptable and usable for gathering the data desired. Through this technique, it was possible to gather from the superintendents specific acts they had been performing in providing instructional leadership in their school systems.7 C. The researcher interviewed the superintendents and principals chosen by random sample in Genesee, Macomb, and Oakland counties to determine what incidents of instruc- tional leadership were being performed by superintendents and to determine if superintendents believed they could and should serve as instructional leaders. The Interview At the outset of each interview with a superintendent, each was presented with a general statement as follows: The purpose of the school superintendent while serving as an instructional leader is to make available for each 7The Critical Incident Technique is explained in detail in Chapter II, page SM. ILL student the opportunity for the student to develop to his fullest potential while in attendance at that school. ’ Each superintendent was asked, for the purpose of communication, if he would generally agree with the state- ment. Each superintendent interviewed did agree with the statement. A Each superintendent was then assured that there would be no identity of either the individual or school used in the final report. They were informed the interviewer was interested in obtaining from them critical incidents they had performed, initiated, or were directly responsible for in the last three years which had led to improving the instructional program in their school systems. They were asked to omit all areas of responsibility outside the instructional field. When an incident was related by a superintendent, the interviewer proceeded to seek the end result by asking questions about the incident. At a later time, if the incident had not produced a specific result relating to the improvement of the instructional program, it was deleted from the incidents supplied by the individual. The incidents that were gathered were verified as critical incidents leading to the improvement of the instructional program by the superintendent because they had led to verifiable results. The following will serve as an example: if the superintendent had initiated the idea that a certain 15 type of test be introduced and used to gather certain types of information which at that time was not available, and through his stimulation a test was introduced at a later date, and was actually being used presently and gathering the information sought, this was then considered a critical incident. .At no time during the interview was the superintendent asked pointed questions, given directions or suggestions, or in any way channeled for specific incidents or results. Upon the completion of the interview with the superintendent, a second interview was held with the secondary principal. The identical procedure was used with the principal as was used with the superintendent. The purpose of the interview with the principal was to corroborate the interview held with the superintendent. A. second purpose of holding the interview with the principal was to determine what, if any, relationship existed between the incidents as seen by the superintendent and principal. The interviews with the superintendent and the prin- cipal were scheduled separately and arranged so that there would be no communication between the two prior to the interview; Notes were taken during both interviews. Upon completion of the interview with the principal, the inter- viewer went over the notes and enlarged and clarified each 16 statement while it was fresh in his mind, not wanting to chance faulty recall at a later time. Special considera- tion was given to the notes so they would not be changed or altered in meaning during the clarification process. VIII. Definition of Key Words Leadership-—is a set of acts, by the leader, designed to guide and direct others toward the accomplishment of a goal. Educational Leadership-~is a set of acts, by the educational leader, designed to guide and direct others to the accomplishment of good educational goals. Instructional Leadership-~is a set of acts, by the leader, designed to guide and direct others to the formulation and performance of a good program of instruction. Leadership Acts-~are those acts which, when performed by the leader, guide and direct others toward the accomplish— ment of a goal. Critical Incident Technique--consists of a set of procedures for collecting direct observations of human behavior in such a way as to facilitate their potential usefulness in solving practical problems and developing broad psychological principles. The critical incident technique outlines procedures for collecting observed incidents having special significance and meeting syste— matically defined criteria. 1? Critical-~t0 be critical, an incident must occur in a situation where the purpose or intent of the act seems fairly clear to the observer and where its consequences are sufficiently definite to leave little doubt concerning .its effects. Incident-~means any observable human activity that is sufficiently complete in itself to permit inferences and predictions to be made about the person performing the act. Summary Reference was made to the need for clarification and definition of instructional leadership. It was shown that confusion does exist among the various writers in the field as to what instructional leadership is and how it may be carried out in practice. The purpose of this study was stated as an attempt to bring into being clarification regarding instructional {fie leadership and to identify specific acts which, when per- formed, would produce better instruction. A.definition of instructional leadership was drafted for the purpose of this study, and the problem and sub— problems were stated. Answers to these problems will bring new information to the field which will help clarify the thinking about leadership. The general outline of the study was presented along with assumptions, limitations, and methodology. A.brief 18 outline of the importance of using the critical incident technique, one of the data gathering procedures used in this study, was stated with the full context of this technique to be explained in Chapter II. The interview was explained in detail. This chapter was concluded with a brief explanation of why this study was important and what this study accomplished. CHAPTER 11 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE There are three pertinent areas of literature related to this study: (1) the literature producing the specific acts; (2) the area of instructional leadership; and (3) the area of methodology. The last area is included because of the uniqueness of the "critical incident technique" as a data gathering procedure. Each of these areas were developed in this chapter. The review of the literature as presented in this chapter does not include all of the literature researched. In addition to the literature reviewed in this chapter, approximately fifty additional books, and, perhaps two hundred periodicals were read in search of specific leader- ship acts which a superintendent of schools should be performing in carrying out the responsibility of instruc- tional leadership. These acts were gathered from many sources. Similar acts were grouped, as were ideas pertain— ing to these acts. When all of this material was condensed, fifty-seven specific acts emerged. In attempting to identify these acts, the researcher attempted to show acts that were specific, clear, and concise. 1? 20 Prior to submitting these acts to the panel of experts for rating, the researcher was fortunate enough to have two of his committee members study the acts in depth and make many helpful suggestions which were utilized in the final formation of the fifty-seven acts. Due to the way these acts were developed, it became almost impossible to give credit to any single author for the formulation or definition of any single act or acts. Definition of Leadership and Leadership Acts The importance of instructional leadership in the field of education today cannot be stressed too strongly. In a bulletin published by the United States Office of Education it states in regard to leadership: Proper leadership recognizes no ceiling for educational improvement. It continually strives for the highest plane possible. Every educational program may be affected for the better. It is exercised through the discovery, mobilization, and release of the creative abilities and best efforts of all concerned. It is directed toward the full utilization of all available resources. It fosters improvement through the development of local initiative and experimentation. Excellence in education is obtained through leadership. More and more state departments of education are exerting their influences not so much by the power and authority of the depart— ment as by the excellence of its leadership and guidance. lFred F. Beach, "The Leadership Functions," The Functions 2£_State Departments 9£_Education, l2: E-g, I950. 21 While it is generally agreed that instructional leadership today is important, i£_not imperative, there has not been as much agreement by authorities as to what leadership is and how it is brought to bear upon a given problem. For the purpose of this study, a definition by Launor F. Carter, including Carter's analysis of definitions by other authorities, was used in an attempt to clarify much of the confusion which exists in the literature. While this definition is lengthy and cumbersome,it was felt it had to be presented in its entirety for clarification. There are at least five somewhat different ideas used in trying to specify the meaning of the concept of leadership. The first method of trying to specify what is meant by leadership involves the idea of the polarization of the members of the group around some central person. Here, the person who is able to focus the behavior of the other members is considered the leader. As Redl has pointed out, there are at least ten different situations where a central person determines group behavior, but in only a few of these is this central person thought of as the leader. A most obvious example of a central person who is not a leader is the obnoxious drunk at a social gathering. The whole membership may be polarized around an effort to eliminate him from the group; all of their behavior is centered around the drunk, but few would consider him the leader of the group. The point here is that a leader tends to be a central person, but not all central persons are leaders. Another way of considering the problem of defining leadership is in terms of group goals. It can be said that the leader is the individual who is able to lead the group toward its goals. This is a rather common but, from the research point of view, unsatisfactory definition. In the first place, how do we find out what the group 22 goals are? In a small experimental group we may have as many goals as there are members; one wants to complete the task as well as possible for his own ego gratification, another wants to prolong the task as long as possible Since he is being paid at an hourly rate, another needs companionship and finds this a pleasant group, a fourth is interested in puzzles and this task seems like an interesting one. What are the group goals? To the experi- menter, they are for the group to finish the task in the shortest time possible consistent with quality of performance. But is this the goal of the group? Another difficulty with defining leadership in terms of progress towards a goal is the problem of what to call the person who leads the group away from the goal or down blind alleys. The group very often follows such a person, as evidenced by Hitler, or by the constant cry that we are being led by "false" leaders. In general, a definition of leadership in terms of goals is superficially attractive but inadequate for research purposes. A third method of defining leadership is in terms of a sociometric choice. The leader is the person who is selected by the members of the group as being the leader. The trouble with this method for clarifying the concept of leadership is that it only points. We find out who the leader is, but we are thrown back on a collection of private judgments as to why this person was selected as a leader. If we gather the stated reasons for these judgments, we tend to get a collection of statements expressing common stereotypes regarding leadership and have not advanced our search for the distinguishing characteristic of leadership. Incidentally, it is often objected that sociometric choice is not more than a popularity contest and thus no true measure of leadership. This position is pretty well refuted by the w0rk of Williams and Leavitt and by that of Wherry and Fryer. Cattell has recently proposed a new way of looking at leadership. He argues that our first job is to try to define the parameters of group syntality; that is to say, that we need to empirically determine the dimensions along which groups vary, probable dimensions such as integration, cohesiveness, synergy, morale, 23 sociability, permeability, et cetera. Having determined these parameters, we can define the leader as the individual able to move the group along any of these dimensions. Cattell says: "A.leader is a person who has a demonstratable influence upon group syntality. And we measure leadership by the magnitude of the syntality change (from the mean) produced by that person, i.e., by the difference in syntality under his leadership and syntality under the leadership of the average or model leader." The major objection to this scheme is not so much theoretical as practical; it is that so far we do not know the necessary dimensions nor do we have the required leadership norms. Nor is it certain that, even if we did have these, there would be agreement that the individual able to move the group along the dimension of permeability, for example, would be the leader. Finally we come to the definition of leader- ship I prefer, and I am quick to add that my preference for it is based more on pragmatic __ considerations than on theory. Leadership is defined in terms of leadership behaviors. Leadership behaviors are any behaviors the experimenter wishes to so designate or, more generally, any behaviors which experts in this area wish to consider as leadership behaviors. This is an operational method of solving the problem and has its weaknesses as well as advantages. Its major advantage is that it allows the experimenter to define with con- siderable exactness the particular acts he considers to be signs of leadership. Other experimenters can either accept or reject these acts as defining leadership, but at least we can get some agreement on the behavior we are considering. There is another advantage of this type of definition which at first appears to be a disadvantage. That is, in a given experiment one set of behaviors may be defined as leadership acts, while in an experiment involving another type of situation a second set of acts may quite properly be called leadership behaviors. Thus, in a discussion group we might define the leader as the individual who initiated the largest number of topics, while we might define the leader of a basketball team as the member who shot the largest number of baskets. The point is that 2A different kinds of behavior indicate leadership in different situations, and a behavioral definition of leadership can accommodate these differences. Of course this approach does not make for a neat, Simple formulation of the problem of leadership, but neither is the problem itself neat and simple. For too long we have been treating the concept of leadership as though there were only one unitary set of behaviors involved; we have expected studies dealing with leadership in pre-school children to yield results which were compatible with those involving combat soldiers, simply because both were studies of "leadership." Defining leadership in behavioral terms will tend almost automatically to place us on guard against such improper comparisons. King says, "Common to all definitions of the function of instructional leadership is the provision for the 'improvement of teaching.‘ This means that successful experience as a teacher is basic to effective instructional leadership. Competent leadership is viewed, not as a static trait or quality, but as the demonstration of growth and power of an individual. The instructional leader should pursue growth in the following areas: (1) human development and learning, (2) the role of school in society, (3) scholarship in subject matter, (h) the process of curriculum change and supervision, (S) the organizational structure 2C. G. Browne, Thomas S. Cohn, The Study g£_Leadership (Danville, Illinois: The Interstate PFTnters and Publishers, Inc.), pp. 22-25; F. Redl, "Group Emotion and Leadership," Psychiatry, 5:573—96, l9h2; S. D. Williams, H. J. Leavitt, "Group Opinion As a Predictor of Military Leadership," Journal Consulting_Ps cholo , 11:283-92, 1947; R. J. Wherry, D1 H. Fryer, "Buddy Ratings: POpularity Contest or Leadership Criterial", Personnel_P§ychoIogy, 2:1h7-59, l9h9; R. B. Cattell, "New Concepts for Measuring Leader— ship in Terms of Group Syntality," Human Relations, uxlol-Bh, 1951. 25 of the school, and (6) educational research and methodology."3 Weisbrod defined leadership as "A.function within the continuing process of maturing values and vision in a free democratic society where present goals emerge from the achievement of new'meaning."u Halpin contributed still another line of thinking when he defines leadership as follows: "To lead is to engage in an act that initiates a structure—in—interaction as part of the pr0cess of solving a mutual problem."5 (I) "A.leadership act is any act that initiates structures-in—interaction in the process of mutual problem— solving. This defines a relatively restricted class of acts."6 (2) "A leadership role is a differentiated structure- in-interaction in which the basis of differentiation is the occurrence of leadership acts."7 (3) "A person is called a leader if he is differ— entiated from other persons on the basis of successful leadership acts."8 3Martha L. King, "Knowledge and Competence for the Instructional Leader," Educational Leadership, 20:hh9~52, April, 1963. uKenneth Weisbrod, "The Role of Leadership," Educa— tional Leadership, 20:155—9, December, 1962. 5Andrew‘W. Halpin, Administrative Theory in Education (Midgest Administration Center, University of Cfiicago, 1958), p. 9 . 61bid., p. 111. 71bid., p. 111. 81bid., p. 112. 26 It is apparent frmn the literature that there is some confusion and much disagreement between writers when they attempt to define leadership. This confusion and disagreement continues beyond the definitions and into the area of leadership when it is discussed generally by these and other writers. Campbell found in an analysis of some literature on leadership behavior that there was disagreement between Halpin (1956), Bennis (1959), and Evenson (1959) pertaining to leadership behavior.9 ‘Willower (1960) found that principals employing an idiographic leadership style tend to regard teachers as professionals to a greater extent than do principals employing a nomothetic 10 The nomothetic style pertains to a science style. of universal or general laws, while the idiographic style pertains more to the description and interpretation of individual or unique facts and processes. This can be more easily understood by the following diagram: 9Roa1d r. Campbell and Charles F. Faber, "Adminis- trative Behavior: Theory and Research; Analyses of Leadership Behavior," Review of Educational Research, 31:359-60, October, 196TT“"”‘ 101b1d., p. 360. 