Leadership Styles Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Leadership Styles - Dissertation Example The guiding research question for the study asks whether there is a dominant leadership style (i.e. transformational, authoritarian, or laissez-faire) used by classroom teachers that helps students score 2400 or higher (commended status) on annual state-mandated assessments and if there are other factors that explain why scores are high under one teacher and why the same set of students can perform with low scores with another teacher. Statement of the Problem Scholars do not know how and to what extent classroom teachers using transformational, authoritarian, or laissez-faire leadership styles impact fourth- and fifth-grade elementary school students in consistently scoring 2400 or higher on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), currently known as the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STARR); the Texas annual state-mandated test. The objective of the proposed study is to investigate the relationship of leadership styles of elementary teachers and fourt h- and fifth-grade students’ state-mandated test scores. ... Three alternatives may be used by classroom teachers, namely, the authoritative style, the laissez-faire style, and the transformational style. Students’ scores on state-mandated tests in fourth- and fifth-grade in an elementary school in Missouri City, Texas, will be utilized. Some students, for example, may have scored above the norm (i.e., 2400 or higher) in fourth grade on state-mandated tests, and the following year, those same students may have scored well below the norm, within the same school setting but with a different classroom teacher. The other variables under consideration are those which facilitate the learning process of students. See Figure 1. Researchers such as Jeanpierre (2004) have examined the topic of leadership styles in the classroom. However, they arrived at limited findings on the direct impact of leadership styles on students’ state-mandated test scores in elementary schools. In addition to elementary schools, community leaders, stakeholders, and business leaders also have public education systems under scrutiny to find evidence of leadership styles that motivate students to score consistently. The results of this study may reveal evidence regarding the correlation of leadership styles and student capabilities and achievements as measured by standardized testing. Logical Procedures In order to determine whether or not leadership style in teaching 4th and 5th grades will have a better impact on the level of learning based on test results of students, initial survey of available authoritative studies on this issue would have to be done. The term â€Å"teacher leadership† should first be defined and distinguished from other types of leadership. If initial research leads to a