Perceptions of supportive leadership
behaviors of school site
administrators for secondary special
education teachers
Erin Roderick, Ed.D
1
Topic Background: History
• Historically, site-based instructional leaders
were not responsible for special education
programs
• Policies have driven the change in site
administrator’s role
• Special education teachers leave the field
due to the lack of perceived administrative
support from their principal
• Type of support plays an important role in job
satisfaction and effectiveness
2
Purpose for this research
• Special education teachers are leaving the
field at a much higher rate than general
educators and the main contributing factor is
a lack of administrative support.
• The purpose of this research was to identify
and compare specific leadership behaviors
perceived as supportive by special education
teachers and school site administrators.
3
Importance of the research
• Obtaining specific leadership behaviors that
are perceived as supportive to special
education teachers will lead to how much
support to provide, what support to provide,
and how to retain them
• A principal’s leadership behaviors are critical
to successful implementation of programs for
students with disabilities, which directly affect
student achievement.
4
Review of the Literature
Conceptual Framework
Topic
References
Role of Instructional Leaders and
Special Education
Boscardin, 2005; Cole-Henderson, 2000; Collins & White, 2001;
DiPaola & Tschannen-Moran, 2003; Farkas, Johnson, and Duffett,
2003; Hallinger, Bickman, & Davis, 1996; Hallinger & Heck, 1998;
Monteith, 2000; Smith & Colon, 1998; Wakeman, Browder,
Flowers, & Ahlgrim-Delzell, 2006; Witzers, Bosker, & Kruger, 2003;
Valesky & Hirth, 1992
Policies That Drive the Roles of
Instructional Leaders
Bays and Crockett, 2007; Boscardin, 2005; Crockett, 2002;
DiPaola & Walther-Thomas, 2003; Lashley, 2007; Lashley &
Boscardin, 2003; Leithwood, Louis, Anderson, & Wahlstrom, 2004;
McLaughlin & Nolet, 2004
Accountability in Special Education
Billingsley & Cross, 1991; Cook, Semmel, Gerber, 1999; Fore,
Martin, & Bender, 2002; Garnes, Menlove, & Salzberg, 2004;
Gehrke & McCoy, 2007; Gersten, Keating, Yovanoff, & Harniss,
2001; Guzman, 1997; Idol, 2006; Kaff, 2004; Katsiyannis, Zhang,
& Conroy, 2003; Leithwood and Mascall , 2008; Miller, Brownell, &
Smith, 1999; Praisner, 2003)
Leadership Behaviors Perceived as
Supportive
Balfour, 2002; Barnett and Monda-Amaya, 1998; Cruzeiro &
Morgan, 2006; Ewy, 2007; House, 1981; Littrell & Billingsley, 1994;
Lowe & Brigham, 2000; Otto & Arnold, 2005; Patterson, Marshall,
5
& Bowling, 2000
Concepts
Role of Instructional Leaders and Special
Education
• Redefine roles of instructional leaders (Boscardin,
2005)
• Affect achievement through expectations, school
climate, and other leadership behaviors (ColeHenderson, 2000; Hallinger, Bickman, & Davis,
1996; Hallinger & Heck, 1998; Witzers, Bosker, &
Kruger, 2003)
• Professional development (DiPaola & TschannenMoran, 2003)
• Enhance knowledge (Valesky & Hirth, 1992)
6
Concepts (cont.)
Policies That Drive Roles of Instructional
Leaders
• Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act (IDEA)
• No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)
• Ensure the accessibility of the
curriculum to all students (Boscardin,
2005)
7
Concepts (cont.)
Accountability in Special Education
• Leadership influences student achievement
– Principal’s attitude and the achievement of students with
disabilities (Idol, 2006)
– Influence on student achievement
» indirectly through influences
» leaders use clues
» understand what leaders do (Leithwood, Louis,
Anderson, and Wahlstrom, 2004)
• Special Education Teacher Attrition
– Leave at a much higher rate (Katsiyannis, Zhang, &
Conroy, 2003)
– Due to lack of support
8
Concepts (cont.)
Leadership Behaviors Perceived as
Supportive
• Types of Support
– Four Dimensions: emotional, instrumental,
informational, and appraisal (House, 1981;
Littrell & Billingsley, 1994)
• Perceptions
– Support is felt through overall school culture
– Built through values and actions of the
principal. (Gersten, Keating, Yovanoff, &
Harniss, 2001)
9
Research Questions
•
•
•
What leadership behaviors do special
education teachers perceive as valuable
administrative support?