27 NOMOTHETIC STYLE l Institution-—€> Role —+-Expectation Social //,AV \\\“Observed System\\\\ /////,eBehavior Individual——>-Personality-+—Need- 1 Disposition IDIOGRAPHIC STYLE Ramsey stated that recent research evidence clearly shows that leadership is more likely to be chosen for a specific situation. "Leadership exists on two levels: (I) formal leadership, (2) informal leadership."11 Ramsey maintained leadership is multiple. He stated, "To bring about instructional improvement one must utilize formal leadership but work through informal leadership."12 It is sometimes necessary to use the formal office or title of the leader to organize committees, call meetings, or lay the groundwork to start to work for the improvement of the instructional program. To accomplish the goals and to actually bring about the improvement, however, it becomes necessary to work informally with the members of the organization. Reed, in an unpublished dissertation, studied what superintendents had done to improve educational programs 11Curtis Paul Ramsey, "Leadership in Instructional Improvement," Education, 82:200—2, December, 1961. 121b1d., p. 201. 28 and found that improvements in the educational program did not emanate from a single source but received their impetus from varied sources. In-service education was one area in definite need of attention. Democracy in education was seldom practiced.13 In an article by Olson on leadership, he stated three areas are needed for effective leadership: (I) co-operation, (2) in—service education, and (3) action 111 Stiles, writing in The Nations Schools, entitled his research. "15 article "Nine Clues in the Search for Creative Leadership, and they appeared as follows: (I) analyze criticisms, (2) appraise schools, (3) ask teachers and students to report weaknesses, (h) consider without qualification how we can maintain universal education and yet achieve both quality and efficiency in school programs, (5) suggest ways top 10 or 15% of student body can get their Ph.D. by the age of 21, (6) identify group decisions-~based on fact or error, (7) identify change—~what is based upon research, (8) imagine the gain if schools recognized I3John Erving Reed, Ed.D., What Superintendents in Selected School Districts Have Done tp_lmprove the Eda: cational Program, University of Pittsburgh, 1955) I“Arthur R. Olson, "Leadership Can Improve Standards and Evaluation," Educational Leadership, 17:208—11, Janu- ary, I960. 15Lindley J. Stiles, "Nine Clues in the Search for Creative Leadership," The Nations Schools, 65:58, Janu- ary, 1960. 29 scholastic excellence, and (9) list important questions, then answer them honestly with facts. In his article, Stiles stated that these are suggestions to help educators renew their creativity. Evenson found that there is no statistically significant correlation between superintendent, principal, and staff members or any two of the three groups of respondents in their perceptions of the principalts behavior on the consideration dimension.16 He also found there was no statistically Significant correlation between the principal and either staff or superintendent in regard to initiating structure. Maier listed four principles for problem—solving conferences. (1) Success in problem solving requires that effort be directed toward overcoming surmountable obstacles. (2) The starting point of a problem is richest in solution of problems. (3) Problem-mindedness should be increased while solution-mindedness is delayed. (h) Disagreement can lead to hard feelings or to innovation depending on the discussion 1eadersh1p.1 Grobe stated in very broad generalities what lay people might do to become better leaders.18 fiTEWarren L. Evenson, "Leadership Behavior of High School Principals," National Association 23 Secondary School Principal's Bulletin, h3:96-lOl, September, 1959. 17Norman R. F. Maier, "Leadership Principles for Problem-Solving Conferences," Educational Digest, 28: h3-5, September, 1962. 18Ruth D. Grobe, "Leadership Can Be Learned," The PTA.Magazine, 56:30-2, September, 1961. 30 Myers, in l95h, made an analysis of more than two hundred studies of leadership that had been made in the previous fifty years. He made two generalizations: "(1) Leadership is the product of interaction, not status or position, (2) leadership does not result from a status position, but rather how a person behaves in the organiza- tion."19 Gilchrist made the following observations pertaining to Curriculum Leadership: (1) To serve the teacher chiefly by providing him with an adequate environment and with high quality materials. (2) Appraisal of and by the teacher, and the goal—settin and planning which results from this process. %3) Curriculum development and in-service education. (A) The administrators responsibility for giving leader- 2O ship to the schools relationship with the community. Laird listed six cardinal functions of personal leadership: (1) Set group goals with the members, (2) help them reach the group goals, (3) co-ordinate the members, (A) help members fit into the group, (5) interest in the group, not self, (6) human- ness. Ross stated nine qualities the leader must have or must do to be a leader: Ig'léidgar L. Morphet, R. L. Johns, T. L. Reller, pp, cit., p- 811 20Robert S. Gilchrist and Howard E. Bergstrom, "Curriculum Leadership," The Nations Schools, 67: 73- -h, January, 1961. 21DonaldA. Laird and Eleanor C. Laird, The New PS cholog for Leadership (New York: McGrawbHi iII Book Co., Inc., 1956) :P- 65 31 (l) Viscidity--the degree to which members of the group function as a unit, (2) Hedonic Tone-— Hedonic tone is the measure of agreeableness which accompanies membership in a group, (3) Syntality~-that which predicts what the performance of the total group will be in a defined stimulus situation, (h) Goal achievement-- the leader must be able to help the group define and move toward its goal, (5) Initiative-~to initiate new ideas and projects or to take the lead in carrying out regular or assigned tasks, (6) Group and goal analysis, (7) Facilitating communication, (8) Establishing structure, (9) Implementing philosophy.22 Jenkins stated the functions of leadership of teachers: "(1) creating conditions for work, (2) setting work activities. Leadership is wasted without goals."23 Vance was very general in an article about providing educational leadership to improve teacher educational preparation. He said schools and educators must be responsible for training teachers.21+ Gilchrist made the following observations about how administrators can provide more leadership: (1) Keep in touch with the classrooms, (2) help teachers, (3) develop an appraisal program, (A) dig to find some answers, (5) find the time 22Murray G. Ross, and Charles E. Hendry, New under— standings pf Leadership (New York: Association Press,T957), p. 6h. 23The Fifty-Ninth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study pf Education, Part Ill—Edited by Nelson B. Henry, (Chicago: university of Cthago Press, 1960), pp. 16h-8h. 2uM.‘W.Vance, "Educational Leadership to Improve Teacher Educational Preparation," Journal pf Teacher Education, 11:61—2, March, 1960. 32 for important instructional leadership, (6) leader— ship ability can be strengthened, (7) motivation is important--both self-motivation and motivation of others. Administrators should delegate to subordinates, get more help, and devote time to instruction rather than business.2 The thirty-fifth yearbook of the American Association of School Administrators listed ways the superintendent may improve his leadership abilities: (I) Gain instructional improvement through changes in people, (2) bring about change based on casual inquiry, (3) bring about change based on research, (A) bring changes by the su erintendent being a resource to individuals, (5 strive for co—operative research and instructional improvement, (6) assume the role of the instructional leader. If the superintendent improves his leadership abilities he will understand and put into practice sensible, fair rules of good human relations. He will break down fears and uncertainty, and build up feelings of security.2 Getzels made the following statement about the leader- ship of the superintendent: In Short, insofar as the educational administrator attempts to establish dominance by appealing to traditionalistic, charismatic, or non-legétimate forms of authority, he is bound to fail. 25Robert S. Gilchrist, "A.Radical Shift in Emphasis," The Nations Schools, 65:h5—8, January, 1960. 26Thirty-Fifth Yearbook for the American Association of School Administrators: The Superintendent a§_lnstruc- tional Leader, AASA, (Washington, D. C.: National Education AssocTation, 1957), pp. 28-39. 27Ibid., p. 97. 28Jacob W. Getzels, "A.Psycho-Sociological Framework for the Study of Educational Administration," Harvard Educational Review, 22:235-h6, Fall, 1952. 33 Graff made the following statement: Competence results when the job tasks, the appropriate know-how, and the appropriate theory understandings are present, and are purposefully engaged, and are interacting to produce the best possible behavior commensurate with the quality of the applied elements.29 Fleishman made a study of leadership and supervision in industry. He found the foreman could achieve greater efficiency by having both appropriate training and the appropriate leadership climate in which to operate. .After the foremen had taken courses pertaining to their work, it was found that a measurement taken immediately upon completion and that a measurement taken at a later date did not bear the same findings. Good morale does not always lead to increased efficiency. Different types of training programs are necessary for different types of supervisory jobs.30 Terrell made a study of the leadership traits in children. .As was pointed out earlier, the findings are not applicable to leadership traits of superintendents.31 29Orin B. Graff and Calvin M. Street, Im rovin Competence in Educational Administration (New YorR: Harper and—Bros., Pfiblishers, 1956), p. 83. _ 30EdwinA. Fleishman, and others, Leadership and Supervision £p_lndustr (Columbus, Ohio: The Ohio State university, No. 33, I955), pp. 100-3. 31G. Terrell, Jr., and J. S. Shreffler, "Developmental Study of Leadership," Journal pf Educational Research, 311 Three things seem to stand out which have significance. First, different types of leadership become necessary at different times, at different levels, and with different types of situations. Second, various authors, while writing about similar types of leadership in similar types of situations, do not agree either as to what leadership is or the proper function of leadership. Third, if learning implies changed behavior, we may have learned through research how to change behavior; but currently very little is being accomplished to bring about changed behavior through leadership. This situation will continue to exist, no doubt, as long as confusion exists in the field regarding leadership. A.review of the literature would tend to bear out earlier statements to the effect that confusion does exist and very few people are clear as to what instructional leadership is, who is involved, and what is the proper function of instructional leadership. The Critical Incident Technique The method of research used in this study to collect data was the critical incident technique. The critical incident technique consists of a set of procedures for collecting direct observa- tions of human behavior in such a way as to facilitate their potential usefulness in solving practical problems and developing broad psycho- logical principles. The critical incident 35 technique outlines procedures for collecting observed incidents having special significance and meeting systematically defined criteria. 2 This technique lends itself very appropriately to gathering the data desired for this study. Part of this study was to interview the superintendents in the field and determine specific acts they are performing which they consider provide instructional leadership in their school systems. This technique sets forth a systematic set of procedures to obtain this type of data through the use of an interview. The critical incident technique has come into fairly wide use since World War II, because through its use, data may be obtained that might otherwise be nearly impossible to gather. It is being used in this study for this reason. In order to show the applicability of this technique to this study the following pages present details regarding other studies where this technique was effectively used. Thus, this section presents: (l) a description of the critical incident technique, (2) a review of studies using the technique that infers its applicability to this study, and (3) different applications made of the basic principles to meet the needs of specific studies. 32John C. Flanagan, "The Critical Incident Technique," Psychological Bulletin, 51:327-58, July, l95h. 36 While the critical incident technique is considered to be of comparatively recent origin, Galton first set forth the basic idea of the critical incident technique in 18811.3:5 By an incident is meant any observable human activity that is sufficiently complete in itself to permit inferences and.predictions to be made about the person performing the act. To be critical, an incident must occur in a situation where the purpose or intent of the act seems fairly clear to the observer and where its consequences are sufficiently definite to leave little doubt concerning its effects.3 According to Flanagan: Only simple types of judgments are required of the observer, reports from only qualified observers are included, and all observations are evaluated by the observer in terms of an agreeg upon statement of the purpose of the activity. 5 .As a result of studies performed in the Aviation Psychology Program.of the united States Army Air Force during World War II, the critical incident technique was first developed in modern form and its present status was established in 1953 after minor changes had been made. Flanagan describes the procedure in five basic steps which 36 are summarized as follows: ngrancis Galton, "Measurement of Character," Fort- nightly Review, h2:179-85, l88h. suFlanagan, _p. cit., p. 327. 35Ibid., p. 335. 361b1d., pp. ass-he. 37 1. Determine the general aim: this Should be a statement clarifying the purpose or aim and which is acceptable to the person reporting the incidents. 2. Specify the observers, persons to be observed and observations to be made: Whenever possible, observers should be selected on the basis of their knowledge of the activity. They should understand the general aim and receive an explana- tion of the judgments they will be expected to make. 3. Collect the data: the data may be obtained in one of three ways: individual interviews, group interviews, or questionnaire. In some instances observation of the act as it is taking place may be possible, however, the most common practice is to have the observer recall the incident which has previously occurred. A. Analyze the data: a categorical system developed empirically by the researcher must be developed. 5. Report and interpret: the results of the study should be reported, and a judgment by the researcher concerning the degree of credibility should be attached to the findings. Commercial airline pilots, Air Force pilots, dentists, industrial workers, psychologists, and school personnel are characteristic of the types of persons who were observed while using the critical incident technique.37 The aim of the above studies was the systematic study of human behavior. Through the critical incident technique, the important events were extracted for further analysis from the people observed. 37For bibliographical information on the above studies see: Ibid., pp. 356—58. 38 Studies in the Field of Education The critical incident technique is being used with increasing frequency in the field of education. During the past ten years educational researchers have used the technique to study the following: grading practices,38 39 school board membership, administrative acts influencing teacher behavior}LO instructional methods,"1 school board- h2 h3 community relationships, job requirements for teachers, 36Joseph Samuel Wallace, "Critical Incidents in the Assignment of Marks to High School Students," (unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, University of Southern California, 1960). 39R. E. Barnhart, "The Critical Requirements for School Board Membership Based Upon an Analysis of Critical Incidents," (un ublished Ed.D. dissertation, Indiana university, 1952 . "OMaxine Hazel Robbins, "An Analysis of Critical Incidents in Administration Reported as Affecting Professional Actions of Teachers," (unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, University of Indiana, 1960). tharilyn Crawford, "Critical Incidents of Instructional Methods in Physical Education in Southern Secondary Schools," (unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, university of Texas, 1960). uZJohn E. Corbally, Jr., "A.Study of the Critical Elements in School-Board-Community Relations," (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, university of California, Berkley, 1955). ugAlfred C. Jenson, "Determining Critical Requirements for Teachers," Journal of Experimental Education, XX (September, 195I); and Simeon J. Domas, Re ort p£_ag Exploratogy Study of Teacher Competence (Cambridge: The New England School—Development Council, 1950). 39 In 1115 job requirements for elementary, and high schoo principals,l‘L6 behavior requirements for heads of college departments,"7 and requirements for services of a state department of education.)48 Five studies using the critical incident technique have been reported in connection with school superintendents. uhHerbert Bice, "Critical Requirements for the Principalship as Observed and Reported by School Board Members in Georgia," (unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, University of Georgia, 1955). 1mBernice Louise Cooper, "The Critical Requirements for the Principalship Based Upon an Analysis of Critical Incidents Reported by Instructional Supervisors and Visiting Teachers," (unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, university of Georgia, 1956). usFrank Samuel Elliott, "Requirements for Public School Principalship in Georgia as Determined from Students Observations of the Actions of Principals," (unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, University of Georgia, 1955)- l‘LSHerbert E. Phillips, "Critical Requirements for the Principalship in Georgia as Observed by Teachers," (unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, university of Georgia, 19Sh). uéRalph K. Tyson, "The Critical Requirements for the Principalship fron an Analysis of Critical Incidents as Reported by Observers in Teacher Education Institutions," (unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, University of Georgia, 1955). "7Howard Franklin Aldmon, "Critical Behavior Require— ments of Heads of Departments," (unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, university of Tennessee, 1960). uaGeorge William HOpkins, "The Critical Requirements for Services of State Department of Education as Reported by Local SChool Administrators," (unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, university of Kentucky, 1956). 