| The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship existed between leadership behaviors of teachers as perceived by principals and school performance as measured by the Valence Index of Performance (VIP) score (Edwards, 2007). An explanatory mixed methodology study was utilized to address the research questions. A researcher developed survey instrument, the Principals' Perception of Teacher Leadership (PPTL), was designed, tested through a pilot study, and distributed electronically to 520 Texas public high school principals. Principals from 105 schools participated in the study. Upon collection of the PPTL, three participating principals were selected for a brief explanatory case study to validate and aid explanation of PPTL data. The data obtained through the explanatory case study supported the existence of teacher leadership on the three campuses and the interviews produced narrative that supported the theory that teacher leadership does influence school performance.;Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS) data was retrieved from the Texas Education Agency website and a principal axis factoring analysis of nine performance indicators formed the VIP score (Edwards, 2007). A multiple regression analysis of the quantitative data failed to find a statistically significant relationship between the teacher leadership behaviors and school performance, nor was there a relationship found for the combined teacher leadership behaviors as measured by the PPTL and school performance as measure by the VIP. The Qualitative results of this study suggested that teacher leadership is a promising practice for high schools and that more empirical research should be conducted in the area of teacher leadership and school performance. |
