The Relationship between Distributed Leadership as Practiced by Principals and the Organizational Commitment of Teachers

The purpose of this study is to determine the degree of the relationship between distributed leadership as perceived by teachers and the affective commitment of teachers. Participants in this study were administered an instrument containing two surveys, the revised Affective Commitment Scale (ACS) (Allen & Meyer, 1990) and the Leadership Density Inventory (LDI) (Smith, Ross, & Robichaux, 2004). The ACS was used to assess the participants' level of affective commitment, and the LDI was used to measure the practice of distributed leadership in the participants' schools. The surveys were distributed to teachers in fifteen schools located in four school districts in a rural, South Georgia Regional Educational Service Agency (RESA) district. The response rate for this study was 84.2%. A Spearman rho correlation coefficient was used to determine the degree of the relationship between distributed leadership and the affective commitment of teachers. The findings revealed that a moderate, positive relationship existed between the practice of distributed leadership and the affective commitment of teachers. Teachers showed a greater commitment to their schools when leadership was shared among all stakeholders, especially teachers.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Education in Education Administration (Ed.D.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation (open access)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Department of Leadership, Technology, and Human Development

Year dc:date.available

2010

Author dc:creator

• Jacobs, Gregory Edmond

Contributors dc:contributor

• James Green
• John Lairsey

• ETD
• Distributed leadership
• Organizational commitment
• Affective commitment
• Educational leadership

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/349

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu:etd-1349