40 The following presentation describes the studies in general."9 Basically, the objective of each study was the same, i.e., to determine effective and ineffective behaviors of ,9 school superintendents and to determine a set of critical requirements which would contribute to the improved competency and leadership on the part of the superintendent. The procedures used and the groups interviewed varied. Each researcher was aware of the preceding studies and made comparative references. Sternloff mailed 2,279 questionnaires to school board members and administrators throughout Wisconsin. The "administrator" is defined by Sternloff as "the person who is directly responsible to the board of education for 1l'gRobert E. Sternloff, "The Critical Requirements for School Administrators Based Upon an Analysis of Critical Incidents," (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, university of Wisconsin, Madison, 1953). ugJoseph Paul Schwei, "Critical Requirements for Effective Performance of School Administrators," (unpub- lished Ph.D. dissertation, university of Wisconsin, Madison, 1955). ugHoward N. Robson, Success and Failure of Small- School Superintendents, (Laramie,WyomIng: CuFFicqum and—Research Center, College of Education, University of wyoming, 1956). ugGeorge Vallance Kirk, "The Critical Requirements for Public School Superintendents," (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1959). ugsylvia Ciernick, "Development and Use of a Con- ceptual Schema for Analyzing the School Public Relations Process," (an unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Michigan State university, 1962). hi the professional administration of the school system."50 A total of A39 (19.30%) were returned. This represented a lh.Oh% return from school board members and h2.20% return from school administrators. The returned questionnaires yielded 811 incidents which Sternloff divided into 1,076 critical behaviors. Some 653 were classified as effective and R23 as ineffective.51 Each recipient of the questionnaire was requested to submit one effective incident and one ineffective incident. As many as six behavior acts were abstracted from one incident. Sternloff reported two sets of critical requirements. One was a list of 128 job-oriented requirements separated into five major areas of administrative responsibility. The other list showed twenty-seven basic behavior requireé ments. These are as follows: Job—Oriented Requirements:' (1) Administration of Staff Personnel, (2) Administrator- School Board Relationships, (3) Directing School—Community Relationships, (h) Managing the Fiscal and Business Aspects of the School System, and (5) Administration and Organization of Instruction and Pupil Progress. Basic Behavior Requirements: (1) Develophig and Supporting Educational Policy, (2) Promoting Cooperative 50 5 Robert E. Sternloff, pp, cit., p. 8. 1 Ibid., p. 8. E2 Study and Activity, (3) Accepting Responsibility for Initiating and Directing Action Toward Educational Improvement, (h) Displaying Personal Effectiveness, and (5) Administering Personnel Effectively.52 Under the job oriented requirements, Sternloff found that h3.h9% of all behaviors fell into category five, and 26.6% of all behaviors fell into category one. Business and Fiscal Responsibilities, School-Community Relationships, and School-Board Relationships were in third, fourth, and fifth places respectively.53 SchweiSu mailed questionnaires to 13 assistant super— intendents, 186 supervisors, 283 principals, and 1,965 teachers. Superintendents were not included in the respondent group. Returns were obtained from 525 persons (2l.h5%). The number of incidents accepted was 1,192. Forty-eight per cent of the incidents were effective, and fifty-two per cent were ineffective. Percentage—wise, the number of ineffective incidents was Shown to be greater by the returns from the teachers. The other groups submitted more effective than ineffective incidents. The incidents averaged more than two per respondent. 52Ibid., pp. 195-7. 5311nm, p. 167. 5"Schwei, pp, 911,, pp. 59-8h. E3 Schwei used essentially the same job—oriented major categories as had Sternloff, and his results duplicated the rank order for the categories reported by Sternloff. Robson55 used mail questionnaires and personal solicitation and interview to collect critical incidents. He sent questionnaires to 82 superintendents, 23 county superintendents, 23 high school principals, 30 elementary principals, 1,h38 teachers, hOO school trustees and 137 parent-teacher association members. In addition, he interviewed 123 laymen and 119 graduate and undergraduate students. Usable returns were obtained from 555 (23.h%) of those who had been contacted by mail. A.total of 795 respondents (questionnaire and interview) produced 1,6hh usable incidents-~slightly more than two per respondent. Robson56 reported A8 job-oriented requirements separated into the five major areas of administrative responsibility used by Sternloff and Schwei plus one additional category: "Instructional Efficiency as a Teacher." Unlike Schwei and Sternloff, he found the largest number of incidents in "Administrative-Staff Relationships," with h3% of all incidents in this category. Twenty—six and three-tenths per cent of all incidents were classified in the category "Instructional and Pupil Personnel Services," SSRobson, pp, p13,, p. 35. 56111151., pp. 117—157. uh while the categories "Administrative-School Board Relation- ships," "Fiscal and Plant Management," and "Administrative- Community Relationships," were in third, fourth, and fifth places respectively. The category "Instructional Efficiency as a Teacher" contained only eight of 1,810 behaviors. Robson noted the possible effect on his sample on the results stating: In the wyoming project the results may be biased somewhat in favor of the school personnel viewpoint because of the heavy concentration of 57 employees involved in the sampling procedure used. Kirk,58 in a study of superintendent relationships, conducted 185 personal interviews of 20 to ES minutes duration in 22 school districts in Delaware. At least two school board members, two teachers, two principals, and two citizens in each district were interviewed. .A total of 1,028 usable incidents were gathered-~661 effective and 267 ineffective. The average number of incidents per respondent was 5.31. Kirk reported hi job—oriented requirements separated into seven major categories, each describing a specific relationship of the superintendent: (l) The Superintendent and His Relationship to the Staff, (2) The Superintendent STIbido’ p. 2b.. 58Kirk, pp, p15,, p. 176. 1+5 and His Relationship to the Public, (3) The Superintendent Himself, (h) The Superintendent and His Relationship to Educational Programs and Students, (5) The Superintendent and Administration of Buildings and Finance, (6) The Superintendent and the School Board, and (7) Miscellaneous.59 Though phrased differently, five of the major categories equated to those used by Sternloff, Robson and Schwei. Kirk60 established as one of his objectives "to investigate the similarities and differences in the categories of effective and ineffective behaviors reported "61 in order to provide by the four interviewed groups superintendents with information on how their actions may be evaluated differently by those above and below them in position. A large portion of his analysis of data was pointed toward this end. An analysis of the similarities and differences of the four studies, according to the eight major categories appearing in them, was made by Kirk in both table and graph form. Two of the categories were found only in Kirk's study and did not lend themselves to comparison. They were: "The Superintendent Himself" and WMiscellaneous." One category was found only in Robson's study, "Instructional 59Ibid., p. 176. 601mm, p. 170. 611bid., p. 21. ho Efficiency of Superintendent." Kirk found differences between the frequency of mention of the major categories and drew this conclusion: In general, the categories, incidents, and conclusions of Schwei, Robson, and Sternloff differ from the present study only in emphasis. When there are contradictory findings, the reasons may sometimes be found in the differences in the groups interviewed, the methods of data collection, the methods of category formation, the size of 62 districts, or the duties of the superintendents. Kirk's emphasis on the basic similarity in the results of the four separate studies is reinforced by Hough who reviewed research on the criteria of educational adminis- trative success which used the following methodologies: critical incident technique, direct observation, case study, and descriptive survey of the literature. Hough concluded: In further research the critical incident technique, case study, direct observation, and descriptive survey of literature methodologies, as employed in the available studies designed to determine the criteria of success for educa- tional administrators are not likely to contribuge additional data beyond that already established. 3 Hanlonéu used the critical incident technique to help determine the possible usefulness of a construct he developed 62ibid., p. 112. 63Wendell M. Hough, Jr., "A.Documentary Study of Research on the Criteria of Educational Administration Success," (un ublished Ph.D. dissertation, Wayne State Uni- versity, 1960 p. 155. 6 James Mortimer Hanlon, "An Analysis of Authority and Power in Administration," (unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, The University of Buffalo, 1961). A? He asked two questions to determine usefulness: "Could the construct be used as a classification system?" "Would it help in studying administrative phenomena?" To test whether the construct would be useful in studying administrative phenomena, Hanlon applied the null hypothesis that there would be no difference in the proportion of desired or approved style of behavior as reported by the teachers in the three areas of relation- ship represented by the construct. Chi—Square was used to test the null hypothesis. Because the null hypothesis was rejected well beyond the .01 level and, therefore, there were differences, Hanlon concluded: Since the construct appears to have aided in the study of the administrative phenomenon of subordinate approval of administrator behavior, it was thought that there was definite possibility for the study of other agministrative phenomena through its employment.6 Ciernick's66 study had two parallel purposes: (1) to develop a conceptual schema for analyzing the school public relations process within a framework of communication theory and concepts; and (2) to determine the schema's usefulness by using it to analyze the critical public relations functions of the school super- intendent. 65ibid., p. 60. 66Ciernick, pp. cit. h8 Forty-eight respondents contributed 299 critical incidents. From these 299 critical incidents, there were 36h public relations acts derived.67 Forty-one (11.3%) of the public relations acts were reported as ineffective. The remaining 323 (88.7%) were designated as effective. Tests of four specific elements attained or exceeded a significance level of .05. The four tests were conducted between superintendents of 0—h.years experience and 20 plus years experience. The null hypothesis of "no difference" was accepted for the twenty-eight specific elements measured against specific professional characteristics of the respondents.69 It seems apparent from the results of the studies reviewed in the preceding paragraphs that the critical incident technique can be used effectively in analyzing behavior acts of school superintendents and others. The critical incident technique has been used in the methodology of this study. Different Applications of the Basic Principles of the Crftical Incident TeChnique The various examples of applications and procedures presented describe many examples of specific adaptions of 67Ibid., p. 103. 68Ibid., p. 160. 69Ibid., p. 163. 119 the basic principles of the critical incident technique. Though some possibly are open to question, (for instance, the lack of a stated purpose of the superintendent's job in the Sternloff, Robson, Schwei and Kirk studies), the variations do indicate the flexibility of the technique. Other variations include the following: Campbell and Gregg reported that Greever used the critical incident technique to test the hypothesis that: Behavioral characteristics of effective school superintendents would be the same as those identified and described in the Tennessee Rating Guide...0ne hundred and seventy—eight descriptions of critical incidents of adminis- trator behavior were abstracted. Of this number, 137 were consistent with the rating guide, while 55 were not.70 King?1 interviewed 72 vocational rehabilitation counselors in Georgia to determine critical requirements for their job. The interviewees were encouraged to report as many critical incidents as they could recall from self— observation or observation of other counselors. Eight hundred and eight behavior acts were extracted from the critical incidents reported. Of these, 163 were reports of observations of other counselors and 6h5 were self— observation. The other observation behavior acts appeared 7ORoald Campbell and Russell T. Gregg, Administrative Behavior pp Education (New York: Harper and Bros., 1957), p. 338. 71William B. King, Certain Critical Requirements for the Vocational RehabilitationTCOunselor £p_Georgia (Atlanta, Georgia: State Department of Education, October, 1960), p. h2. 50 in 65 of the 90 sub-categories. King drew no distinctions between the incidents derived from the two types of observation. Summary This chapter consisted of three sections. The first part reviewed briefly the quantity of literature that was reviewed in extracting the necessary information to formulate the leadership acts. An explanation was made as to how the acts were formulated for this study. The second part reviewed the literature pertaining to "Leadership." The literature revealed that there is disagreement between writers in the field over this term and that no clear determination has been made, in which common agreement exists, as to exactly what leadership is. The third section of this chapter reviewed the methodology of the critical incident technique. Various approved uses of the technique were presented that indicated its adaptability and usability in this study. CHAPTER III PRESENTATION OF DATA Formulating the Instructional Leadership Acts .A search of the literature was made in an effort to determine what acts a superintendent of schools should be performing in an attempt to provide instructional leader- ship within his school system. The educational index was used, and literature pertaining to instructional leadership over the past five years was reviewed. When specific acts were found that pertained to the superintendent as an instructional leader, these acts were gathered. When all of these acts had been gathered, similar acts were then grouped and condensed into a single act. This search yielded fifty-seven rather specific acts that various authors, through their writings, said should be performed in order for the superintendent to fulfill his respon— sibility as an instructional leader. These fifty-seven acts are listed below: 1. The superintendent encourages research by the staff. 2. The superintendent encourages experimentation by the staff. 51 IO. 11. 12. 13. 11,. 15. 52 The superintendent has periodic talks with staff members to help each diagnose his professional difficulty and improve his teaching. The superintendent encourages staff participation in solving instructional problems. The superintendent encourages staff planning in their methods of instruction. The superintendent has available proper resources for instructional improvement. The superintendent serves primarily as a resource person in staff meetings. The superintendent encourages new methods of instruction. The superintendent sees the staff has easy access to duplicating services. The superintendent sees the staff has easy access to instructional materials. The superintendent sees that free time is encouraged for the staff during school day for planning. The superintendent has established group norms of personal relations. The superintendent has written policies. These policies were developed co-operatively. Teachers are members of a committee that recommends new teachers to the board of education for hire. 16. l7. 18. 4-19. 20. 71’. 21. 22. 23. 2h. 25. 26. 27. 28. 53 The superintendent encourages administrators to confer with teachers individually about their teaching assignments. The superintendent has staff members assist in evaluating other staff members. The superintendent provides or encourages an in-service education program to function continuously in the system. An organized orientation program exists for new personnel. Teaching load is a major consideration within the system. Substitute teachers are oriented to the school system. Written courses of study exist within the system. Substitute teachers are made familiar with the course of study. The superintendent has written policies regarding promotion. The superintendent has written policies regarding ways of rewarding outstanding competence. The superintendent has a projected enrollment plan for the next five years. The superintendent has a master plan for site deveIOpment. The superintendent has advisory groups of representa~ tive teachers. 29. +30. 31. 32. 33. 31,. 3S. 36. 37. 1 38. x_39. 7,110. hl. 511 The superintendent encourages board of education members to help explain controversial issues to the public. Public opinion in the school system is studied. The superintendent encourages the board of education to focus its attention on instruction. The superintendent encourages the local PTA to focus its attention on instruction. Lay advisory committees are encouraged to study the schools. .A clear understanding exists between the board of education and the administration as to the function of each other. ‘Within legal limits unrestricted use of school buildings is available to the public. .A regular communication is sent to the public from the school. A list of teachers able to interpret instruction to the public exists. A.committee to evaluate requests from pressure groups exists. The services of professional organizations are used in the system. Teachers make use of resource people and items within the community. .A formal adult education program exists in the system. A2. A3. 115. A6. 117. A8. L19. 50. 51. 52. 53. 511- 55. 55 The superintendent encourages leadership development within the staff. Teachers are provided Opportunities to participate in school and community surveys and evaluations. Good staff relationships exist within the system. Good channels of communication exist within the system. Enough time and materials are available to the staff for prOper instruction. Flexibility of operational framework exists within the system. Shared responsibility exists within the system. Good staff potential exists within the system. The superintendent has participated in a workshop or separate formal classes in the last three years. Individuals and groups are presently defining and clarifying educational goals and objectives. Agreement has been reached on the role of the school within the social agencies of the community. Staff members with conflicting values and beliefs are able to work co-operatively. The roles of the individuals and groups in the system are defined and understood. The areas in which individuals and groups are free to operate are defined and understood. 56 56. Professional and non—professional members participate in making important as well as routine decisions. 57. Group discussions are held frequently to clarify purposes and roles. Rating the Instructional Leadership Acts These fifty—seven acts were then submitted to a panel of experts to be rated. The panel was selected in the following manner: all members were selected because of their knowledge of instruction. One member, Dr. Charles Blackman, was selected by virtue of being president of the Michigan Association of Secondary Curriculum Development; one member, Dr. Leon Waskin, was selected by virtue of his position in working with instruction in the Department of Public Instruction; and the other three members, Dr. Troy Stearns, from Michigan State University, Dr. Robert Fox, from the university of Michigan, and Dr. Lynn Nichols, from wayne State University, were selected by virtue of their nationally recognized expertness in instruction. .Along with a cover letter or personal contact request— ing the assistance of each panel member went the following explanation:l "Listed below are several statements. Would you rate these statements under one of the three headings, IThe cover letter referred to above is found in Appendix B. S7 measuring them against their importance, in your opinion, as to how important they are regarding a superintendent of schools use in providing instructional leadership in his school system? If the statement touches upon an incident that should exist or should be used regularly,it would be rated *always necessary.’ If the incident should exist sometimes or should be used sometimes, it should be rated 1sometimes necessary.’ If the incident should not exist or should not be used, it should be rated 'not necessary.‘ "X - Always necessary to produce better instruction "0 - Sometimes necessary to produce better instruction 1! - Not necessary to produce better instruction "Please circle the appropriate figure in the correct /k\ column. "At the conclusion of the rating would you please add and rate any incidents you feel should be added to the list either as ‘always necessary,‘ or 1sometimes necessary,1 for a superintendent to provide instructional leadership." All five members of the panel responded by rating the acts as requested. The Acts As Rated by the Panel of Experts From the fifty—seven acts as rated by the experts, the following data were presented: Fourteen acts (2A.6%) met with 100% agreement from the panel. These acts were: 2. The superintendent encourages experimentation by the staff. IO. l8. 19. 21. 26. 3A. 38. A2. 1111. 115 . A6. 58 The superintendent encourages staff participation in solving instructional problems. The superintendent sees the staff has easy access to instructional materials. The superintendent provides or encourages an in-service education program to function continuously in the system. An organized orientation program exists for new personnel. Substitute teachers are oriented to your school system. The superintendent has a projected enrollment plan for the next five years. .A clear understanding exists between the board of education and the administration as to the function of each other. A committee to evaluate requests from pressure groups exists. The superintendent encourages leadership development within the staff. Good staff relationships exist within the system. Good channels of communication exist within the system. Enough time and materials are available to the staff for proper instruction. 59 53. Staff members with conflicting values and beliefs are able to work co-operatively. Of these fourteen acts, thirteen acts (22.8%) were rated as "always necessary" for a superintendent to provide instructional leadership. One act (1.8%), number 38, was rated as "sometimes necessary" by the entire panel of experts. From the fifty—seven acts, in addition to the fourteen acts which received 100% agreement, seventeen additional acts received 80% agreement fran the panel. These seven- teen acts constituted 29.8% of the total. These acts were: 3. The superintendent has periodic talks with staff members to help each diagnose his professional difficulty and improve his teaching. 5. The superintendent encourages staff planning in their methods of instruction. 6. The superintendent has available proper resources for instructional improvement. 9. The superintendent sees the staff has easy access to duplicating services. 1A. These written policies were developed co—operatively. 16. The superintendent encourages administrators to confer with teachers individually about their teaching assignments. 20. Teaching load is a major consideration within the system. 2A. 27. 28. 37. A0. A3. A8. 52. 51+. 55- 60 The superintendent has written policies regarding promotion. The superintendent has a master plan for site development. The superintendent has advisory groups of representative teachers. .A list of teachers able to interpret instruction to the public exists. Teachers make use of resource people and items within the community. Teachers are provided opportunities to participate in school and community surveys and evaluations. Shared responsibility exists within the system. Agreement has been reached on the role of the school within the social agencies of the com- munity. The roles of the individuals and groups in the system are defined and understood. The areas in which individuals and groups are free to operate are defined and understood. Of the total fifty—seven acts there were thirty~one (5A.A per cent) of the acts that received 80% or more agreement from the panel. Four (7.0%) of the acts received ratings from the panel covering the full range of the scale from "always necessary" through "not necessary." These acts were: l2. 17. 50. 61 The superintendent serves primarily as a resource person in staff meetings. The superintendent has established group norms of personal relations. The superintendent has staff members assist in evaluating other staff members. The superintendent has participated in a workshop or separate formal classes in the last three years. Of the total fifty—seven acts, there were seventeen (29.8%) of the acts that did not receive responses from all members of the panel. These acts were: 12. 1A. 15. 22. 23. 25. 28. The superintendent has established group norms of personal relations. These written policies were developed co-operatively. Teachers are members of a committee that recom— mends new teachers to the board of education for hire. Written courses of study exist within your system. Substitute teachers are made familiar with the course of study. The superintendent has written policies regarding ways of rewarding outstanding competence. The superintendent has advisory groups of representative teachers. two 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 35. A7. is. A9. 56. 62 The superintendent encourages board of education members to help explain controversial issues to the public. Public opinion in the school system is studied. The superintendent encourages the board of education to focus their attention on instruction. The superintendent encourages the local PTA to focus its attention on instruction. Lay advisory committees are encouraged to study the schools. Within legal limits unrestricted use of school buildings are available to the public. Flexibility of operational framework exists within the system. Shared responsibility exists within the system. Good staff potential exists within the system. Professional and non-professional members participate in making important as well as routine decisions. Of these seventeen acts there were five (8.9%) that panel members did not respond to. These acts were: 30. 32. 33. Public opinion in the school system is studied. The superintendent encourages the local PTA to focus its attention on instruction. Lay advisory committees are encouraged to study the schools. 63 35. Within legal limits unrestricted use of school buildings is available to the public. 56. Professional and non-professional members participate in making important as well as routine decisions. There were no additions made to the fifty-seven acts by any of the panel members. See Tables 1 through A for a summary of the above information. TABLE 1 Categories Where 80% or More Agreement Was Reached by Panel of Experts Number of Per Cent Acts of Reported Total 100% Agreement from Panel Members 1A 2A.6 80% Agreement from Panel Members 7 17 29.8 80% or More Agreement from Panel Members 31 5A.A TABLE 2 Categories Where 100% Agreement Was Reached by Panel of Experts Number of Per Cent .Acts of Repprted Total .Always Necessary 13 22.8 Sometimes Necessary l 1.8 611 TABLE 3 Categories Not Reported Upon by All Members of the Panel Number of Per Cent Acts of Reported Total Categories 20% not completed 12 . 21.1 Categories AO% not completed 5 8.7 Categories A0% or less not completed 17 29.8 TABLE A Categories Where Total Range of Scale Was Rated Number of Per Cent Acts of Reported Total Full range of scale rated by panel members 5 7.0 65 Data Obtained Through Use of the Critical Incident Technique Pilot interviews were held with one-third of the superintendents and secondary principals in Tuscola County. The critical incident technique was used to determine what the superintendents in this county had been doing to improve instruction in their school systems. At the con— clusion of the pilot interviews, the technique was discussed with each superintendent and principal to determine where changes and refinements could be made before progressing with the interviews in Genesee, Macomb, and Oakland counties. It was subsequently determined to incorporate data obtained from the pilot study into the data obtained from the rest of the interviews. For the purpose of clarifying the difference between an act and an incident, the following example will be used: an act might be the superintendent initiating a curriculum study within the school system. Out of this study, or the initiating act, several incidents might occur. New courses of study might be initiated, new equipment might be purchased, or personnel might be added. These incidents resulted from the original act. The Interview At the outset of each interview it was explained to each respondent that neither the person nor the school system would be identified in the study. It was further 66 explained to each respondent that the interviewer was interested in obtaining data pertaining only to the instructional program to the exclusion of other areas of responsibibity such as finance, building, re-organization, et cetera.?PEach superintendent was then presented with a general statement: "The purpose of the school superintendent while serving as an instructional leader is to make available for each student the opportunity for the student to develop to his fullest potential while in attendance at that school." Each superintendent was asked, for the sake of communication, if he would generally agree with the statement. Each super— intendent responded that he would agree with the statement. ."P Each superintendent was told the interviewer was interested in obtaining from them critical incidents that they had performed, initiated, or were directly responsible for in the last three years which had led to improving the instructional program in their school systems. 34 ‘When an incident was related by a superintendent, the interviewer proceeded to seek the end result. At a later time, if the incident had not produced a specific result relating to the improvement of the instructional program, it was deleted from the incidents supplied by the respondent. The incidents that were gathered could be verified as critical incidents leading to the improvement of the instructional program by the superintendent because they had led to verifiable results. 67 At no time during the interview was the superintendent asked pointed questions, given direction or suggestions, or in any way channeled for specific incidents or results. Upon the completion of the interview with the superintendent, a second interview was held with the secondary principal. The identical procedure was used with the principal as was used with the superintendent. The purpose of the interview with the principal was to deter- mine what relationship existed, if any, between what the superintendent said and what the principal said about the superintendent as an instructional leader; and to determine what relationship, if any, existed between the incidents as seen by the superintendent and principal. The interviews between the superintendent and the principal were scheduled so that there would be no com- munication between the two prior to the researcher inter— viewing each respondent. Notes were taken during both interviews, and upon completion of the interview with the principal, the researcher went over the notes and enlarged or clarified each statement while it was fresh in his mind, not wanting to chance faulty recall at a later time. Special care was taken by the researcher to alter in no way the statements in the clarification process. 68 Data Obtained From the Interview From the interviews with the superintendents, there were 265 acts recorded from which 300 critical incidents were extracted. The acts ranged from a low of two acts received from one superintendent to a high of fifty—two acts from another. The superintendent who submitted the fifty—two acts had a short time before prepared a bulletin for the citizens in his community in which these acts, along with others, were listed. In this instance, the large number was due to the information on hand, and it was not necessary to produce all the acts from recall as was the case with the other superintendents. These interviews showed an average of 16 acts per respondent. From the fifty-two acts received from the respondent submitting the greatest number of acts, sixty-two incidents were extracted. From the two acts received from the respondent submitting the least number of acts, three incidents were extracted. If the superintendent who submitted the fifty—two acts was disregarded in an attempt to evaluate the number of acts received by recall from the other superintendents, the average would be fourteen acts per respondent. Grouping the Incidents In attempting to group the incidents received from the superintendents, there was compiled a variety of fifty 69 headings. Fourteen, or 28% of the total, of these headings carried but a single incident within its group. Thirty— six, or 72% of the total, carried two or more incidents within each group. While the headings were different, many were related, and some headings were developed at a later date from some of the previous headings. An example would be where a curriculum study was initiated, and at a later date and as a result of this curriculum study, in- service education would evolve. From the fifty initial groups gathered, the following breakdown was determined: A group was formed when one or more similar incidents were related by a superintendent. Some groups were composed of incidents cited by several superintendents; other groups were formed by an incident from a single superintendent. There were two groups which consisted of incidents related by ten (62.5%) superintendents as being incidents within which they were performing instructional leadership acts. There were two groups which consisted of incidents related by eight (50.0%) superintendents as being incidents within which they were performing instructional leadership acts. There were two groups which consisted of incidents related by seven (A3.7%) superintendents as being incidents within which they were performing instructional leadership acts. There were two groups which consisted of incidents 70 related by six (37.5%) superintendents as being incidents within which they were performing instructional leadership acts. There were five groups which consisted of incidents related by five (31.25%) superintendents as being incidents within which they were performing instructional leadership acts. There were nine groups which consisted of incidents related by three (18.75) superintendents as being incidents within which they were performing instructional leadership acts. There were five groups which consisted of incidents related by two (12.5%) superintendents as being incidents within which they were performing instructional leadership acts. And there were fourteen groups which consisted of incidents related by one (6.25%) superintendent as being incidents within which he was performing instructional leadership acts. See Tables 5 through 7 for the breakdown of incidents received from the superintendents. 71 TABLE 5 Groups of Incidents Gathered from Superintendents Number of Groups Number of Super— Per Cent Formed from intendents Citing of Incidents Cited by Incidents Classi- the Superintendents fied in These Groups Total 2 10 62.5 2 8 50.0 2 7 113.75 2 6 37.5 S 5 31.25 9 A 25.0 9 3 18.75 5 2 12.5 1A 1 6.25 72 TABLE 6 Groups of Incidents Gathered from Superintendents Number of Individual Number of Groups Formed from Incidents Critical Incidents Found Within Each Group 2 23 l 22 l 19 1 17 1 In 1 l2 2 ll 2 10 1 9 2 7 S 6 5 S 3 LL 5 3 5 2 13 1 73 TABLE 7 Groups of Incidents Gathered from Superintendents Name of Number of Number of the Incidents Superintendents Group Within Responding the Group 1. Procured a language laboratory 3 3 2. Added courses of study to the curriculum 23 8 3. Enriched courses of study within the curriculum 23 5 h. Provided an in—service education program for staff 17 IO 5. Provided released time for staff 6 u 6. Initiated a curriculum study 22 IO 7. Produced a new high school schedule 3 3 8. Produced new graduation requirements 3 3 9. Conducted public relations program A M 10. Initiated guidance counseling program 1 1 ll. Enlarged guidance counseling program 5 3 7h Table 7 (continued) Name of Number of Number of the Incidents Superintendents Group Within Responding . the Group 12. Scheduled all teachers to teach in major-minor field of preparation 1 1 l3. Encouraged teachers to participate in graduate studies 1 1 In. Strengthened library program 6 u 15. Initiated an instruc- tional materials center 6 3 l6. Initiated a program for talented youngsters 5 U 17. Improved the extra- curricular program 2 2 18. Improved the salary schedule 5 u 19. Procured more and new equipment for staff 19 7 20. Produced written policies A 3 21. Procured a co—ordinator or director of instruc- ' tion 12 5 22. Initiated or enlarged special education program 11 6 75 Table 7 (continued) Name of Number of Number of the Incidents Superintendents Group Within Responding the Group 23. Brought in outside consultants lb 8 2h. Counseled with students, parents and teachers 9 5 25. Procured educational TV 1 l 26. Obtained more office space for staff 2 2 27. Initiated re—modeling of classrooms for better instruction 1 l 28. Improved department head structure 3 3 29. Initiated programs through meetings with staff 5 3 30. Initiated up-dating of student record system 2 l 31. Initiated an orienta- tion program 1 l 32. Attempted to stimulate staff 7 5 33. Increased staff for better instruction lO 5 3h. Encouraged experimenta- tion and change 10 6 Table 7 ( 76 continued) Name of the Group Number of Incidents Within the Group Number of Superintendents Responding 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. no. 111. Refined selection process of students for their program of study Initiated an exchange of student program with other school systems Formed an advisory council to the superintendent Initiated the production of written materials for classroom use Initiated methods to conserve teacher energies Initiated and worked on the formulation of a philosophy of education Made a serious attempt to hire outstanding personnel Re-structured school organization Improved lines of communication Systematically informed board of education about instructional program 11 77 Table 7 (continued) Name of Number of Number of the Incidents Superintendents Group Within Responding the Group A5. Started a teacher training center with a university 2 2 A6. Initiated parent- teacher conference 2 2 A7. Procured a continuing contract for staff 1 1 A8. Initiated teachers exchanging grade levels for better student understanding 1 1 A9. Improved accreditation rating 1 l 50. Involved students in planning new high school 1 1 78 Data Obtained from Principals From the interviews with the secondary principals, there were 95 acts recorded from which 101 critical incidents were extracted. The incidents received from the principals were placed within the groups which had been formed by the superintendents! incidents. These acts were only placed in the various groups if they logically belonged there, no attempt being made to alter the group or incident. The incidents related by the principals fitted into thirty of the fifty groups established by the superintendents with four exceptions. These four incidents formed four individual groups which had not been mentioned by the superintendents. See Table 8 for the breakdown of incidents received from the principals and Table 9 for incidents principals listed that were outside the fifty groups listed by superintendents. 