An Exploratory Study of the Academic Optimism of Principals

Academic optimism of the principal is a construct comprised of trust in teachers, self-efficacy of the principal, and principal’s academic emphasis. Academic optimism has been demonstrated at both the organizational and teacher levels, but research concerning principal’s academic optimism is only beginning to be explored.The current inquiry began with a pilot study to develop a usable measure of academic optimism of principals. The pilot study resulted in a preliminary measure, which was further refined to create the scale used in this analysis. Both the validity and predictors of the construct and the scale were examined in this study to confirm the components of academic optimism of the principal. Then the focus shifted to examining what positive predictors contribute to forming principal’s academic optimism. The measure of academic optimism of principals was refined and tested on a national sample of 158 principals. Five predictor variables were examined: dispositional optimism, life satisfaction, grit, zest, and explanatory style. These variables had a strong basis of research in the positive psychology literature and had strong theoretical implications for academic optimism of principals. Of the predictor variables, grit, zest, and explanatory style were found to be significant predictors of principal’s academic optimism.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

EDU Policy and Leadership

Grantor dc:publisher

The Ohio State University

Year dc:date

2013

Author dc:creator

• Schrepfer-Tarter, Amy

Contributors dc:contributor

• Hoy, Wayne

• Education

Statement dc:rights

• unrestricted
• This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1366045511

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:etd.ohiolink.edu:osu1366045511