What leadership behaviors do site
administrators perceive as valued support
for their special education teachers?
What is the relationship between what
teachers perceive as supportive and what
administrators perceive as supportive?
10
Methodology
• Quantitative study utilizing a survey for data
collection
• Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA)
in a suburban area in Southern California
• Made up of two unified school districts
• 15 secondary schools
• 95 survey respondents
• 35 site administrators
• 59 special education teachers
11
Specifics on Methodology
Data Collection/Analysis
• Online survey emailed to participants
• One-way ANOVA
• Descriptive statistics
12
Findings: Special Educators
Leadership Behaviors
M
Domain
Supports teacher decisions in front of other teachers
3.49
Emotional
Supports teacher decisions in front of parents
3.46
Emotional
Shows confidence in teachers actions and decisions
3.41
Emotional
Communicates to the school staff that special education students
and teachers are an important part of the school
3.37
Instrumental
Permits teacher to use their own judgment to solve problems
3.36
Emotional
Makes sure the teacher has the equipment they need for their
classrooms
3.33
Instrumental
Assigns teacher to work with students for whom they are trained
and certified to teach
3.32
Instrumental
Listens and gives teacher undivided attention when they talk
3.31
Emotional
Makes teacher feel that they are making a difference
3.29
Emotional
Makes sure the teacher has the space they need to teach and plan
3.25
Instrumental
13
Findings: Administrators
Leadership Behaviors
M
Domain
Is interested in what teachers do in the classroom
3.69
Emotional
Listens and gives teacher undivided attention when they talk
3.63
Emotional
Communicates to the school staff that special education students
and teachers are an important part of the school
3.61
Instrumental
Makes teacher feel that they are making a difference
3.60
Emotional
Gives genuine and specific feedback about their work
3.60
Emotional
Supports teacher’s decisions in front of parents
3.54
Emotional
Gives teacher recognition for a job well done
3.53
Emotional
Helps teacher follow the federal and state special education
regulations
3.49
Technical
Helps teacher ensure that they meet confidentiality requirements
3.49
Technical
Is available to discuss teacher’s professional problems and concerns 3.47
14
Emotional
Findings:
Mean differences of four domains
4
3.5
2.5
Sp Ed Teachers
2
Administrators
1.5
1
0.5
Domains
l
hn
ic
a
Te
c
al
In
st
ru
ct
io
n
l
ta
ru
m
en
In
st
io
na
l
0
Em
ot
Mean score
3
15
Findings: Emotional Domain
Leadership Behaviors
Makes teacher feel that they are making a difference
F
p
4.41
.04
Is interested in what teachers do in the classroom
19.65
.00
Gives teacher genuine and specific feedback about their work
11.45
.00
Tells teacher when they are on the right track with their work
6.16
.02
25.32
.00
Listens and gives teacher undivided attention when they talk
4.73
.03
Gives teacher recognition for a job well done
4.02
.05
Recognizes special projects or programs in teacher’s classroom
6.99
.01
Observes frequently in teacher’s classroom
16
Findings: Instructional Domain
Leadership Behaviors
Gives teacher information about modifying instruction
F
p
16.84
.00
Gives teacher information about instructional techniques that
will help improve teaching
7.49
.01
Helps teacher decide when and how to teach certain subjects
13.65
.00
Suggests alternative instructional methods for students who are
struggling
7.64
.01
Helps teacher write lesson plans
9.72
.00
20.73
.00
5.18
.03
Gives teacher information on ways to make instruction
meaningful
Helps teacher pick the right instructional programs for their
students
17
Findings: Technical Domain
Leadership Behaviors
Provides teacher with reliable feedback about IEPs
F
p
8.04
.01
13.95
.00
7.28
.01
23.90
.00
Helps teacher get information from the central office special
education department in the school district
4.65
.03
Gives teacher reliable information about due dates for special
education paperwork
10.63
.00
Helps teacher coordinate related services for their students
12.15
.00
Provides teacher with reliable input about the progress reports
they write for students
Helps teacher follow the federal and state special education
regulations
Helps teacher ensure that they meet confidentiality
requirements
18
Findings: Instrumental Domain
Leadership Behaviors
F
p
.13
.72
Keeps teacher informed of school and district events
1.50
.22
Makes sure that teacher does not have to switch between too many grade levels
and subjects
1.03
.31
Arranges teachers schedule in a way to reduce the time spent on paperwork and
in meetings
.48
.50
3.52
.06
Assigns teacher to work with students for whom they are trained and certified to
teach
.04
.85
Makes sure the teacher has the space they need to teach and plan
.20
.65
Makes sure the teacher has the equipment they need for their classroom
1.08
.30
Does not assign teacher the most challenging student in school all at one time
1.18
.28
Provides teacher with clerical assistance to schedule meeting and complete
paperwork
1.77
.19
Keeps the student diversity in teachers classroom to a minimum
1.82
.18
Communicates to the school staff that special education students and teachers
are an important part of the school
1.68
.2019
Ensures that teachers has enough planning time
Provides teacher with the funds they need to get supplies
Open-ended question:
What is the best thing your current administrator has
done to support you this year?