79 TABLE 8 Groups of Incidents Gathered from Principals q— Name of Number of Number of the Incidents Principals Group Within Responding the Group 10. ll. Procured a language laboratory 3 3 Added courses of study to the curriculum 3 3 Enriched courses of study within the curriculum 3 1 Provided an in-service program for staff A u Provided released time for staff 5 5 Initiated a curriculum study 2 2 Produced a new high school schedule 1 l Produced new graduation requirements 0 O Conducted public relations program A 3 Initiated guidance counseling program 0 O Enlarged guidance counseling program 0 O 80 Table 8 (continued) Name of Number of Number of the Incidents Principals Group Within Responding the Group 12. Scheduled all teachers to teach in major- minor field of prepara- tion 0 O 13. Encouraged teachers to participate in graduate studies A 3 1A. Strengthened library program 0 O 15. Initiated an instruc- tional materials center 0 O 16. Initiated a program for talented youngsters A A 17. Improved the extra- curricular program 0 O 18. Improved the salary schedule 0 O 19. Procured more and new equipment for staff 5 5 20. Produced written policies 1 1 21. Procured a co-ordinator or director of instruction A 3 22. Initiated or enlarged special education program 3 3 81 Table 8 (continued) Name of Number of Number of the Incidents Principals Group Within Responding the Group 23. Brought in outside consultants 3 3 2A. Counseled with students, parents and teachers A 2 25. Procured educational TV I l 26. Obtained more office space for staff 0 O 27. Initiated re—modeling of classrooms for better instruction 1 l 28. Improved department head structure 3 3 29. Initiated programs through meetings with staff 2 2 30. Initiated up-dating of student record system 0 O 31. Initiated an orientation program 0 O 32. Attempted to stimulate staff 1A 13 33. Increased staff for better instruction 1 1 3A. Encouraged experimenta- tion and change 5 5 35. Refined selection process of students for their program of study 0 O 82 Table 8 (continued) Name of Number of Number of the Incidents Principals Group Within Responding the Group 36. Initiated an exchange of student program with other local school systems 1 l 37. Formed an advisory council to the super- intendent A 3 38. Initiated the production of written materials for classroom use 1 1 39. Initiated methods to conserve teacher energies l 1 A0. Initiated and worked on the formulation of a philosophy of education 0 0 A1. Made a serious attempt to hire outstanding per- sonnel O 0 A2. Re-structured school organization 0 0 A3. Improved lines of communication 6 3 AA. Systematically informed board of education about instructional program 2 2 A5. Started a teacher trained center with a university 0 0 A6. Initiated parent—teacher conferences 0 83 Table 8 (continued) Name of Number of Number of the Incidents Principals Group Within Responding the Group A7. Procured a continu— ing contract for staff 0 0 A8. Initiated teachers exchanging grade levels for better student understanding 0 0 A9. Improved accreditation rating 0 O 50. Involved students in planning new high school I l 811 TABLE 9 Incidents Principals Listed That Were Outside the Fifty Groups Listed by Superintendents Name of Number of the Incidents Group Within the Group Superintendent served on steering committee of college agreement program I Superintendent visited other schools seeking ways of improving his own system I The superintendent is concerned primarily with the elementary program of instruction 1 The superintendent receives adequate financing for the instructional program 1 Number of Principals Responding 85 Superintendents AS Instructional Leaders It was decided at the outset of this study to determine during the interviews how superintendents actually felt about their being an instructional leader. The question: "Under present conditions do you feel the superintendent can and should be an instructional leader?" was asked of each superintendent. Nine superintendents (56.25%) answered the question in the affirmative. The superintendent can and should be an instructional leader. One superintendent answered the question by stating, "Yes, the superintendent should be an instructional leader, but at the present time he cannot be one. Time and pressure required in the other areas of his administration, such as plant planning, finance, and personnel, would not permit him to devote the time necessary for instructional leadership." Another superintendent answered that the superintendent is obligated to keep himself informed professionally. A third superintendent answered that he should be, but cannot be, an instructional leader. Another superintendent answered that the super- intendent can and should be an instructional leader; that the superintendent's influence should be felt, but details should be delegated to subordinates. A.fifth superintendent answered that the superintendent should be an instructional leader, but sometimes it was extremely difficult to be one. 86 A sixth superintendent answered that the superintendent can be an instructional leader, but that he didn’t know if the superintendent should be an instructional leader; perhaps instructional specialists should be hired to carry out this function of the program. A seventh superintendent answered that the superintendent should not be an instruc— tional leader, but the superintendent should hire a specialist for instruction and curriculum. This superintendent implied that this specialist should be hired upon the recommendation of the superintendent and should be responsible to the superintendent. It was interesting to note the reaction of the last superintendent. He informed the researcher that he had been giving this problem a great deal of thought recently. He felt the image the public held for the superintendent was twofold: first, that the super- intendent should be a very knowledgeable, scholarly individual. Second, that the superintendent should be a very dynamic, forceful individual selling bond and millage issues and promoting many ideas both in the school and the community. He felt these two images were incompatible within the same person. Therefore, he felt the need to hire specialists to carry out specialized functions within the total program. Summary A presentation was made of the information that was Selected from the literature pertaining to leadership. These acts, as rated by a panel of experts, were listed. 87 The data received from the panel, along with the data obtained through interviews with selected superintendents and principals using the critical incident technique, were presented. The number of acts received and the number of incidents extracted were categorized empirically. In conclusion, the superintendents‘ perception as to whether a superintendent can and should be an instructional leader was stated. CHAPTER IV ANALYSES OF THE DATA The Instructional Leadership Acts .A survey of the literature was undertaken to determine which instructional leadership acts were the responsibility of the superintendent of schools. There were fifty-seven acts derived from the literature. It was not presumed that this exhausted the list of all of the acts that could be considered instructional leadership acts. These acts were, however, according to various authors, the important acts which must be carried out if the superintendent was to provide instructional leadership. These acts were submitted to a selected panel of experts chosen because of their knowledge of instruction. This panel of experts was asked to rate these acts and to add to and also rate any acts which, in their opinion, were missing and that were important and should be added to the original list of fifty-seven acts. There were no acts added by any of the panel of experts. Therefore, it may be presumed that the original list of fifty-seven acts was a fairly comprehensive list of instructional leadership acts that should be performed by the superintendent of schools. 88 89 These fifty—seven acts selected from the literature were believed to be "always necessary," by authors, for a superintendent to carry out in performing his respon— sibilities as an instructional leader. These same acts, however, were not rated as "always necessary" by the panel who rated them. There were only fourteen acts out of the fifty—seven which the panel agreed upon unanimously. There were an additional seventeen acts upon which the panel members achieved 80% agreement. Twenty-eight of these acts, which received 80% or more agreement from the panel, fell in the category of being "always necessary" for the super— intendent to perform while three of the acts fell in the category of being "sometimes necessary" to perform. Due to the fact that these thirty—one acts were listed in the literature as being "always necessary," and due to the fact that the panel of experts rated them either as "always necessary" or "sometimes necessary," it would seem that these thirty-one acts could be defined as the central instructional leadership acts which are the responsibility of the superintendent of schools. The following thirty-one acts are central instructional leadership acts which are the responsibility of the super— intendent of schools: 1. The superintendent encourages experimentation by the staff. 10. ll. 12. 13. 90 The superintendent has periodic talks with staff members to help each diagnose his professional difficulty and improve his teaching. The superintendent encourages staff participation in solving instructional problems. The superintendent encouragessiaff planning in their methods of instruction. The superintendent has available proper resources for instructional improvement. The superintendent sees that the staff has easy access to duplicating services. The superintendent sees that the staff has easy access to instructional materials. Written policies are developed co-operatively. The superintendent encourages administrators to confer with teachers individually about their teaching assignments. The superintendent provides or encourages an in-service education program to function continuously in the system. An organized orientation program exists for new personnel. Teaching load is a major consideration within the system. Substitute teachers are oriented to the school system. 1A. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 2A. 25. 91 The superintendent has written policies regarding promotion. The superintendent has a projected enrollment plan for the next five years. The superintendent has a master plan for site development. The superintendent has advisory groups of representative teachers. A.clear understanding exists between the board of education and the administration as to the function of the other. A list of teachers able to interpret instruction to the public exists. .A committee to evaluate requests from pressure groups exists. Teachers make use of resource peOple and items within the community. The superintendent encourages leadership development within the staff. Teachers are provided opportunities to participate in school and community surveys and evaluation. Good staff relationships exist within the system. Good channels of communication exist within the system. 92 26. Enough time and materials are available to the staff for proper instruction. 27. Shared responsibility exists within the system. 28. Agreement has been reached on the role of the school within the social agencies of the community. 29. Staff members with conflicting values and beliefs are able to work co—operatively. 30. The roles of the individuals and groups in the system are defined and understood. 31. The areas in which individuals and groups are free to operate'are defined and understood. These thirty-one specific acts can be defined as instructional leadership acts that are the responsibility of the superintendent of schools. These acts when carried out by a superintendent performing his responsibility as the instructional leader of a school system will produce better instruction within the school system. Acts Being Carried Out By Superintendents in the Field It would seem significant, at this point, to determine how many of the above formulated thirty-one specific acts are actually being carried out in practice by superintendents in the field. Of the thirty-one acts, there were five acts that were actually mentioned by the superintendents during the interviews. The five acts which were specifically mentioned are: 93 1. Providing an in-service education program for the staff. 2. Procuring more and new equipment for the staff. 3. Forming an advisory council to the superintendent. A. Encouraging experimentation and change. 5. Improving lines of communication. It is significant that, while these five were the only ones mentioned by the superintendents during the interview that specifically fit into the thirty-one acts which were formulated, it cannot be assumed that these are the only acts the superintendents are performing today out of the thirty—one acts which have been formulated. Some superintendents, during their interviews, stated they felt they had to delegate the details, or set the tone, and may not have specifically stated that they encouraged staff participation in solving instructional problems, or staff planning in their methods of instruction, or developed written policies co-operatively. This was implied to the researcher by both their tone of voice and the general area of instruction which they were discussing. It can be assumed, however, that at the time of the interviews these were the acts that were important enough to relate on immediate recall. 9A Relationship of Acts Being Performed by Superintendents In determining what relationship, if any, exists between the acts which are being performed by the super- intendents, the acts of each superintendent were listed separately. If an act was listed by at least four super- intendents, a group was formed. The number of four super- intendents, or 25% of the sixteen superintendents interviewed, was picked arbitrarily. The following analysis was then made after having grouped similar acts together from the responding superintendents. Sub-problem B was to determine if there is any pattern or similarity of these acts being performed by superintendents. In classifying the acts received from the superintendents there were only four groups formed in which 50% or more of the superintendents responded. One of these four groups fell within the thirty-one acts listed above. The other three groups did not come within the thirty-one acts listed above. The four groups which were formed by 50% or more of the superintendents are listed below, with the first one falling within the thirty—one and the last three falling outside the thirty-one acts. 1. Providing an in-service education program for the staff. 2. Adding courses of study to the curriculum. 3. Initiating a curriculum study. 95 A. Bringing in outside consultants. Two groups were formed when seven superintendents (A3.75%) produced similar responses. They are: l. Procuring more and new equipment for the staff. 2. Forming an advisory council to the superintendent. Of these two groups, both fell within the thirty—one acts defined above as leadership acts. Two groups were formed when six superintendents (37.5%) produced similar responses. They are: l. Initiating or enlarging a special education program. 2. Encouraging experimentation and change. Of these two groups, number two fell within the thirty—one acts defined above as leadership acts. Five groups were formed when five superintendents (31.25%) produced similar responses. They are: l. Enriching courses of study within the curriculum. 2. Procuring a co-ordinator or director of instruction. 3. Superintendent counseling with students, parents and teachers. A. Attempting to stimulate staff. 5. Increasing staff for better instruction. None of the above groups fell within the thirty-one leadership acts. 96 There were nine groups formed in which four super- intendents (25.0%) Produced similar responses. They are: 1. Conducting public relations program. 2. Strengthening library program. 3. Initiating a program for talented youngsters. A. Improving salary schedule. 5. Initiating the production of written materials for classroom use. 6. Making a serious attempt to hire outstanding personnel. 7. Improving lines of communication. 8. Systematically informing board of education about instructional program. 9. Providing released time for staff. Of these nine groups, number seven, improving lines of communication, fell within the thirty-one leadership acts. The other eight groups fell outside the thirty-one leader- ship acts. The leadership acts listed by superintendents were categorized and grouped in an attempt to determine the relationship of these acts. Only those acts which were listed by 25% or more of the responding superintendents were listed. Some of these groups were identical to some of the thirty-one leadership acts which have been developed. Because various groups were formed from similar responses received from the superintendents, both within 97 and without the thirty—one acts, it may be stated that there is a relationship of these leadership acts as perceived and performed by superintendents. Relationship Between the.Acts It was determined to resolve what, if any, relationship existed between the acts the superintendents are using in practice, and the rating a panel of experts ascertained for the same acts. This became a difficult task to accomplish because the acts the superintendents are using in practice do not match precisely enough the acts determined by the panel of experts. Each group of the original fifty groups formed from responses from the superintendents were individual and distinct groups. However, due to the fact perhaps, that these groups all dealt with instructional leadership, they did lend themselves to being combined or clustered into general areas. These general areas then became more workable with the acts ascertained from the panel of experts. There were six general areas into which each of the fifty groups1 seemed to cluster. The general areas were: AREA.A, Curriculum and Students; AREA B, Improvement of IThe general area.with each group is found in Appendix C. 98 the Professional Staff; AREA C, Organizational Improvement; AREA D, Information and Public Relations; AREA.E, Improved Morale and Professional Staff; AREA F, Organization of the School Plant. An example will be used to show that the responses from the superintendents, while not precisely the same as the acts ascertained from the panel of experts, were definitely similar. Act number six from the panel of experts states: "The superintendent has available proper resources for instructional improvement." Clustered under Area A, Curriculum and Students, are found the following groups: 1. Bringing in a language laboratory; 8. Beefing up the library program; 9. Initiating an instructional materials center; 11. Procuring more and new equipment, and 17. Procuring written materials for classroom use. It would seem that the above statements secured from the superintendents would indicate that they were attempting to make available proper resources for instructional improvement. In careful analysis between the original fifty groups, the six areas developed and the thirty-one leadership acts as developed through the panel of experts, a definite relationship does exist between the acts the superintendents are using in practice, and the rating a panel of experts ascertained for very similar acts. 99 This finding is significant when considered in terms of what the superintendent is doing in the field today in relation to what the student is learning in his college or university in attempting to prepare himself to become a superintendent. It can be stated that a relationship does exist between the acts the superintendents in the field are performing and the thirty—one acts formulated in this study which should be performed to provide better instructional leadership. It should be reiterated that the acts as gathered from the superintendents were intentionally limited to immediate recall (with one exception). Therefore, some acts were forgotten and some might have been considered too significant to be considered leadership acts. One example of this situation was that not one superintendent mentioned that duplication services were readily available for the use of the staff. During the interviews, the researcher himself was under the impression that an act such as this was too insignificant or unusual to mention as a leadership act. The superintendents were searching their memories for acts that had been far reaching within the system or community and forgetting what might be called organizational detail. It was pointed out several times by the respondents that many times they started or initiated an act, then left the carrying out of the actual detail to their sub— ordinates. 