Theses and Dissertations
Date of Award
2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Department
Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice
Advisor
Jo Cambell
Committee Member
Noel Gray
Committee Member
Kimberly Durham
Keywords
assessment, communication skills, demographic characteristics, educational leadership, ethnicity, gender, human relations, leadership behaviors, leadership styles, morale, principal–teacher rapport, professionalism, quantitative research, school administrators, teacher morale, teacher retention, teaching experience
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to have teachers complete a self-assessment survey to assess their conceptual belief of the leadership styles of school-site administrators that are conducive to high teacher morals. The questions addressed how teacher morale affected the teachers according to the number of years they had been teaching, their college majors, their highest college degree, their gender, and their ethnicity. The teachers who participated in this study were volunteers who had to be teaching for 2 years or more.
This was a quantitative study that used the Teacher Rapport With Principal dimension of the Purdue Teacher Opinionnaire to determine how the teachers felt about the leaders’ communication skills, professionalism, how they related to the teachers and their work and their overall human relation skills.
The global rapport between teachers and principals varied very little depending on demographic characteristics. However, a number of leadership behaviors such as departmental participation, respectful supervision, personal concern, and recognition proved sensitive to particular teacher attributes. Principals could create an environment that boosts morale, increases retention, and improves the quality of instruction for a diverse teaching staff by concentrating development and evaluation on these relational practices and adjusting them to disciplinary cultures and cultural identities.
NSUWorks Citation
Darlene C. Landy. 2025. Assessing Teachers’ Conceptual Leadership Perceptions of School-Site Administrators as an Approach to Improve Teacher Morale. Doctoral dissertation. Nova Southeastern University. Retrieved from NSUWorks, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice. (1081)
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/fse_etd/1081.