WHITLOWE R. GREEN COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
Doctoral Dissertation Defense Announcement
The Effectiveness of Mentoring on the Development of
Leadership Capacity in School Administrators
(May 2015)
Larchin Leslie, B.S., Prairie View A&M University;
M.Ed., Prairie View A&M University
Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Lisa Hobson
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of mentoring on the
development of leadership capacity of school administrators in Southeast Texas County public
schools. Searby (2010) argues that university leader preparation programs occasionally produce
principals and superintendents who, initially, are completely prepared for the challenges of
school administration when they assume positions. Hacifazlioglu (2010) indicated that first time
school administrators could face challenges during the development stage of their leadership.
Although experienced principals usually fill superintendent positions, Grissom and
Andersen (2012) reported a turnover rate of 45% among superintendents within three years,
mostly due to lack of experience. The exodus of these superintendents creates a negative effect
on the morale and satisfaction of staff (Alsbury 2008).
In addition, Fuller and Young (2009) reported that the retention rate among principals in
high poverty schools is 84.0% in Year 1. However, with mentoring, new principals can build
confidence and reduce fear and anxiety during the first few years on the job (Carucci, 2006).
The current study, conducted in a Southeast Texas County, addressed the following
research questions:
1. As measured by Leadership Capacity Questionnaire (LCQ), what is the leadership
capacity of public school administrators in a Southeast Texas County?
2. As measured by the Texas Educational Agency’s (TEA) five-tier classification, is there
any association between mentoring and school academic performance of public school
administrators?
3. What is the impact of mentoring on leadership capacity, as measured by Leadership
Capacity Questionnaire, of public school administrators?
4. Is there a difference in the leadership capacity scores of district level administrators and
the school level leadership, who received mentoring and those of their peers who did not
receive such mentoring?
5. Which variables (mentoring experience, gender, ethnicity, age, and number of years in
current position) best predict the criterion of leadership capacity of administrators?
The conceptual framework for this research was based on the idea that mentoring can
build leadership capacity development of school administrators and in return, produce an
effective leader. The researcher employed a causal comparative research design to examine the
cause effect-relationship of leadership capacity development and schools academic performance
between the school leaders who received mentoring and those who did not receive mentoring.
The researcher used the National Association of Secondary School Principals’ Leadership
Capacity Questionnaire to collect data from the 419 administrators in the 24 independent school
districts in a Southeast Texas County.
The researcher used the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) to analyze the data
through the usage of descriptive and inferential statistics. In order to answer the guiding
questions, the researcher used an independent sample t-test to assess how mentoring influences
leadership capacity development. The researcher used a factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA)
to test how the level of leadership (district and school) and mentoring impact the development of
administrators’ leadership capacity. The researcher used Chi-Square to determine if there was a
statistically significant difference in the academic performance of students in the schools of
administrators who received mentoring in comparison to their peers who did not receive
mentoring. Additionally, the researcher used multiple regression in order to predict the
leadership capacity of school administrators.
The results from the Chi-Square test revealed a statistically significant association
between the academic performance of students in schools in favor of those administrators who
received mentoring (p=.001). The Factorial ANOVA also showed a statistically significant
difference in leadership capacity between the district level administrators and the school level
leadership who received mentoring in relation to their peers who did not receive mentoring
(p=.001). The researcher found that 90% of administrators who received mentoring before
appointment to their position and 63% of those who did not receive mentoring indicated that
mentoring is essential for effective leadership experiences. Additionally, the study revealed a
direct linkage between mentoring, leadership capacity, improved student success, and school
academic performance. As a recommendation emerging from the research, neophyte school
administrators should improve their leadership capacity through continued and systemic
guidance from experienced administrators.
References
Alsbury, T. L. (2008). School board member and superintendent turnover and the influence on
student achievement: An application of the dissatisfaction theory. Leadership and Policy
in Schools, 7(2), 202–229.
Carucci, R. (2006). Building relationships that enable next-generation leaders. Leader to leader,
2006(42), 47-53.
Fuller, E. & Young, M. D. (2009). Texas high school project leadership initiative issue brief 1:
Tenure and retention of newly hired principals in Texas. Paper presented at the Annual
Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA. Retrieved
from file:///C:/Users/pvimm_000/Downloads/3deec5217bb17277af.pdf
Grissom, J. A., & Andersen, S. (2012). Why superintendents turn over. American Educational
Research Journal, 49(6), 1146-1180.
Hacifazlioglu, O. (2010). Entry and transition to academic leadership: Experiences of women
leaders from Turkey and the U.S. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice, 10(4),
2257-2273.
Searby, L. J. (2010). Preparing future principals: facilitating the development of a mentoring
mindset through graduate coursework. Mentoring & Tutoring Partnership in Learning,
18(1), 5-22. doi:10.1080/13611260903448292
Date: April 14, 2015
Department: Educational Leadership and Counseling
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Location/Room: 217 Delco
Dissertation Chair: Lisa Hobson, Ph.D.
Committee Members:
Laxley Rodney, Ph.D.
Pamela Freeman, Ph.D.
Edward Mason, Ph.D.
Reginald Bell, Ph.D. - College of Business