100 The researcher made no attempt to ascertain what other side effects or issues might have been raised due to a leadership act being performed by the superintendent. A.superintendent might have performed a leadership act which had produced positive results to a small degree but which also produced negative results in other areas to a large degree. An example could be where a superintendent procures a certain piece of equipment at a relatively large cost, thinking it was needed, and which would benefit the instructional program of the school. Actually, however, this could have led to a lowering of total staff morale because the staff may have believed other areas of the instructional program needed the use of the money far worse than the procuring of the equipment. This might be an area worthy of investigating at a later date. Relationship of Acts Between Elementary and Secondary Education An attempt was made to determine if most instructional leadership acts being performed in the field relate mainly to elementary education, secondary education, or both. The fifty groups which were categorized from the acts received from the superintendents were classified as follows: Pertaining entirely to the elementary program 1 Pertaining entirely to the secondary program 10 Pertaining to both the elementary and secondary programs 39 Total 50 101 From the data presented above and the impressions gathered during the interviews, it would have to be stated that the instructional leadership acts being performed in the field relate both to elementary and secondary educa- tion. This conclusion is drawn from the fact that there were nearly four times as many acts relating to both the elementary and secondary program as there were relating to each of the elementary and secondary programs combined. It may be significant, however, to note that while there was only one act which pertained specifically to the elementary program, there were ten that pertained specifically to the secondary program. In analyzing the acts as they are listed above, many of those which are specifically listed as either elementary or secondary would have normally fallen into the category pertaining to both elementary and secondary programs if they had not Specifi- cally been designated by the superintendents for an elementary or a secondary program. The number of acts which fell in the above categories are as follows: Elementary Education A8. Shared responsibility exists within the system. Secondary Education 1. The superintendent encourages research by the staff. 7. The superintendent serves primarily as a resource person in staff meetings. 10. ll. 17. 27. 28. 30. 36. Both 2. 102 The superintendent encourages new methods of instruction. The superintendent sees the staff has easy access to instructional materials. The superintendent sees that free time is encouraged for the staff during school day for planning. The superintendent has staff members assist in evaluating other staff members. The superintendent has a master plan for site development. The superintendent has advisory groups of representative teachers. Public opinion in the school system is studied. A.regular communication is sent to the public from the school. Elementary and Secondary Education The superintendent encourages experimentation by the staff. The superintendent has periodic talks with staff members to help each diagnose his professional difficulty and improve his teaching. The superintendent encourages staff participation in solving instructional problems. The superintendent encourages staff planning in their methods of instruction. l2. 13. 11+. 15. 16. 18. 19. 20. 21.’ 22. 23. 103 The superintendent has available proper resources for instructional improvement. The superintendent sees the staff has easy access to duplicating services. The superintendent has established group norms of personal relations. The superintendent has written policies. These policies were developed co—operatively. Teachers are members of a committee that recommends new teachers to the board of education for hire. The superintendent encourages administrators to confer with teachers individually about their teaching assignments. The superintendent provides or encourages an in—service education program to function continu- ously in the system. An organized orientation program exists for new personnel. Teaching load is a major consideration within the system. Substitute teachers are oriented to the school system. Written courses of study exist within the system. Substitute teachers are made familiar with the course of study. 2A. 25. 26. 29. 31. 32. 33. 3A. 35. 37. 38. 10A The superintendent has written policies regarding promotion. The superintendent has written policies regarding ways of rewarding outstanding COmpetence. The superintendent has a projected enrollment plan for the next five years. The superintendent encourages board of education members to help explain controversial issues to the public. The superintendent encourages the board of education to focus their attention on instruction. The superintendent encourages the local PTA to focus its attention on instruction. Lay advisory committees are encouraged to study the schools. A.clear understanding exists between the board of education and the administration as to the function, each of the other. Within legal limits, unrestricted use of school buildings is available to the public. A list of teachers able to interpret instruction to the public exists. .A cmmmittee to evaluate requests from pressure groups exists. 39. A0. A1. A2. A3. AA. 115. A6. 1+7. A9. 50. 105 The services of professional organizations are used in the system. Teachers make use of resource people and items 'within the community. A.formal adult education prOgram exists in the system. The superintendent encourages leadership develop- ment within the staff. Teachers are provided opportunities to participate in school and community surveys and evaluations. Good staff relationships exist within the system. Good channels of communication exist within the system. Enough time and materials are available to the staff for proper instruction. Flexibility of operational framework exists within the system. Good staff Potential exists within the system. The superintendent has participated in a workshop or separate formal classes in the last three years. One superintendent related the fact that over the many years he had been a superintendent he had been associated closer with the elementary schools because he had given the secondary principal the responsibility of the secondary school and acted as an elementary co—ordinator as well as 106 superintendent. He did state that he had not failed to act as superintendent on secondary school matters. It was evident from the interviews that most of the superintendents gave their time for instructional leadership to the area they felt was in need at that particular time. Several indicated that since 1957 a great deal of effort had been spent in attempting to better the reading programs at the elementary level along with mathematics, science, social studies, and special education. At the secondary level, a great deal of effort had gone into enriching all courses of study, adding courses of study, expanding the special education programs, enlarging and improving library facilities, and experimenting with newer methods of instruction and equipment which have come into being. Some of these would be: language laboratories, teaching machines, educational television, team teaching, newer methods of teaching mathematics, and working with children both at the lower and higher levels of the intelligence quotient scale. In determining if most instructional leadership acts being performed in the field related mainly to elementary education, secondary education, or both, it was found that almost four times as many acts related to both as to elementary education and secondary education combined. It was significant, however, that there were ten acts pertaining 107 entirely to secondary education while there was only one act pertaining entirely to elementary education. From the data presented above and impressions gathered during the interviews, it would have to be stated that the instructional leadership acts being performed in the field relate both to elementary and secondary education. Determination of Agreement Between Superintendent and Prfheipar It was determined to resolve if the high school prin— cipal agreed with the superintendent as to what acts are being carried out by the superintendent. The principals responded with 95 acts from which 101 critical incidents were extracted. The incidents received from the principals were placed within the groups which had been formed by the super— intendents' incidents. These acts were only placed in the various groups if they logically belonged there, no attempt being made to alter the group or incident. The incidents related by the principals fitted into thirty of the fifty groups established by the superintendents with four exceptions. These four incidents formed four individual groups which had not been mentioned by the super- intendents. It was logical that the number of incidents received from the principals would number fewer than those received 108 from the superintendents. One reason for this was the fact that the principals were not as familiar with the work of the superintendent as the superintendent. The second reason was that the principals were generally only familiar with the work of the superintendent as it pertained to the secondary school. Special note should be made of the fact that of all the principals interviewed and of all the acts and incidents collected there was not one single contradictory statement given by the principals to those statements received from the superintendents. This fact becomes even more significant when it is recalled that the interviews with the principals took place immediately following the interviews with the super- intendents. There was no communication between the two respondents prior to either interview. The group of principals interviewed brought forth acts which fell into four groups not previously mentioned by the superintendents. This would be due to the fact that the superintendents were relating acts and incidents from immediate recall. With the above facts in mind, it would have to be stated that the high school principal agreed with the superintendent as to what instructional leadership acts were being carried out by the superintendent. 109 The important significance of this finding is that it verifies the data that were gathered from the superintendents. The superintendents did not attempt to produce acts for the sake of the interview which they were not actually perform— ing on the job. Superintendents as Instructional Leaders One of the major areas of investigation dealt with in this study was an attempt to determine if the superintendents in the field believe, under present conditions, that they can and should serve as instructional leaders. This is an area of great importance to two major groups concerned with educational administration: (1) the superintendent in the field; (2) those who are concerned with determining the preparation program for the school superintendent. A.superintendent of school's responsibility today is very broad and covers many areas pertaining to the school and community. In most communities over the past few years, many superintendents have been devoting a great deal of their time to school plant construction and millage issues. These programs are extremely time consuming. Involved are issues which many times are controversial and the education of an entire community may be necessary prior to seeking the legal approval necessary to move ahead with the building 110 program. In addition to this area of responsibility, a great deal of re—organization has been and is taking place in Michigan. The end results and benefits of a re-organized district may not be readily perceptible to certain groups of people. There still remains the responsibility of the transportation programs, public relation programs, hot lunch programs, finance, school law, acquiring competent personnel, professional obligations, as well as the maintenance and Operation of the system. More recently controversial issues dealing with moral and legal concepts of areas such as religion and integration, along with dr0p- outs and delinquency, are demanding time, as solutions must be found rapidly and yet have far reaching and long range effects. Because of the time required in the above mentioned areas, it was verbally expressed by some superintendents that it was no longer possible to devote the time required by themselves to the instructional program. It was decided at the outset of this study to determine during the interviews how superintendents actually felt about their being an instructional leader. The question, "Under present conditions, do you feel the superintendent can and should be an instructional leader?" was asked of each superintendent. lll Nine superintendents (56.25%) answered the question in the affirmative; the superintendent can and should be an instructional leader. The remaining seven answered as follows: one superintendent stated, "Yes, the superintendent should be an instructional leader, but at the present time he cannot be one." Another superintendent indicated the superintendent should be a generalist and is obligated to keep himself informed professionally in all areas. A third superintendent answered that he should be, but cannot be, an instructional leader. Another superintendent stated the superintendent can and should be an instructional leader; that the superintendent's influence should be felt, but details should be delegated-to subordinates. A.fifth answered that the superintendent should be an instructional leader, but sometimes it was extremely difficult to be one. A sixth superintendent answered that the superintendent can be an instructional leader, but that he didn't know if the superintendent should be an instructional leader; perhaps instructional specialists should be hired to carry out this function of the program. A.seventh superintendent answered that the superintendent should not be an instruc— tional leader, but the superintendent should hire a specialist for instruction and curriculum. The superintendent implied that this specialist should be hired upon the recommendation 112 of the superintendent and should be responsible to the superintendent. It was interesting to note the reaction of the last superintendent. He informed the researcher that he had been giving this problem a great deal of thought recently. He felt the image the public held for the superintendent was twofold: first, that the superintendent should be a very knowledgeable, scholarly individual. Second, that the superintendent should be a very dynamic, forceful individual selling bond and millage issues and promoting many ideas both in the school and the community. He believed these two images were incompatible within the same person. There- fore, he saw the need to hire specialists to carry out specialized functions within the total program. With over 50% of the superintendents indicating that the superintendent can and should be an instructional leader, and with others feeling that he either can or should be an instructional leader, it would have to be stated that the superintendents interviewed believed the superintendent of schools can and should be an instructional leader. It may become necessary for the superintendent to delegate the authority for instructional leadership, but he can never delegate the responsibility. The impression was received during the interviews with the superintendents that they were doing much more in the 113 way of instructional leadership than, perhaps, even they realized. They would have a tendency to relate where much of their time was being spent on matters not directly involved with the instructional program as defined in this study, but the more they talked and thought about this field the more these acts related to the instructional area. The impression received was that, although much of the superintendents' time and effort were spent in other areas, the direct results of their efforts to the instruc- tional program were never far from their thinking. The significance of this finding is that the super- intendent himself believes he must be directly involved with the instructional program within his school system and therefore be the instructional leader. .Acts in the Field and in the Literature It was determined to find out if there were any acts which predominated in the field that did not predominate in the literature. The acts gathered from the superintendents were formed into fifty groups. Using only the groups in which 25% or more of the superintendents had responded, there were formed a total of twenty-two groups. From the twenty—two groups, there were five groups which fell precisely into the thirty-one leadership acts as developed. The seventeen remaining groups, while not precisely within the thirty—one 11A acts, were very closely related. Each one of the seventeen acts could be clustered into one of the six areas developed earlier. The findings would indicate that while there may be acts in the field which differ from acts found in the literature, this difference would be a matter of degree and not of substance. .At the outset of this study, the determination was made to attempt to identify activities, which,according to authorities in the field, can be considered instructional leadership acts which should be carried out by the super— intendent of schools, and then to determine how many of these acts are actually being accomplished in selected school districts. There were fifty-seven acts extracted from the litera— ture as being "always necessary" for a superintendent to perform if he was to be an instructional leader. These acts, when submitted to a panel of experts, however, were not all rated as being "always necessary" for a superintendent to perform in carrying on instructional leadership. Using a criteria of 80% or more agreement from the panel of experts, there was developed a list of thirty-one acts which were necessary for a superintendent to perform in providing instructional leadership. 115 In grouping the acts received from the superintendents, there were fifty groups formed. Using a criteria of 25% or more agreement from the superintendents, there were then twenty—two groups formed. While the twenty—two groups did not all fall precisely into the thirty-one acts, there were definite similarities between what the superintendents were doing in the field and the leadership acts extracted from the literature and rated by a panel of experts. The data would indicate that there is a relationship between the acts being carried on by superintendents to produce better instructional programs and the leadership acts experts recommend superintendents carry out as found in the literature. In addition to this finding, one other significant aspect became evident. There were several acts gathered from the superintendents which pertained directly to the curriculum. These acts which pertained to the curriculum were not found specifically stated in the literature nor were they specifically stated by the panel of experts. These acts, as related by the superintendents, are stated in Chapter III, such as: enriching a program, adding a course of study, integrating several courses of study into one, et cetera. This fact may be due to one of two reasons: 1. The content of certain courses of study and the methodology of these courses are changing so rapidly that the literature cannot stay abreast of this area; or 116 2. Where the literature is staying abreast of this phase of curriculum development, it is being related to the curriculum rather than to instructional leadership. Perhaps this finding would have significance within the training programs presently being carried on for present and future school superintendents. Summary In this chapter an analysis was made of the data that were gathered throughout the study. The most significant contribution of this study was the identification of thirty-one instructional leadership acts. Through the analysis of the data, answers to the problem and sub—problems were determined. In addition to the acts, it was found that the superintendents believe that they can and should be instructional leaders. There is a similarity of various acts being performed by the several superintendents in the field and a relationship generally exists between the acts being performed by the superintendents and the acts identified by the panel of experts. The acts being performed by the superintendents relate to both the elementary and secondary programs rather than to either one exclusively. The secondary school prin- cipals corroborated the statements received from the superintendents. 