No response
Domain
Other
Technical
Instructional
Instrumental
Emotional
0
10
20
30
Percent
40
50
20
Open-ended question:
What is the one thing you wish your current
administrator would do to support you?
No response
Domain
Other
Technical
Instructional
Instrumental
Emotional
0
10
20
30
Percent
40
50
21
Conclusions
• Behaviors from emotional domain
perceived as most supportive
(Balfour, 2002; Littrell & Billingsley, 1994; McFarland, 2009)
• Difference in perceptions for three
domains:
– Emotional, Instructional, Technical
– 22 leadership behaviors
22
Conclusions
Special Education Teachers:
• highest value was placed on having their
decisions supported in front of other teachers
and parents
• Teachers want their administrator to listen to
them, and give them their undivided attention
• They also want to feel like what they are
doing is making a difference in the
organization
23
Conclusions
Special Education Teachers:
• The leadership behaviors reflect an
importance of:
– building relationships
– expressing confidence
– talking to and listening to each other
• The emotional domain is most valued
because the need for trust, reflection, and
relationships are how special educators feel
they are valued and supported on a school
campus
24
Conclusions
Open-ended questions
• Responses that fell within the emotional
domain had to do with:
– communication between teacher and
principal
– the feeling of appreciation
– showing an interest in what the teacher
was doing in their assignment.
“My administrator does a great job at making me feel that I’m
doing an exceptional job of preparing my students for success”
25
Two Emerging Themes
• Student accountability and the need for
behavioral assistance with students.
• One participant responded to the first
question by stating that their
administrator supports them by making
students accountable for their actions.
“My administrator helped me to the best of his ability through
structural and behavioral crisis this year”
26
Conclusions
Administrators:
• Having interest in what teachers do in
their classroom would be most valuable
to special education teachers
• Empowering special education teachers
by showing interest in what they are
doing and giving undivided attention
when they talk were ranked the highest
by administrators
27
Conclusions
Administrators:
• They feel that the empowering of their
teachers will be more effective in showing
them support because this is what they are
comfortable with and have the knowledge
and training to provide. Administrators are
providing the type of support that they are
comfortable giving.
28
Conclusions
• Administrators had the higher mean scores
• Teachers focus is in the classroom
• Administrators must focus on all aspects of
education due to the high levels of
accountability for student achievement
• Administrators may have ranked each of the
leadership behaviors on the survey with a
higher score because they feel pressure to
support all programs equally, and thus have
the concept of support on their mind all the
time.
29
Implications
•
•
•
•
Building relationships
Expressing confidence
Talking to and listening to each other
Taking an interest into what teachers do
in the classroom
• Communication of confidence and
respect to all staff members
30
Recommendations
• Develop and practice the leadership behaviors
identified as most valuable in this study
• Communication
• Show confidence in the decisions and actions
• Listen and give teachers their undivided attention
• Professional development for site administrators to
enhance knowledge and beliefs
• Provide the type of support that is perceived as
valuable
• Provide an emotionally supportive environment
31
Future Research
• Include perceptions from both elementary
and secondary level special education
teachers and administrators
• Explore the level of support site
administrators receive from district level
administrators
• Utilize qualitative methodologies for a more
detailed description of the perceptions of
special education teachers and
administrators
• Examine perceptions of supportive leadership
behaviors across multiple SELPAs and school
districts
32
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Thank you
Discussion, Questions, Comments
roderick.erin@gmail.com
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