Date of Graduation

1998

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine if principals' attendance to Principals' Academy had an effect on teachers' perception of empowerment in faculty senate group decision making. Faculty senate members in 120 West Virginia schools received the Short and Rinehart School Participant Empowerment Scale survey to provide perception of overall empowerment and six domains of empowerment. Data derived from 66 responding schools were analyzed using Statistical Analysis System and Analysis of Variance and produced the following results: There was no significant relationship, overall nor within domains, between the perceived level of empowerment of teachers in faculty senate group decision making and principals' attendance at Principals' Academy. There was no overall significant relationship, based on school level, between the perceived level of empowerment of teachers in faculty senate group decision making and principals' attendance at Principals' Academy. When individual domains of empowerment were evaluated, a significant relationship, based on school level, between elementary teachers' perception of empowerment and principals' attendance to Principals' Academy was found in the empowerment domain of Decision Making. Overall and within domains, there was no significant relationship, based on principals' education level, between the perceived level of empowerment of teachers in faculty senate group decision making and principals' attendance at Principals' Academy. Overall and within domains, there was no significant relationship, based on principals' total years of experience as principals, between the perceived level of empowerment of teachers in faculty senate group decision making and principals' attendance at Principals' Academy. Overall and within domains, there was no significant relationship, based on principals' gender, between teachers' perception of empowerment in faculty senate group decision making and principals' attendance at Principals' Academy. Results of this study may benefit professional development curriculum for today's principals if the value of shared decision making and benefits of teacher empowerment be stressed in principals' professional development curriculum.

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