Secondary Education Teachers
OBJECTIVE To investigate the relationship between perceptions of leadership practices and fifteen independent variables including inclusion, partnerships (teaming) and exceptionality.
METHODOLOGY The study was conducted across seven school districts in southwestern Ontario (Canada) and involved 184 (54% response rate) special educators assigned to teaching positions in elementary schools. Participants completed the Individual Contributor version of the Leadership Practices Inventory and provided demographic information (independent variables) such as gender, age, teaching experience, special education teaching experience, position, degree, certification, inservice training, school size, support staff, teacher allotment, caseload, inclusion, partnerships, and exceptionality. The typical respondent was female (77%), between the ages of 41-50 (46%), with 11+ years of experience (73%).
KEY FINDINGS LPI-IC scores of this sample were higher than the normative sample (although no statistically significant differences were reported). Multiple regression analyzes revealed that the independent variables were not related to the leadership practices of Challenging, Inspiring, Modeling and Encouraging. T-tests for each leadership practice on the independent variables of gender, caseload and inclusion were not statistically significant. Leadership practices did vary systematically on the basis of exceptionality and partnerships.