117 Finally, the data indicated that while there may be acts in the field which differ from the acts found in the literature, this difference would be a matter of degree and not of substance. CHAPTER V SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND CONCLUSIONS General Summapy of the Findings of the Study It has been the purpose of this study to bring into clearer focus what is meant by instructional leadership, and to identify specific acts performed by superintendents which could be considered leadership acts and which produce better instructional leadership. At the outset of the study a thorough search of the literature, using the Educational Index as a point of reference and going back over the past five years, was made. The purpose of this search of the literature was to extract specific acts which were necessary for the superintendent to perform in providing instructional leader- ship. When the search of the literature was completed, a list of fifty—seven acts was compiled. This list was then submitted to a panel of experts, who were chosen for their knowledge of instruction, to be rated by them. When the panel of experts had rated the acts, there was developed a list of thirty—one acts which were defined as instructional leadership acts which are the responsibility 118 119 of the superintendent of schools. These thirty—one instruc- tional leadership acts are: 1. 2. 10. 11. The superintendent encourages experimentation by the staff. The superintendent has periodic talks with staff members to help each diagnose his professional difficulty and improve his teaching. The superintendent encourages staff participation in solving instructional problems. The superintendent encourages staff planning in their methods of instruction. The superintendent has available proper resources for instructional improvement. The superintendent sees that the staff has easy access to duplicating services. The superintendent sees that the staff has easy access to instructional materials. written policies are developed co—operatively. The superintendent encourages administrators to confer with teachers individually about their teaching assignments. The superintendent provides or encourages an in-service education program to function continu- ously in the system. An organized orientation program exists for new personnel. l2. 13. 1A. 15. l6. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 120 Teaching load is a major consideration within the system. Substitute teachers are oriented to the school system. The superintendent has written policies regarding promotion. The superintendent has a projected enrollment plan for the next five years. The superintendent has a master plan for site development. The superintendent has advisory groups of representative teachers. A.clear understanding exists between the board of education and the administration as to the function of the other. A.list of teachers able to interpret instruction to the public exists. A.committee to evaluate requests from pressure groups exists. Teachers make use of resource peOple and items within the community. The superintendent encourages leadership develop— ment within the staff. Teachers are provided opportunities to participate in school and community surveys and evaluation. 121 2A. Good staff relationships exist within the system. 25. Good channels of communication exist within the system. 26. Enough time and materials are available to the- staff for proper instruction. 27. Shared responsibility exists within the system. 28. Agreement has been reached on the role of the school within the social agencies of the com— munity. 29. Staff members with conflicting values and beliefs are able to work co-operatively. 30. The roles of the individuals and groups in the system are defined and understood. 31. The areas in which individuals and groups are free to Operate are defined and understood. Interviews were then held, using the Critical Incident Technique, with selected superintendents and secondary principals chosen by random sample from Genesee, Macomb, and Oakland counties in order to determine what acts were being performed by the superintendents in the field. The purpose of the interviews with the secondary principals was to corroborate the data received from the superintendents. From the interviews with the superintendents, there were 265 acts recorded from which 300 critical incidents were extracted. In grouping the incidents received from the 122 superintendents, there was compiled a variety of fifty headings. These fifty headings were then classified under six general areas into which each of the fifty headings clustered. In analyzing the original fifty groups, after they had been classified into the six areas with the thirty—one leadership acts as developed through the panel of experts, it was found that a general relationship existed between the acts the superintendents are using in practice and the rating a panel of experts ascertained for very similar acts. The superintendents agreed with the experts about the acts which were necessary to perform in order to provide instructional leadership. Because immediate recall on the part of the superintendents interviewed did not produce a substantial number of the same acts as perceived by the experts, it was concluded that these acts were not being performed. It is also the conclusion of the interviewer that a lack of comprehension as to the breadth of the leadership acts existed. In categorizing the acts received from the super- intendents during the interviews, it was found that many of the acts being performed by the superintendents fell into similar categories. Analysis of these acts indicated that there is a general relationship between the acts being performed by superintendents. 123 In determining if most instructional leadership acts being performed in the field related mainly to elementary education, secondary education, or both, it was found that almost four times as many acts related to both as related to elementary education and secondary education combined. It was significant, however, that there were ten acts per- taining entirely to secondary education while there was only one act pertaining entirely to elementary education. In response to the question presented to the super- intendents during the interview regarding whether they felt the superintendent of schools can and should be an instruc- tional leader, over 50% of the responding superintendents believed that the superintendent can and should be an instructional leader. The remaining superintendents, with one exception, believed that the superintendent either could or should be an instructional leader. There was some concern expressed by these superintendents as to whether time would permit them to spend as much of their time in instruction as they wanted to, but they believed the responsibility was clearly there. One superintendent believed that an instructional leader or coordinator should be hired within the school system for the express purpose of performing this function. In analyzing the data received from the principals, it was found that they agreed with the superintendents as 12A to what acts were being carried out by the superintendents. There was not a single contradictory statement given by the principals to the statements made by the super- intendents. This fact becomes significant in determining the validity of the statements received from the super- intendents. Recommendations 1. Institutions which are responsible for the train— ing programs of superintendents must be more aware of the area of instructional leadership in their training programs. A.clearer definition of instructional leadership is needed, as are clearer definitions of terms which as yet are ambiguous and confusing to too many people with responsibility in the area of instructional leadership. 2. More specific instructional leadership acts will need to be formulated because the field of instruction is ever changing and ever broadening. However, for the superintendent who must be responsible for the entire school operation and who serves as executive officer for the board of education, his leadership acts can only be stimulating and initiatory in nature. Therefore, his leadership role is one of creating an atmosphere where experimentation, professional growth, and acceptability to change are encouraged. Certainly, specific acts are required to develop this atmosphere, but he must depend 125 upon his subordinate administrators to follow these acts through to their prOper conclusion. Therefore, more study needs to be made on staff responsibility and follow through by subordinates to carry through superintendentst initiating acts. 3. Superintendents must become more aware of their specific role as the instructional leader within their school system if our schools are going to be able to meet the challenges of our society. One excellent way this could be accomplished would be through a strong in—service education prOQram for super— intendents. The in-service education of the superintendent should be shared three ways: a. Each individual superintendent should assume responsibility for his own continuing education. b. The universities have a responsibility to make available the possibility for this continuing education to take place. c. The professional organizations, such as the American Association of School Administrators and state associations of school administrators, have a responsibility both to make certain the superintendents receive the opportunity to pursue these programs and to make certain that the superintendents do pursue these programs 126 which will produce growth on the part of the individual and better instructional leadership. Areas of Needed Research More research is needed to determine what, if any, side effects or other effects are produced when a certain instruc— tional leadership act is performed. Knowledge is needed to determine if all of the effects from given acts are good or desirable, or if undesirable acts, which may be more important, result when a given leadership act is performed. Further research is needed to develop an instrument which would test whether the instructional leadership acts which have been identified by the panel of experts are actually being carried out by the superintendents in practice. It should also be determined, if certain acts are not being carried out in practice, why these acts are not being performed. An instrument should be developed which would test other effects which might be produced if the acts were put into practice. If other effects were produced, it would be important to know whether the results of these other effects were positive or negative in nature. Further research could be conducted to determine what the teachers' perception of these acts would be if they were put into practice and carried out within the school system. 127 Another area of future study would be to develop an instrument to test the superintendents' perception in determining what acts they believe they should perform and which, if any, acts they should delegate to subordinates. Greater depth could be added by determining to what degree these acts, if any, should be delegated. The organization of the staff so that instructional leadership can be adequately performed is an area in need of future study. How this should be done and who is responsible for accomplishing this organization is neces— sary to know before certain leadership acts can be put into practice. This knowledge would be closely related to determining whether the superintendent can perform all the acts by himself. The superintendent would need to know how to organize the staff so that all of the acts could be performed. In this study thirty—one leadership acts were identified. Future research could further refine and define these acts and determine how'to make them more workable and meaningful. The thirty-one acts identified could be tested in school systems where they had been put into practice in an attempt to determine the degree of excellence the use of these acts would produce. In the systems where these acts had been used, they could be evaluated to determine if the instruc- 128 tional program had actually improved. These acts could also be evaluated in relationship to how the superintendent attempted to perform these acts. A.future study could attempt to determine how thoroughly a superintendent should perform these acts. .A future investigation relating these acts to the size of the school system would be beneficial. As systems increase in size, there is normally more staff added both at the central office level and at the supervisory level. The size of the system and the staff available might have implications as to how the superintendent perceived his instructional leadership role and the delegation to sub- ordinates of certain of these acts. Conclusions It is apparent from the review of the literature that there is much confusion and some disagreement con- cerning instructional leadership. This confusion and dis- agreement is understandable when it is realized what a broad area is covered by the term "leadership." It would seem difficult, if not impossible, to attempt to equate leadership acts which were found necessary for the captain of a girls' basketball team with those acts found necessary to be a leader of a combat patrol during time of conflict with the enemy. 129 There seems to be confusion, also, as to how specifically to gain a predetermined end result which is sought. Several superintendents interviewed responded by saying that they attempted to stimulate their staff. It was implied that greater heights and better instruction were sought by the superintendents for their staff, but no specifics were related as to how this stimulation was accomplished. This again may be understandable when it is realized that each individual and each specific situation may demand a unique solution for the particular problem. The confusion that exists can further be determined when it is realized that the original fifty-seven acts extracted from the literature were acts which, according to the authors, the superintendent was always supposed to perform. The panel of experts, however, could only agree completely on fourteen of the fifty-seven acts, and 80% agreement was reached on seventeen more of the fifty—seven acts. Even where the panel completely agreed, they did not rate the act as "always necessary to perform" as they had been rated in the literature. It is apparent that even professors in the field of instruction are not clear as to what instructional leader- ship is, nor do they agree upon a concise definition of this termt Answers to other problems were found through this study which should give some insight and direction in helping 130 superintendents and potential superintendents toward becoming better instructional leaders. It has been shown that superintendents themselves believe that, in spite of the many areas of responsibility they carry today, they must be instructional leada~s, and this area of instructional leadership cannot be delegated to subordinates even if details may be. This study has clarified the fact that a great deal of work remains to be done in this field of leadership. It has shown the need for more research in this field and attempted to identify some specific areas where research is needed. Future research should answer some of these questions and should lead the way to better instructional leadership which will produce better programs of instruction within our school systems. BIBLIOGRAPHY BIBLIOGRAPHY .A. BOOKS American Association of School Administrators. Inservice Education for School Administration. Washington, D. C.: The NationalVEducation Association, 1963. American Association of School Administrators. The Super- intendent as Instructional Leader. Washington, D.C.: The NationaT Education Association, 1957. American Association of School Administrators. Educational Administration ip_a Chan in Community. washington, D.7C.: The NationaI' uca on Association, 1959. Anderson, Vivienne, and D. R. Davies. Patterns of Educa- cational Leadership. Englewood Cliffs, Newrjersey: Prentice-Hall, 1956. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Leadership_for Improving Instruction. Washington, D. C.: The National Education Association, 1960. Best, John W. Research in Education. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice—Hall, Inc., 1959. Browne, C. G., and Thomas C. Cohn. The Study g£_Leadership. Danville, Illinois: The Interstate r nters and Publishers, Inc., 1958. Campbell, Roald P., and Russell T. Gregg (eds.). Adminis— trative Behavior in_Education. New York: Harper and Bros., 1957} Coladarci, Arthur P., and Jacob W. Getzels. The_Use of Theor in_Educational Administration. Educatifihal' AdmInIstration Monographs, No. 5, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1955. Fleishman, Edwin.A., and others. Leadership and Supervision in Industry. No. 33, Columbus: The Ohio State Uhiversity, T955. 132 133 Flower, George E., and Freeman K. Stewart. Leadership in. lAction: The Superintendent pf_Schools in Canada. Toronto: W. J. Gage Limited 1958. Garofalo, Marius P. Report gf_the Interdepartmental Seminar: Leadership ig_Educational Administration. The Graduate School, Columbus: The Ohio State—University, 195A- Good, Carter V., A. S. Barr, and Douglas E. Scates. The Methodolo p£_Educational Research. New York: Appleton—Century-Crofts, Inc., T9Al. Gouldner, A. W. (ed.). Studies in Leadership. New York: Harper and Bros., 1 . Graff, Orin B., and Calvin M. Street. Improving Competence lg Educational Administration. New York: Harper and Bros., 1956. _ Halpin, Andrew W. The Leadership Behavior of School Super- intendents. The SEhooléCommunity DeveTBpment Study, Monograph Series No. A, College of Education. Columbus: The Ohio State university, 1956. Halpin, Andrew W. Administrative Theory ip_Education. Midwest Administration Center. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1958. Harris, Chester W. (ed.). Enpyclopedia pf_Educational Research. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1960. Hamphill, John K. Situational Factors in_Leadership. No. 32, Columbus: The Ohio State university, 19A9. Jenkins, David H. The Fifty-Ninth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part—II. Rlsonw. HenryITed.7. Chicago:_Uhiversity of Chicago Press, 1960. King, William B. Certain Critical Requirements for the Job of the vocational Rehabilitation Counselor 1p; GEEr_Ta. State Department ofTEducation, Division of Voca%lonal Rehabilitation, October, 1960. Kreitlow, Burton W., E. W. Aiton, and Andrew P. Torrence. Leadership_for.Action in Rural Communities. Danville, Illinois: The Interstate Printers and Publishers, Inc., 1960. 13A Laird, Donald Am, and Eleanor C. Laird. The New Psychology for Leadershi . New York: McGrawhHill Book Co., Inc., T956. Mackenzie, Gordon N., and Stephen M. Corey. Instructional Leadership. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University, 195A. Morphet, Edgar L., R. L. Johns, and T. L. Reller. Educa— tional Administration. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice:Hall, Inc., 1959. - Ranseyer, John A., and others. Factors Affecting Educational Administration: Guideposts for Research and Action. Thefischool-Community Deverpment Study, Monograph No. 2. Columbus: The Ohio State University, 1955. Ross, Murray G., and Charles E. Hendry. New Understandings g£_Leadership. New York:.Association Press, 1957. Selznick, Philip. Leadership in_Administration. Evanston, Illinois: Row Peterson and Co., 1957. Shartle, Carroll L. Executive Performance and Leadership. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1956. Simon, H. A» Administrative Behavior. New York: The Mac- millan Co., 1957. Stogdill, Ralph M., and others. Leadership and Role Expecta- tions. Bureau of Business Research. Columbus: The Ohio State university, 1956. Stogdill, Ralph M., and.A. E. Coons. Leader Behavior: Its Description and Measurement. Bureau of Business Research. Columbus: The Ohio State University, 1957. Taba, Hilda. Curriculum Development: Theory and Practice. New'York and‘Burlingame: Harcourt’Brace and World, Inc., 1962. Weber, C. A», and Mary E. Weber. Fundamentals of Educational Leadership. New York: McGraw-HIII Book COTT'1955. Wilson, L. Craig, and others. School-Community Improvement. Yonkers-on-Hudson, New York: world Book Cb., 1959. 135 B. PERIODICALS Bowers, D. %. "Self-Esteem and the Diffusion of Leadership Style, Journal pi Applied Psychology A7:l35—AO April, 1T—“9 3. ’ ’ Bruner, Jerome S. "Needed: A Theory of Instruction," Educational Leadership, 20:523-32, May, 1963. Campbell, Roald F., and C. F. Faber. "Administrative Behavior: Theory and Research; Analyses of Leadership Behavior," Review of Educational Research, 31:359—60, October, 1961. '_— Cocking, walter D. "Educational Leadership," Overview, 1:9A, September, 1960. Dawson, E. E. "To Lead or Not to Lead,".Adult Leadership, 11:303—A, April, 1963. Drummond, H. "Leadership: What and How," Kentucky School Journal, A0:2A—6, January, 1962. Evenson, warren L. "Leadership Behavior of High School Principals," National Association pi_Secondarnychool Principals Bulletin, A3:96—101, September, 1959. Farley, Genevieve J., and John J. Santosuosso. "The Effect of Training in Leadership on a Supervisor," Education, 78:363—66, February, 1958. Fisher, H. "Expectations for Leadership," Educational Leadership, 16:503-5, May, 1959. Flanagan, John C. "The Critical Incident Technique," Psychological Bulletin, 51:327-58, July, 195A. Foster, C. R. "Current Challenges to Educational Leadership," Phi Delta Kappan, A3:lO2—9, December, 1961. Galton, Francis. "Measurement of Character," Fortnightly Review, A2:l79—85, 188A. Getzels, Jacob W. "A.Psycho—sociological Framework for the Study of Educational Administration," Harvard Educational Revieuu 22:235-A6, Fall, 1952. 136 Getzels, Jacob W., and E. G. Guba. "Role, Role Conflict, and Effectiveness: an Empirical Study," American Sociological Review, 29:16A-75, No. 2, 195A. Gibb, Cecil A” "Leadership," in Lindzey and Gardner (eds.), Handbook pi_Social Psychology, Addison-Wesley, pp. 877- 925: I95A. Gilchrist, Robert S., and Howard E. Bergstrom. "Curriculum Leadership,"The Nations Schools, 77:73-7A, January, 1961. Gilchrist, Robert S. "A.Radica1 Shift in Emphasis," The Nations Schools, 6A:A5-8, January, 1960. Grobe, Ruth D. "Leadership Can Be Learned," PTA.Magazine, 56:30-2, Spring, 1961. Haskew, L. D. "Dimensions of Professional Leadership," American.Association of College Teacher Education Yearbook, pp. 9—17, 1960. Holland, Howard K. "Democratic Leadership-~Does It Abrogate Executive Responsibility," School Executive, 79:76—7, November, 1959. Jenson, Alfred C. "Determining Critical Requirements for Teachers," Journal of Eiperimental Education, XX, September, 1951; and—Simeon J. Domas, Report of an_ E§ploratory Study of Teacher Competence, Camenge: The New*England SchEbl Development Council, 1950. Johnson, L. "Eight Ins to Leadership," School Activities, 31:163-6, Fall, 1960. Jurjevich, J. C. "How Do We Educate for Democratic Leader— shipl", Junior High School Journal, A3:3A6-51, April, 1960 0' King, M. L. "Knowledge and Competence for the Instructional Leader," Educational Leadership, 2o:A99—Sa, April, 1963. Lipset, S. M. "Leadership and New Social Movements," Studies i§_Leadership, A, W. Gouldner (ed.), New York: Harper Mackenzie, Gordon N. "Leaders to Match Today's Needs," Educational Leadership, 20:1A8—50, December, 1962. 137 Maier, Norman R. F. "Leadership Principles for Problem~ Solving Conferences," Educational Digest, 28:A3-5, September, 1962. Mayo, G. D., and P. H. DuBois. "Measurement of Gain in Leadership Training," Education and Psychological Magazine, 23:23—31, Spring, 1963. Morris, Richard T., and Melvin Seeman. "Problems of Leader— ship: An Interdisciplinary Approach," American Journal pi Sociology, 56:1A9-55, 1950. Olson, Arthur R. "Leadership Can Improve Standards and Evaluation," Educational Leadership, 17:208-11, January, 1960. Ramsey, Curtis Paul. "Leadership in Instructional Improve- ment," Education, 82:200-2, December, 1961. Ramsey, Curtis Paul. "Leadership Preparation," Educational Leadership, 20:151-5A, December, 1962. Redl, Fritz. "Group Emotion and Leadership," Psychiatry, 5:573‘96) 19h2- Sanford, Fillmore H. "Leadership Identification and Acceptance," Groups, Leadership and Men, Harold S. Guetzkow (ed.), Carnegie Press, pp. 158-76, 1951. Seeman, M. "Administrative Leadership is a Question of Style," The Nations Schools, 60:A2-A, August, 1957. Stiles, Lindley J. "Nine Clues in the Search for Creative Leadership," The Nations Schools, 65:58, January, 1960. Stogdill, Ralph M. "Leadership, Membership, and Organization," Psychological Bulletin, A7:l—1A, January, 1950. Stogdill, Ralph M. "Personal Factors Associated With Leader- ship: A Survey of the Literature," Journal pi_Psychology, 25:6A, January, 19A8. Terrell, Jr., G., and J. S. Shreffler. "Developmental Study of Leadership," Journal pi_Educational Research, 52: Travers, John F., Dr. "Leadership and Administration," American School Board Journal, lAl:38, September, 1960. 138 Van Eyl, F. P. "Concept of Leadership," Vecational Guidance Quarterly, 10:2lA-l6, Summer, 1962. vance, M. W. "Educational Leadership to Improve Teacher Educational Preparation," Journal pi Teacher Education, Weisbrod, K. "Role of Leadership," Educational Leadership, 20:155—9, December, 1962. Wiles, Kimball. "Nine Keys to Leadership," Arizona Teacher, 51:5-9, January, 1963. C. UNPUBLISHED MATERIALS Aldmon, Howard Franklin. "Critical Behavior Requirements of Heads of Departments." Unpublished Ed.D. disserta- tion, The University of Tennessee, 1960. Barnhart, R. E. "The Critical Requirements for School Board Membership Based Upon an Analysis of Critical Incidents." Unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, Indiana University, 1952. Bice, Herbert. "Critical Requirements for the Principalship as Observed and Reported by School Board Members in Georgia." unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, The Uhiver- sity of Georgia, 1955. Ciernick, Sylvia. "Development and Use of a Conceptual Schema for Analyzing the School Public Relations Process." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Michigan State University, 1962. Cooper, Bernice Louise. "The Critical Requirements for the Principalship Based Upon an Analysis of Critical Incidents Reported by Instructional Supervisors and Visiting Teachers." Unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, The University of Georgia, 1956. Corbally, Jr., John E. "A.Study of the Critical Elements in School—Board-Community Relations." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, The university of California, Berkley, 1955. Crawford, Marilyn. "Critical Incidents of Instructional Methods in Physical Education in Southern Secondary Schools." Unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, The univer- sity of Texas, 1960. 139 Elliott, Frank Samuel. "Requirements for Public School Principalship in Georgia as Determined from Students Observations of the Actions of Principals." Unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, The University of Georgia, 1955. HOpkins, George William. "The Critical Requirements for Services of State Department of Education as Reported by Local School Administrators." Unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, The university of Kentucky, 1956. Hough, Jr., Wendell M. "A.Documentary Study of Research on the Criteria of Educational Administrative Success." Unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, Wayne State University, 1960. Kirk, George Vallance. "The Critical Requirements for Public School Superintendents." unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, The University of Pennsylvania, 1959. Myers, Robert. "The Development and Implications of a Conception of Leadership for Leadership Education." Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The University of Florida, 195A. Phillips, Herbert E. "Critical Requirements for the Principalship in Georgia as Observed by Teachers." Unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, The University of Georgia, 195A. Reed, John Ewing. "What Superintendents in Selected School Districts Have Done to Improve the Educational Program." Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The university of Pittsburgh, 1955. Robbins, Maxine Hazel. "An Analysis of Critical Incidents in Administration Reported as Affecting Professional Actions of Teachers. Unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, The Uhiversity of Indiana, 1960. Robson, Howard N. "Factors Contributing to the Success or Failure of School Superintendents as Determined by the Use of the Critical Incidents Technique." unpublished doctoral dissertation, The University of wyoming, Laramie, 1955. Schwei, Joseph Paul. "Critical Requirements for Effective Performance of School Administrators." unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, The University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1955. le Sternloff, Robert E. "The Critical Requirements for School Administrators Based Upon an Analysis of Critical Incidents." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, The University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1953. Tyson, Ralph K. "The Critical Requirements for the Prin— cipalship from an Analysis of Critical Incidents as Reported by Observers in Teacher Education Institutions." unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, The University of Georgia, 1955. Wallace, Joseph Samuel. "Critical Incidents in the Assignment of Marks to High School Students." Unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, The University of Southern California, 1960. . Leadership_for the Improvement of Instruction; a report ofia conference, Midwest Administration Center, Chicago: The University of Chicago, 1953. APPENDIX APPENDIX A 1A3 Appendix A Listed below are several statements. Would you rate these statements under one of the three headings, measuring them against their importance, in your opinion, as to how important they are regarding a superintendent of schools' use in providing instructional leadership in his school - system. If the statement touches upon an incident that should exist or should be used regularly, it would be rated "Always Necessary." If the incident should exist sometimes or should be used sometimes, it should be rated "Sometimes Necessary." If the incident should not exist or should not be used it should be rated "Not Necessary." X - Always necessary to produce better instruction 0 - Sometimes necessary to produce better instruction - - Not necessary to produce better instruction Please circle the appropriate figure in the correct column. .At the conclusion of the rating mmuld you please add and rate any incidents you feel should be added to the list either as "always necessary," or "sometimes necessary" for a superintendent to provide instructional leadership. 2. 6. 1AA Always Sometimes Necessary Necessary The superintendent encourages research by the staff. The superintendent encourages experi- mentation by the staff. The superintendent has periodic talks with staff members to help each diagnose his professional difficulty and im— prove his teaching. The superintendent encourages staff participation in solving instruc- tional problems. The superintendent encourages staff planning in their methods of instruc- tion. The superintendent has available proper resources for in- structional improve- ment. The superintendent serves primarily as a resource person in staff meetings. The superintendent encourages new methods of instruc- tion. Not Necessary 9. 10. ll. l2. 13. 1A. 15. 16. 17. 1&5 Always Sometimes Necessary Necessary The superintendent sees the staff has easy access to duplicating services. The superintendent sees the staff has easy access to instructional materials. The superintendent sees that free thne is encouraged for the staff during school day for plan- ning. The superintendent has established group norms of personal relations. The superintendent has written policies. These policies were developed co-opera— tive 1y. Teachers are members of a committee that recommends new teachers to the board of education for hire. The superintendent‘ encourages adminis- trators to confer with teachers individually about their teaching assignments. The superintendent has staff members assist in evaluating other staff members. Not Necessary 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 2A. 25. 26. 27. 1A6 Always Sometimes Necessary Necessary The superintendent provides or encour- ages an in-service education program to function continuously in the system. 4An organized orienta- tion program exists for new personnel. Teaching load is a major consideration within the system. Substitute teachers are oriented to the school system. Written courses of study exist within the system. Substitute teachers are made familiar with the course of study. The superintendent has written policies regarding promotion. The superintendent has written policies regarding ways of rewarding outstanding competence. The superintendent has a projected enroll- ment plan for the next five years. The superintendent has a master plan for site development. Not Necessary 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 3A. 35. 1A7 Always Sometimes Necessary Necessary The superintendent has advisory groups of representative teachers. The superintendent encourages board of education members to help explain contro— versial issues to the public. Public opinion in the school system is studied. The superintendent encourages the board of education to focus its attention on instruction. The superintendent encourages the local PTA to focus its attention on instruc- tion. Lay advisory committees are encouraged to study the schools. .A clear understanding exists between the board of education and the administration as to the function of each other. Within legal limits unrestricted use of school buildings is available to the public. Not Necessary 36. 37. 38. 39. A0. A1. A3- A5. 1A8 Always Sometimes Necessary Necessary A regular communi— cation is sent to the public from the school. A.list of teachers able to interpret instruction to the public exists. A.committee to evalu— ate requests from pressure groups exists. The services of profes- sional organizations are used in the system. Teachers make use of resource people and items within the community. .A formal adult educa- tion program exists in the system. The superintendelt encourages leadership development within the staff. Teachers are provided opportunities to participate in school and community surveys and evaluations. Good staff relation- ships exist within the system. Good channels of com— munication exist ‘within the system. Not Necessary A6. A7. As. A9. 50. 51. 52. 53. 5A- 1&9 Always Sometimes Necessary Necessary Enough time and materials are available to the staff for proper instruction. Flexibility of operational frame- work exists within the system. Shared respon- sibility exists within the system. Good staff potential exists within the system. The superintendent has participated in a workshop or separate formal classes in the last three years. Individuals and groups are presently defin- ing and clarifying educational goals and objectives. Agreement has been reached on the role of the school within the social agencies of the community. Staff members with conflicting values and beliefs are able to work co—operatively. The roles of the individuals and groups in the system are defined and understood. Not Necessary SS. 56. 57. 150 Always Sometimes Necessary Necessary The areas in which individuals and groups are free to operate are defined and understood. Professional and non- professional members participate in making important as well as routine decisions. Group discussions are held frequently to clarify purposes and roles. Not Necessary APPENDIX B 152 Appendix B (Copy of letter sent to panel of experts) Reese, Michigan October 19, 1962 (Heading) Dear : You have been selected as one of a panel of five experts in the State of Michigan in regards to Instructional Leadership. I am attempting to study this problem of Instructional Leadership for my thesis leading to my Ed.D. at Michigan State University. I would deeply appreciate your help by taking the time to give me the benefit of your thinking by checking the enclosed statements. I hope the explanation preceding the statements is self- explanatory and if there should be any questions feel free to call me collect either at school or at home. I want to take this opportunity to thank you in advance for taking time from a very busy schedule to give me this help. Most sincerely, Bruce J. Dunn 1836 N. Reese Road Reese, Michigan School Phone VO 8~A561 Home Phone ‘VO 8-A593 APPENDIX C we‘y‘w 15A Appendix C The following groups or clusters were formed from the original fifty groups originated from superintendents! responses: AREA.A: Curriculum and Students 1. 2. 13. 1A. 15. 16. 17. Bringing in a language laboratory Adding courses of study to the curriculum Enriching courses of study Having a curriculum study Initiating a guidance-counseling program Enlarging the guidance-counseling program Teachers now teaching in their fields Beefing up the library program Initiating an instructional materials center Encouraging program for talented youngsters Procuring more and new equipment Initiating or enlarging special education programs Initiating educational television Initiating an orientation program Increasing the professional staff Exchanging students with other schools Procuring written materials for classroom use B: Improvement of the Professional Staff ln-service education Released time for teachers hit—u...- 155 Encouraging teachers to take more work Bringing in outside consultants Superintendent initiating programs through meetings with staff Stimulating staff Encouraging experimentation and change Attempting to conserve teacher energies Attempting to hire outstanding personnel Improving lines of communication Establishing a teacher training center in the school system Teachers exchanging grades for better understanding C: Organizational Improvement Initiating a new high school schedule Bringing about new graduation requirements Improving extra-curricular organization Securing a co-ordinator or director of instruction Improving department head structure Up-dating student record system Refining selection process of students Re-structuring school organization Improving accreditation rating D: Information and Public Relations Conducting public relations program 156 Superintendent counseling with students, parents, and teachers Forming an advisory council to the superintendent Informing board of education about instruction Initiating parent-teacher conferences Involving students in planning new high school E: Improved Morale and Professional Staff Improving salary schedule Initiating written policies Initiating a formulation of a philosophy of education Procuring a continuing contract or tenure F: Organization of the School Plant More office space was provided for staff Re-modeling classrooms “I