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The 21st Century school leadership style “is not for the faint of heart and, as withany organization, a school is only as successful as their leadership” (East 2012, p. 1).The mantle of leadership weighs heavily upon the shoulders of the principal.Acknowledging the complexity of the role and responsibilities of the principalshiprequires examining the leadership style necessary to lead, yet lessen the intricacies ofdeveloping and maintaining a positive school climate and maximizing studentachievement. Principals are faced with a series of unique challenges and sacrifices thatconfront school morale, culture, and practice. Yet, a principal’s leadership style guidestheir approach and response to the varying demands of being named the leader.The issues and challeges facing today’s principal are not getting any easier; infact, they are becoming more complex and more convoluted. The principal must beprepared to make definitive, thoughtful decisions, devote sizeable amounts of time to thejob, and to endure hefty criticism when things go amiss and faultfinders complain. Theprincipal serves as the lightning rod for all accounts of the school’s movement. Becauseof the surmountable pressures, principals can achieve high measures of success withfollowers if they understand the relationships between transformational and transactionalleadership. The researcher surveyed certified high school teachers about their opinionsregarding the characteristics of an ideal principal. In this study, we explore the idea thattransformational leadership and the principal’s leadership immensely influence theculture of a suburban school district. The suburban Midwestern school district includedtwo high school sites in one county. The two high schools serve approximately 3,600students, approximately 300 teachers, and over 500 classified faculty. District X is 82%white and 18% other subgroups, such as black, Asian, Hispanic and special needs students. Through an analysis of more than 100 teachers in District X, the most effectiveand respected principals were discovered to be instructional change agents, talentmanagers, and culture builders. |
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