Date of Award

8-2006

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Department

Teaching, Learning, and Leadership

First Advisor

Dr. Richard Zinser

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the leadership styles of the career and technical education (CTE) area center principals in Michigan and how effective they are perceived by their subordinates. The concept of leadership traits or styles has been studied extensively within the K--12 general education setting, but lacks sufficient empirical evidence within the CTE community. The population for this study included all the CTE area center principals in Michigan and their determined subordinates: lead administrative assistant, counselor, paraprofessional, and four faculty members. This study analyzed data collected from 19 CTEarea center principals and 70 subordinates. The instrument used for collection of data in this study was the 45-item Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire 5X(MLQ) that contains four statements regarding perceived effectiveness. The researcher designed and added eight items for the gathering of demographic information. The classifications of leadership styles in this study are transformational, transactional, or laissez-faire (Bass & Avolio, 2000; Kouzes & Posner, 2002).

This study was conducted completely electronically from the participants' initial invitation to participate through their completion of the MLQ. The CTE area center principals and their subordinates were encouraged to complete the instrument in an open and honest manner and anonymity was insured for the respondents. The SAS/STAT ® software package was used to analyze the data collected. A t test, frequency distribution, MANOVA, and the multivariate main effect for status were used to determine differences and relationships.

Results found that most of Michigan's CTE area center principal respondents view themselves as transformational leaders and received a corroboration of this view from their subordinates. Subordinates perceived their transformational leaders as being effective, while laissez-faire leaders were viewed negatively. The results of this study should be of interest to postsecondary institutions, public school superintendents, human resource managers, and teacher educators as the principals of Michigan's CTE area center age and the necessity to locate desirable replacements emerges.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

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