Mediating role of sense of community in the relationship among principals' characteristics, district characteristics, and self-efficacy beliefs of public school principals in Florida PDF
Preview Mediating role of sense of community in the relationship among principals' characteristics, district characteristics, and self-efficacy beliefs of public school principals in Florida
THEMEDIATINGROLEOFSENSEOFCOMMUNITYINTHERELATIONSHIP AMONGPRINCIPALS'CHARACTERISTICS,DISTRICTCHARACTERISTICS, ANDSELF-EFFICACYBELIEFSOFPUBLICSCHOOLPRINCIPALSIN FLORIDA By MILDREDVANKESSELWASKIEWICZ ADISSERTATIONPRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOL OFTHEUNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINPARTIALFULFILLMENT OFTHEREQUIREMENTSFORTHEDEGREEOF DOCTOROFPHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA 2002 Thisdissertationisdedicatedtomyparents,MildredandMichaelVan Kessel,andtomydaughter,Kristin. Mydeepestappreciationandgratitudegoto myparentsfortheirunendingsupportandencouragementthroughoutthis doctoralprogram. Frommyearlyyears,myparentsnotonlytaughtmetovalue educationbutalsotounderstandtheimportanceofperseverance. Theyalso taughtmetoappreciateandlookforthehumoroussideoflife. Allofwhichwas essentialtothisprocess. Theirlivesasmyrolemodelsandmentorswerealso instrumentalinmycareerchoiceofsocialworkineducation. Theircollective wisdomhasbeenatremendousassetthroughoutmyprofessionaland educationalcareer. understIaanldsiontghahnaksmbyeednauugnhwtaevre,riKnrigs.tinW,hwihleosmeyecnacroeuerraagnedmeednutcaatnidonal endeavorsthroughoutherchildhoodandadolescencekeptmeverybusy,we werealwaysthereforeachother. Wecontinuetobeaninspirationforandhuge supporterofeachother. Shehasbecomeabeautifulyoungadultwhoisvibrant andwillundoubtedlytouchthefutureinheruniqueway. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Iwouldliketoexpressmygratitudetomyparents,MildredandMichael VanKessel,andtomydaughter,Kristin,fortheirsupportandencouragement duringthisarduousprocess. Iwishformydaughterthesameloveoflearning andspiritofdeterminationthatmyparentsinstilledinme. Iamgratefultomychair,Dr.JimDoud,forhiswarmthandcompassion throughoutthisprocess. Dr.Doudservedtoguide,inspireandliftmetowards thisachievement. Iamalsoappreciativeoftheothermembersofmycommittee whosebeliefinmeisheartfelt. IamgratefultoDr.AnneSeraphineforhertime, encouragement,andsupportinhelpingmetoappreciateandbetterunderstand statisticalresearch. Herabilitytomakeherloveofresearchcomealiveforallof herstudentsistrulyremarkableandunique. IwanttothankDr.TomOaklandfor histimeandsupportthroughoutthisprocess. Histhoughtfulinputand contributionswereinvaluable. IalsowanttothankDr.FranVandiverforher guidanceandsupport. Dr.Vandiverunknowinglychallengedmetoalways stretchalittlefarther. IalsogivespecialthankstoConnieWeber-Sorice,mydearfriendand colleague,andherfamily. Conniehelpsotherstounderstandthatinevery journey,thereismeaning;ineveryconflict,thereisgrowth;ineveryaction,there ispurpose;andineverymomentofdoubt,toremembertobelieveinyourself. Conniehashelpedtomakethisdoctoralprogramnotonlyadestination,butalso in ajourney. Hersteadfastsupportandencouragementhashelpedtomakethis dreamarealityforusboth. ForthatIameternallygrateful. Ialsowanttoacknowledgeandthankthespecialladies"backatthe office,"includingAgnes,Sue,Tammy,andPat,fortheirmoralsupport,wordsof encouragement,andgenuineinterestthroughoutthisprocess. Ialsowanttothankmyotherfamilymembers,manyfriendsand colleagueswhowerealwayssupportiveandhelpedtokeepmefocused. Tothe othermembersofourdoctoralcohort,thoseofwhomwhohavegraduatedbefore measwellasthoseofwhomwhosetimehasyettocome,Iappreciatethe experienceswecreatedandsharedtogether. IalsoappreciatetheassistanceofBarbaraSmerage,myformateditor,for herassistanceinthefinalstretchofthisresearchproject. Andfinally,Iowe specialthankstoDr.PattersonLamb,mymanuscripteditor,whosethorough reviewandcritiqueinthefinalstagesofthisdissertationwereinvaluable. The laughswesharedalwayshelpedtolightentomyspirit. IV TABLEOFCONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS »' LISTOFTABLES viii LISTOFFIGURES '* ABSTRACT * CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 StatementoftheProblem 8 PurposeoftheStudy 14 ResearchHypotheses 15 DefinitionofTerms..., 16 SignificanceoftheStudy 17 Delimitations 21 