Book Description

This study utilized the descriptive and quantitative approaches to examine elementary school principals' leadership style and school climate in an urban school district. Research supports the relationship of leadership styles, school climate and student achievement does exist and this study identified and explored how it exists between the school principals' leadership style and school climate. Participants consisted of elementary principals and teachers in an urban school district within the southeastern region of the United States. The purpose of this study was to determine the existence of a relationship between elementary school principals' leadership styles and school climate in an urban school district. Survey instruments were the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire (LBDQ) Form XII Self and the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire for elementary schools (OCDQ-RE). Demographic information was gathered from the principals and teachers that were subjects of this research (Table 3 and Appendix C). The following research question was posed: Does a relationship exist between the elementary school principals' leadership style and school climate in an urban school district? Descriptive statistics summarized the data characteristics of the independent variable (principal leadership style) and dependent variable (school climate). The data was analyzed using the Pearson Correlation Coefficient. A Positive linear relationship in climate was found for three different groups. These three groups had a statistically significant correlations coefficient and p-values between the LBDQ-Form XII Self and OCDQ-RE subscales. The school principals must be able to access and evaluate the impact they may have on the climate of the school. This study proposed strategies school principals from the participating school district can use to create a more open school climate.