Limitations 21 OrganizationoftheStudy 22 2 LITERATUREREVIEW 23 PrincipalLeadership 23 TheRoleofCommunityintheWorkplace 27 TheoreticalPerspectivesonSelf-Efficacy 37 TheoreticalFrameworksonSenseofCommunity 44 CommunityResearch 47 SummaryofResearchFindings 67 3 METHODOLOGY 69 MediationalModel 70 Participants 75 InstitutionalReviewBoardProcedureandApproval 75 Population 76 Sample 77 Instrumentation 82 Reliability 82 CommunityAssessmentGuide 84 PersonalandDistrictDemographicVariables 88 Principals'Self-EfficacyScale 88 Procedures 91 DataAnalysis 94 4 RESULTSANDANALYSISOFDATA 98 MediationModelAnalyses 99 ResearchHypothesesAnalysis 100 Follow-upAnalysis 106 Condition1 Follow-upAnalysis 108 Condition2Follow-upAnalysis 110 Condition3Follow-upAnalysis 112 Summary 113 5 CONCLUSIONS,IMPLICATIONS,ANDRECOMMENDATIONS 115 Overview 115 SummaryandDiscussionofResults 120 Hypothesis1:SenseofCommunity 120 Hypothesis2:Self-Efficacy 124 Hypothesis3:SenseofCommunityasaMediatorBetween AntecedentVariablesandPrincipals'Self-Efficacy 127 Conclusions 129 Implications 131 AdditionalLimitations 134 RecommendationsforFutureResearch 135 APPENDIX A UFIRBPROTOCOLFORTHERESEARCHSTUDY 140 B UFIRBAPPROVALOFPROTOCOLFORTHERESEARCHSTUDY.144 C LETTEROFINFORMEDCONSENTFORTHERESEARCHSTUDY.146 D UFIRBAPPROVALTOINCREASESAMPLESIZEFOR RESEARCHSTUDY 148 E COMMUNITYASSESSMENTGUIDE 150 F PRINCIPALS'SELF-EFFICACYQUESTIONNAIRE 158 VI G PERMISSIONFORUSAGEOFTHECOMMUNITY ASSESSMENTGUIDE 163 H COMMUNITYASSESSMENTGUIDESTUDENTUSER AGREEMENT 165 PERMISSIONFORUSAGEOFTHEPRINCIPALS'SELF- I EFFICACYQUESTIONNAIRE 167 J GIFTCARDPREFERENCEFORM 169 K REQUESTFORINFORMATIONFROMTHEFLORIDA DEPARTMENTOFEDUCATION 171 L LETTERTOPRINCIPALS-SECONDMAILING 173 M THANKYOUCARDTORESEARCHPARTICIPANTS 175 REFERENCES 176 BIOGRAPHICALSKETCH 183 VII 1 LISTOFTABLES Table page 3-1 Gender 79 3-2 Race/Ethnicity 79 3-3 SchoolLevel 81 3-4 TotalNumberofYears'ExperienceasPrincipalintheirDistrict 81 3-5 DistrictEnrollmentGroup 81 3-6 PrincipalReferents 82 3-7 ReliabilityCoefficients 83 4-1 ModelSummary,UnstandardizedRegressionCoefficients, StandardizedRegressionCoefficients,t-testStatistics,and Semi-Partialr-squaresforHypothesis1 102 4-2 ModelSummary,UnstandardizedRegressionCoefficients, StandardizedRegressionCoefficients,t-testStatistics,and Semi-Partialr-squaresforHypothesis2 104 4-3 ModelSummary,UnstandardizedRegressionCoefficients, StandardizedRegressionCoefficients,t-testStatistics,and Semi-Partialr-squaresforHypothesis3 107 4-4 ModelSummary,UnstandardizedRegressionCoefficients, StandardizedRegressionCoefficients,—t-testStatistics,and Semi-Partialr-squaresforCondition1 Follow-upAnalysis 109 4-5 ModelSummary,UnstandardizedRegressionCoefficients, StandardizedRegressionCoefficients,—t-testStatistics,and Semi-Partialr-squaresforCondition2 Follow-upAnalysis 11 4-6 ModelSummary,UnstandardizedRegressionCoefficients, StandardizedRegressionCoefficients,—t-testStatistics,and Semi-Partialr-squaresforCondition3 Follow-upAnalysis 113 VIII LISTOFFIGURES Figure page 1-1 Conceptualmodelofsenseofcommunityasamediational variable 14 3-1 MediationalModel 71 IX AbstractofDissertationPresentedtotheGraduateSchoolofthe UniversityofFloridainPartialFulfillmentoftheRequirementsforthe DegreeofDoctorofPhilosophy THEMEDIATINGROLEOFSENSEOFCOMMUNITYINTHERELATIONSHIP AMONGPRINCIPALS'CHARACTERISTICS,DISTRICTCHARACTERISTICS, ANDSELF-EFFICACYBELIEFSOFPUBLICSCHOOLPRINCIPALSIN FLORIDA By MildredVanKesselWaskiewicz December2002 Chairman:JamesL.Doud MajorDepartment:EducationalLeadership,Policy,andFoundations Theproblemaddressedinthisstudywastodeterminetheroleofsenseof communityamongprincipals'demographicvariables,districtdemographic variables,andself-efficacybeliefs. Astratifiedrandomsampleof180principals wereselectedfromfourdistrictenrollmentgroupsinFlorida(small,medium, large,verylarge)bythreeschoollevels(elementary,middle,high). Atotalof94 surveyswerereturnedyieldingaresponserateof52.2%. Senseofcommunitywasdeterminedbyprincipals'self-reported responsestotheCommunityAssessmentGuide,asdevelopedbyM.A.Royal andR.J.Rossi,describedinIndividual-levelcorrelatesofsenseofcommunity: Findingsfromworkplaceandschool,intheJournalofCommunityPsychology, 1996. Principals'characteristicsincludedgender,tenure(numberofyearsas
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